{"id":2490,"date":"2014-04-07T14:55:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-07T14:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/archives\/2490-designer-spotlight-with-bonus-material-matthew-levy-and-martin-griswold.html"},"modified":"2014-07-03T17:34:00","modified_gmt":"2014-07-03T17:34:00","slug":"designer-spotlight-with-bonus-material-matthew-levy-and-martin-griswold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/designer-spotlight-with-bonus-material-matthew-levy-and-martin-griswold","title":{"rendered":"Designer Spotlight (With bonus material!): Matthew Levy and Martin Griswold"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the designer spotlight this week, we are highlighting Matthew Levy and Martin Griswold of Quantitative Design<\/a>! They’ve also let us in on some of their design secrets, for our first ever BONUS MATERIAL section of the designer spotlight. The duo translates complex data into beautiful pendants, further opening our eyes to the endless capabilities of 3D printing. If you love space and jewelry, these are your guys!<\/p>\n

Tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? Where are you located?<\/em>
Quantitative Design<\/a> is Matthew Levy and Martin Griswold. We studied physics together in college and we’ve always shared a passion for science, technology and design. Matthew is currently based in San Francisco, finishing his PhD on simulations of giant lasers and laser fusion. In between calculating and computing, he’s worked as a fashion model and as a photographer in places like Los Angeles and Tokyo. Martin just recently got his PhD studying plasma rockets and lives in New York City.  <\/p>\n

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What’s the story behind your designs? What inspires you?<\/em>
We’re fascinated by new technology, by the designs it enables, by the possibilities it creates. We’re inspired by the beauty in so much of science and technology that is hidden away by complexity and scale. That’s why when we design our models, we are building explorations of modern forms, and visualizations of elements of the universe hid away from everyday life. Our Asteroid Pendant<\/a>, for instance, is a beautiful 3D sculpture that shows the motion of ten astronomical objects roaming through our solar system. With the pendant, it’s sensory — you see the real asteroid orbits, and you feel their real proportions in your hand. <\/p>\n

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What brought you to 3D printing with Shapeways?<\/em>
We’ve been interested in 3D printing for several years. Martin built a DIY machine a few years ago but quickly found that both the quality and diversity of materials were limited. Shapeways is a perfect fit for our designs since it allows us on-demand access to professional machines and high quality materials.<\/p>\n

How did you learn how to design in 3D?<\/em>
We have a sort of non-traditional process. We use a lot of tools from scientific research including math\/physics software called Mathematica. We also use 3D modeling software like Rhino<\/a> and Blender<\/a> to polish our designs and get them ready for printing. Martin learned these programs from tutorials and forums on the internet — digitaltoolbox.com is a great resource for learning Rhino, for example.<\/p>\n

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How do you promote your work?<\/em>
We give our products to our friends. Then when people ask about the designs, our friends help spread the word. We’re just getting started building our vision for the store, so at this point we promote by sharing our designs organically. <\/p>\n

Who are your favorite designers or artists? Who in the Shapeways community has served as an inspiration to you?<\/em>
Martin likes computational architecture work by Michael Hansemeyer and Luc Merx. Matthew is a fan of Marc Newson, Andre Saraiva, Burton Morris, Dries Van Noten and Jens Karlsson. There are a lot of great designers on Shapeways. We like the organic shapes made by Eragatory<\/a> and Unellenu<\/a>. We also admire the beautiful texture work by Genghis<\/a>. <\/p>\n

If you weren’t limited by current technologies, what would you want to make using 3D printing?<\/em>
We’d like to make bigger designs. Many objects we meaningfully interact with each day are just slightly larger than practical at the moment. We’re particularly excited about possibilities for furniture and industrial design. We’re also starting to think about a new series of models using finer resolution printing. These designs could have thinner, more delicate structures, and more intricate texturing.<\/p>\n

Anything else you want to share?<\/em>
We’re always interested in new ideas and discussions on technology. Please get in touch with us if you’d like to chat!\n<\/p>\n

WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT THIS SHOP: <\/strong><\/p>\n