The Project
Francisca
Prieto is a talented designer who first arrived at our offices with a mock up and a highly original design idea.
She had been in contact with several manufacturing companies, but all had
been unable or unwilling, to consider taking on her project.
The piece was to be made out of stainless steel and then illuminated from
within incorporating characters made using a 3D font that Francisca had
designed.
The Approach
Francisca had the front panel designed and accurately drawn up, so we set
about making the piece by first importing this information into our CAD
system.
The overall case and letters were all laser cut. The pattern on the front
was then chemically etched. Considerable care was needed with the alignment of
the artwork for the chemical etch as we were working with more than one
software package and file type. The piece was sprayed red from the inside and
we then set about the challenging task of folding up the letters.
Having
completed the case, there was still the question of illumination, as each
number had to be individually illuminated. To enable this to work we
constructed a honey comb structure inside which would ensure the light
illuminating one letter would not spill out to another.
The challenge was then taken up by one of our customers, Artistic
Licence,
who are world leaders in the provision of LED based lighting systems. They
were able using their expertise to build in electronics to provide the even
illumination Francisca was looking for.
The end result was the "Timeless Calendar", which has since been
featured in numerous design journals.
An Ongoing Partnership
Learning
from the "Timeless Calendar" we were able to help Francisca with her
next exciting design, the Anticlockwise clock.
Using the now familiar Antitype characters, this piece brought with it a new challenge in that it had to
house fully functioning mechanics so that the clock would accurately tell the time.
This piece incorporates an ingenious design where, as the face of the clock moves in an anti clockwise direction, the
time is read by referring to etched markers at the 12 o’clock position.
The
design went on to win Best in Show Award at the Metropolitan Works Show 07 and
has appeared in several design publications in places as far afield as Russia.
Since then, Francsica has designed several other pieces, including these
Asterisk Bookends.
Francisca has now established herself as a designer of some note and as a
company we have been pleased and proud to have been involved with the
realisation of some of her designs.
Francisca
Prieto :
"With Holt nothing is impossible. They work to the very highest
standards with acute attention to detail and I love the fact that I get to
meet everybody that works on my project. They are open and friendly and their
deep involvement in my projects assures me that my concept will always end in
a perfectly finished piece."
Full details of Francsica's work can be found on her website at www.blankproject.co.uk.
