I though several times, since I’m in Canada, I should tattoo “MADE IN ITALY” on my neck. My mother said “Do whatever to your hair, but Don’t touch your skin”. Here I am with pink hair.
Then I woke up one day, early this year, with this though: I can do a model and wear it as a pendant! (it took a few years, but thanks to 3D printing I can now find easier solutions to my wishes).
It wasn’t exactly the snap of a finger. I designed a few versions, try to understand how possibly it could stand by itself in a elegant way that is quite neutral gender (and sadly all the lowercases and handwriting styles weren’t good for these many letters). Once happy with the main idea, I had to make several tests to overcome all the technical issues. Kym was really helpful in the prototyping phase though his 3D printer and comments. When I got to a satisfactory point, I made other countries, starting from the ones of my friends and colleagues. Kym also asked for a “made on Earth”, and I did also a special “fait au Quebec” for my francophone friends in Montreal. At the end I uploaded 7 of them to Shapeways, to test the materials I was interested to use, and made an order. Then wait.
It was worth it. The result was stunning. They look beautiful, real, professionally made.
I still am a bit excited by what I can do through the technologies available today. I’m glad I can share these ideas with the rest of the world, for anybody that felt like me when they got abroad.
They’re now available on Shapeways to custom print in a wide variety of materials, or on Etsy already printed in a limited selection of materials. I hope this idea will be welcome by most, so that I can invest as well in the realization of the other countries!
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