I am posting about the Bead Soup Blog Party and other challenges on my posterous site. Please pop by if you are interested in beading.

In an attempt to be more consistent in my ‘making’ endeavours this year I decided to participate in Lori Anderson’s Bead Soup Blog Party.

My partner is Tracy Stillman of the Bead Junkie. I am a little behind. I posted my beads off yesterday and received my stash from Tracy the same day. I haven’t taken photos of what I was sent yet as I wanted to get some ‘teaser’ pics of what I sent.

Here is the first picture. Autumnal browns and silver – clearly. The shape of the pendant is obvious to me, but I know what it is.

The Field

Digital craft, the application of digital tools to traditional craft activities, is an active scene in many countries. There is plenty of evidence of the application of digital technologies to crafts such as ceramics, textiles, and metal-smithing in the US, the UK, Europe and Australia.

Many of these crafts have required the same skills and tools for hundreds of years and so the application of modern digital methods is not without controversy. The practitioners in the field will argue that the machine aesthetic adds to their work in unpredictable ways and that the blend of the traditional and ultra modern becomes personal and expressive.

The digital processes that have been applied to traditional craft can be broadly classified as input based and output based.

Input based (3D scanning, computer aided design) relates to the design stage.

Output based technologies include 2D (such as digital textile printing and laser and water jet cutting) and 3D technologies and relate to the physical production. The 3D technologies can be further categorised into computer numerical control (CNC) milling and routing (subtractive fabrication) and rapid prototyping or manufacturing (3D printing – additive fabrication).

The Scene

Lab Craft: Digital Adventures in Contemporary Craft is a touring exhibition showcasing digital craft organised by the UK Crafts Council . It includes work by 23 makers and three groups who combine traditional craft skills with digital technologies. Lab Craft was the starting point for the choice of ‘scene’ for this work.

This survey focuses on a small group in the UK actively experimenting, researching, producing and exhibiting digital craft. The field has been narrowed to focus on those group members who originally worked in ceramics and are now using additive fabrication in at least some of their work.

These designers are sharing their experiences with digital technologies to assist the wider community in their traditional craft field.

The group are linked through Lab Craft and through teaching and research activities. As far as the author can tell, none of them are frequent users of social media, although a number have blogs, websites and Flickr accounts. Even with this infrequent use of social media it appears that Nervous Systems is on the radar of a number of the chosen practitioners.

Details of all the makers is available at the Lab Craft website.

In the UK the London Metropolitan University, the Royal College of Art and University College Falmouth are active in the field of digital craft.

Ceramic/Pottery Trained Digital Crafters

Justin Marshall

Personal website: www.justinmarshall.co.uk
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/
Academic: University College Falmouth
Practice: www.autonomatic.org.uk
CV: www.justinmarshall.co.uk/cv.html

Justin Marshall is crafter and academic. He started as a ceramicist, completing and BA in Fine Art and an MA in ceramics. His PhD involved an investigation into the role and significance of CAD/CAM technologies in craft and designer/maker practice. Marshall teaches at University College Falmouth.

In his personal statement on his website, Marshall includes in his list of interests:

• Collaborations between artists/craftspeople and industry
• The impact of CAD/CAM technologies on art and craft practices

“His current projects have concentrated on using digital technologies not only to extend aesthetic possibilities, but also their role in building new relationships between independent makers and industry, and to challenge the relationship between maker and consumer.” [www.autonomatic.org.uk]

A research project of Marshall’s took the form of a collaborative project with an ornamental plasterwork company. Marshall’s interest was not only the productive potential of digital technologies, but also their role in creating new forms of sustainable practice for independent makers (see The Design Journal, Volume 10, Issue 2).

Marshall has used Design Expert software to design his pouring bowls which were produced rapid prototyping technology. The company making this software is better known in the statistics field.

In other work, Marshall and two other academics created Automake, a web based tool that allows the user to explore generative systems, and ultimately ‘manufacture’ unique items. A paper on the project was presented to the Generative Art International Conference in 2007.

“Automake is about combining generative systems with craft knowledge and digital production technologies to create a new way of designing and making objects that blurs the boundaries between maker and consumer, craft and industrial production.” [www.automake.co.uk/about]

This is further explained in the diagram below.

The software used to create automake is Virtools, normally considered game authoring software, and was chosen partly for the lack of hard coding required, and for its strong user community. The software was created a number of years ago and is not as sophisticated as some other interactive fabrication tools (eg Nervous Systems on the web and the similarly aged yet amazing virtual potter’s wheel – L’Artisan Electronique).

Tavs Jorgensen

Personal website: www.oktavius.co.uk
Twitter: @tavsjorgensen
Academic: Research Fellow University College Falmouth, Part time tutor Royal College of Art
Practice: www.autonomatic.org.uk
CV: www.oktavius.co.uk/profile.html

Danish born Jorgensen undertook a four-year pottery apprenticeship and studied 3D ceramic design at graduate level. He is a freelance designer and research fellow at the Autonomatic Research Group (described below). In addition to his commercial work and research practice, Jorgensen also teaches on the Ceramic and Glass course at the Royal College of Art.

Jorgensen’s research is predominately focused on investigating how user interfaces can facilitate more personal and expressive aesthetics in objects created using digital tools. Recent projects have also explored the combination of 2D and 3D drawing using CNC technology.

Jorgensen is a member of the Rhinoceros online community and follows @openprocessing on twitter.

Marshall, Jorgensen, and four others form Autonomatic, a research cluster sponsored by University College Falmouth. The cluster has a covetable “kit“, including 3D scanners and printers. The group hire the equipment to facilitate access by a wider group of creative practioners. The group aims to inspire other designers and makers to approach digital technologies with a creative mindset.

Michael Eden
Personal website: www.edenceramics.co.uk/diary.html
Academic: Manchester Metropolitan University
Practice: www.edenceramics.co.uk

Eden was a studio potter for 20 years before completing post-graduate study into the integration of digital technology with tradition craft at the Royal College of Art. Eden is best known for his 3D printed ‘Wedgewoodn’t‘ range of lacey vessels. DeZeen Magazine and an excellent write-up and images of his work.

Eden, Marshall and Jorgensen all spoke at the RepRap rapid prototyping conference – Inside Out: Art and Design in the Digital Age (2009)

In search of evidence that the situation was temporary I sought out a silver time series. The Perth Mint has a great selection of historic data available for download. They even include exchange rates and the consumer price index (CPI).

The first graph I created was of the London fix monthly average silver price in US dollars. Yes, things are certainly bad, but silver has reached these levels before, around 1980. Certain market characteristics mean that it is possible for a single trader to significantly influence the price of silver. According to Wikipedia, the Hunt Brothers’ silver holdings and futures contracts caused the spike around 1980. Changed trading rules brought the price back down by 1982.

Silver Price (London Fix Monthly Average) USD

While at first glance, the precedence of the price spike gives hope, the current circumstances are very different. The global financial crisis and massive Government debt in many countries is devaluing currencies making precious metals more secure and attractive.

The Australian dollar is closely linked to commodity prices due to the nature of our economy – we are a large exporter of coal, iron ore and wool, so I is hoped the price in Australian dollars would show a rosier (or silvery) story.

Silver Price (Perth Mint Spot Monthly Average) AUD & USD

Other than dampening a few of the spikes, there does not appear to be much difference. The next thing to look at then was the real price of silver, adjusted for inflation. For this I used the Australian all groups CPI (with a base in Jan 1990).

Silver Price (Perth Mint Spot Monthly Average) Real (Jan 1990) AUD

First observation. I am really glad I did not have this hobby in 1980! Between 2005 and 2010 the price remained fairly constant, but the current spike is still visible.

The excel line graph tells a story, but a 3D rendering certainly adds something.  And honestly, if I can’t play with the real thing, 3D modelling fills a gap.  In the following (and the feature image) each rotation represents 12 monthly spot prices.

Pretty, don’t you think? Next up, a tangible version – digital fabrication – in sterling silver. Perhaps not until the price drops a little though.

Will the price of silver drop to pre 2011 prices? I hope so, but I won’t hold my breath. There are a few European economies to sort out first I fear.

The Data

There are 17 metrics in the Patents dashboard. The unit level of data is applications (and one measure for staff). The application data are sliced different ways to produce the various metrics.

Visual Variables

Position is used in the gauges by a needle showing the magnitude of the metrics.
Colour, it appears, is used indiscriminately.
Size is used in the bar and column charts to show magnitude of the metrics.

Visual Mapping

Gauges are used in BI dashboards as a metaphor for an aircraft dashboard. Usually dashboard gauges include some information about targets or bands, but the gauges in the patents dashboard show only a single number with no indication of whether or not the value is good or bad. The only indication of relative position is the scale of the gauge.  The actual value is repeated on each graphic making considerable detail redundant.

Information Seeking

While is appears the infographic contains extensive information there is only information on 17 metrics. To identify if the agency is performing well the user must read the text. To explore how the agency is performing in a historical context, static time series charts are available my clicking text-based links.

Interaction

This visualization provides very limited user interaction. Standard icons allow the user to print, save and export data.  The graphic prints well, albeit on many pages.  The ‘export data’ option does not appear to work (it returns an empty file). Providing drill down and targets would improve this infographic.
Shneiderman’s ‘visual information seeking mantra’ can still be seen in this visualisation.  The first screen shows an overview.  As the user scrolls more detail is available and a click through provides historical information. It would certainly benefit from more zooming, filtering and details on demand (which may be provided through the data download).

Stephen Few’s version

Few, a well know visualisation minimalist had a go at creating a better dashboard. His intent was to show how little space is needed to present the same information.  He achieved that, but it could be argued at the expensive of aesthetics and interpretability. Neither display does the data justice, although Few’s version is much closer.

Credit

United States Patent and Trademark Office

The Data

The data come from the American Time Use Survey. Neither the data nor the source is linked from the article but a quick search finds the source website with data files back to 2003.
The unit level of the data is the individual respondent and the data are available in numerous formats for download at this level at the source site.
The visualisation shows the data aggregated to various demographic subgroups. Time appears to be recorded in 10-minute intervals, although the tick marks on the graph show 3 hourly blocks. As the data are represented as proportions, the various activities add to 100% at each time slot (an ‘other’ category is provided).

Visual Variables

Position indicates the time of day (x-axis) and proportion of the population (y-axis).
Size of the area shows the proportion of the chosen population undertaking the activity.
Colour is used to distinguish the various activities.

Visual Mapping

A single area chart represents the data. Area charts are appropriate for time series data with a number of categories (in this case, activities). This type of chart is criticised for the low ‘data per pixel/ink’ ratio. It uses considerable ink when printed. Nevertheless, it seems appropriate and effective in this case.

Information Seeking

There is good differentiation in the chosen colours without being jarring. Text labels are only shown for large categories, which is appropriate and reduces clutter. The ability to compare subgroups across times of day would be a useful addition.

Interaction

Interaction is provided by clicking various subgroups in the top left, by moving the mouse across the graph and by clicking on the chart.
Clicking on the chart brings up details of the particular activity for the demographic group selected and provides a comparison of the demographic subgroups. Hovering over the chart brings up additional information in a floating text box.
Shneiderman’s ‘visual information seeking mantra’ is held to a reasonable extent. The main graph provides the overall, a click provides the zoom and selection of a demographic subgroup provides the filter. Further details on demand (for example, demographic comparisons over time) would enhance this visualisation.

Credit

New York Times

Shan Carter, Amanda Cox, Kevin Quealy and Amy Schoenfeld

The Data

Five summary variables are shown as line graphs. Each summary variable (except health) has components that can be viewed in the right pane. The derivation of the five variables is provided in reasonable detail. The source data are not available on the Newsweek site but references are given. While direct access to the data would be preferable, it should be possible to reproduce the scores based on the information provided.
For comparison, the countries can be grouped by income (GNI per capital), population or a selection of geographic and political subsets.
The unit level for the data is country and each country has a score on each of the variables. No country aggregation into regions is possible.

Visual Variables

Position is used to show a country’s score in the y direction and rank in the x direction.
Colour is used to distinguish subsets of population or income, in the ‘snake’ lines and in tabular/text. A red/green split is used when comparing two countries, which, while intuitive would not be apparent to colour blind users.
Value is used on mouse hover to show a countries score on each of the main variables at the same time.

Visual Mapping

The data are represented as line charts, tables and text and a less common ‘snake’ graph. This is appropriate given the quantitative nature of the five derived metrics and the categorical ranks. It would be possible to present the data in a single dimension for each metric but is likely to be harder to interpret.

Information Seeking

The visualisation allows users to explore a countries relative performance in a number of areas. For the most part the limited use of colour enhances the visualisation. The specific details in the right hand pane allow for more exact comparisons.

Interaction

This interactive visualization allows the user to change which countries are compared. The contrast on mouse hover is very low and is a little hard to read but making comparisons does not depend on this feature. Hovering over each point on the chart shows the country’s actual score on that metric, and its overall rank in a floating text box.
Clicking on a point brings up detailed information about the country in the right hand pane and creates a snake graph spanning all of the five line charts (in the vertical direction). A second click creates a second ‘snake’ to allow for comparisons between two countries. A hover over a third point allows for the comparison of a third country.
Reasonable instructions are provided on the various features.

Shneiderman’s ‘visual information seeking mantra’ is held to a limited extent as an overview is provided with more detail available on click and hover. Zooming is facilitated but the selection of country sub-groups.

Credit

Newsweek

Interactive design & programming: Thomas Klepl; Creative lead: Adam Clarkson

• Sunday March 28
• Saturday June 5
• Saturday September 11
• Saturday December 4

Handmade – Canberra’s quarterly Upmarket brings together talented artists, designers, stylists, craftspeople and gourmets all at one destination.  It is a unique event to connect the makers of beautiful things to people who appreciate the quality, handcrafted and locally designed.

This year the markets will be held at Kamberra Wine Company. It is a good location to catch tourists (not to mention being close to home).

The other surprising news that came from Handmade was the opening of a retail store in Civic (Canberra, Australia). I must check it out one lunch time.

Shop Handmade is an exciting new concept store created to showcase the amazing talent of Australian artisans

Shop Handmade is located on City Walk in Canberra’s CBD, Shop 20 Allara St on the corner opposite The Canberra Centre Civic and Glebe Park.

Still not having much luck with the firing. As a recap, I planned to refire a number of pieces of bronze clay which were under-fired first time around. In the same tub I included two copper clay “bags”.

This is the schedule I used.

• Ramp: 253 F per hour (137 C)
• Target (Hold) Temperature: 1530 F (830 C)
• Hold 3 hours.

All the copper crumbled.

Rio Grande’s recommended firing schedule is as follows:

COPPRclay™ Firing Schedule (for pieces that will not be enamelled):
Regardless of thickness (embedded in coconut shell-based activated carbon): Ramp at full speed to 1700°F-1800°F (927°C-982°C) and hold for 3 hours (total firing time, including ramp-time, will be about 4 hours). Most firings perform well at 1700°F. However, if you discover that your pieces are not sintering properly, try firing them at 1800°F. Please Note: Blistering may occur at 1800°F; if this occurs, slightly decrease the firing temperature.

If I went by this I would say the problem was obvious. The kiln was not hot enough but I was used Hadar’s original copper clay not COPPRclay.  Hadar’s schedule is as follows:

It is bit more complicated but not as hot. Perhaps missing the first phase was the problem.I have not yet had any success with copper clay although I have only tried Hadar’s original clay. I have a package of CopprClay lying around so I may try that next.

I wasn’t really expecting the bricks to fire properly. As you can see, I wasn’t disappointed;)

There was one success. I repaired the broken bail on the landscape pendant. It came out of the kiln with a nice patina but it wasn’t quite what a wanted. After a bit of sanding and tumbling it came up more how I wanted it to look.

A added some blue resin in the hole as enamelling sounded all too hard.  I’ll call it “Blue Moon” after last weekend’s Canberra moon.