Future Faces
No object was as significant in the year 2020 as the face mask. It's use became mandatory across the globe as a result of the pandemic and became the basis of a new art piece, titled 'Freedom to Move'.
Commissioned by Lexus, Nigerian architect Tosin Oshinowo and Ghanian-British furniture and textile designer, Chrissa Amuah were tasked to reflect the changes that the past year had brought and to respond through a concept that considers the current global context. 'Freedom to Move' was created out of this meditation on the past, present and future.
CM Design Atilier came up with the concept designs and created the 3D models of each mask. The designs were then sent to Windsor Workshop Ltd for assessment on how best to produce them.
Our client, Windsor Workshop, tasked us with producing the head band and face mask components out of a material that would be a suitable to act as a pattern for the visor shape. Thanks to its high resolution, printing the pieces in Nylon PA12 on the HP Multi Jet Fusion was favoured as the best choice for the job.
The pattern was then used as a tool to vacuum form etched acrylic into a useable visor. The visor was then metalised and all the components returned and assembled by Windsor Workshop Ltd.
The tight timescales surrounding this project would have posed a problem for traditional manufacturing, but additive manufacturing provided the perfect solution to the problem. The parts were printed and dispatched within a matter of days, providing a finished piece that required little prep before being used as a pattern and gave Windsor Workshop ample to time to complete the additional operations that went into bringing this piece to life.
