Soundspace: Audio Speaker
Soundspace Media speaker uses the human body to dictate form. Audio components are installed behind the canvas and covered with acrylic. This provides a working speaker, with a unique form which pushes the capability of PLA 3D printing.
Theme: Portrait Photography
Good portrait photography doesn't lie, many memorable portraits focus on revealing a character, sometimes removing the emphasis on physical details. The photographer has to choose what features to emphasise and ignore and frame the portrait to display the desired emotions. If the portrait has no statement, then it must be considered a failure.
I used portrait photography as inspiration for the form of the speaker. Posing as someone shouted, the portrait was taken, and then using a medical scanner I captured my pose in a digital file for editing. The pose of shouting was chosen as it visually shows sound.
Creating the Form
The form takes the unique shape of a person shouting using their hands like a cone of sound, this is a visual cue that the object is a ‘speaker’. By making the form large, it brings a sense of grandeur and due to its pose a sense of intimidation. Original scans were edited to abstract the facial form, the details are so fine it was impossible to refine the print further. The form was 3D printed in two parts, a top and bottom half. The CAD file was created by 3D scanning and then edited on meshmixer for the chosen pattern. The print has to be able to attract attention as well as demonstrate an understanding of design vocabulary. It does this through form, size, and colour. The final chosen colour was black for two reasons, mainly It emphasises the pattern at the top of the design. Secondly, it works well when shadows of the mesh a prominent, allowing the pattern to duplicate itself.