'Thank you again for being so easy to work with through this process, you made it really easy from start to finish (although I'm sure it wasn't for you!!) and the end product was such excellent quality. Everyone was exceptionally pleased, it's something that stands out rather than being just another piece of glass to stand in a display, people will really want to display them.'
Cherokee Mahoney, Plymouth City Council
Cherokee Mahoney, Plymouth City Council
The awards were designed by Jason Marks of Fab Lab Plymouth (fablabplymouth.org). They were made by Fab Lab Plymouth and the glass artist Amy Whittingham (glass artist and technician at Plymouth College of Art).
Features of distinction from each selected building or space were used as starting points to develop a series of bespoke awards. After initial concept sketching on paper the designs were drawn up in Rhino 3D (a computer aided design program). These designs were then 3D printed at the Fab Lab. Amy Whittingham was subsequently able to take these prints, make plaster moulds from them and cast the printed forms into glass. The glass forms were then finished, sand blasted and polished. The text was drawn up in Adobe Illustrator and from this stencils were cut from vinyl. The text was then etched onto the glass awards and, finally, the glass was mounted onto a hardwood base.
The awards are a combination of traditional craft practice and the the latest digital design and fabrication methods and techniques. Given the short lead time between the selection of the Abercrombe Awards winners and the presentation ceremony this was a challenging commission, but we are delighted with the results and we look forward to working with the Council again.
