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EMILY MCCANN BLOG

31200209

Updated: Jan 19



I decided to cut my sign from foam board on the laser before I used a more expensive material.

This was a small scale prototype. As you can see from the last photos, the laser actually burnt the foam in between the boards, compromising the structure. I also lost a letter T due to the size, sometimes the extraction will blow small pieces off and they are hard to find!

I decided to press forward with a plywood material, with the possibility of using a thicker wood such as MDF if it was successful.

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31200209

Updated: Jan 19



Once I had vectored my new 'Rock Bottom' design, I decided to cut it from Vinyl using my Cricut machine. Vinyl cutting is quite similar to laser cutting in the way that the files are set up the same, so a preliminary vinyl cut is a good indication of how your laser cut will turn out. I chose to use these bright vinyl colours to envoke a happy cheerful feeling. Once my file was cut and layered I decided to mount it on a clear acrylic panel.

I'm really pleased with how this piece came out. It has a traditional sign-writing feeling to it, someone even commented that it reminded them of a tattoo parlour, which I see as a compliment! Tattoo script and sign-writing have a symbiotic relationship. I intend to recreate these colours in paint on wood as I have struggled to find a bright 'Barbie' pink perspex colour available at a reasonable price.

I realised when layering my vinyl pieces that the drop shadow (seen in aqua blue) would not cut out well on the laser, due to its intricacy and multiple pieces. I decided to instead only cut the white text and pink background on the laser, and hand paint the drop shadow instead.

I intend to use the 'Rock Bottom' text as a template and draw around this and paint the shadow before it is stuck down.

Next stop - laser cut!

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31200209

Updated: Jan 19







Upon reflection on the style I've been using, I decided to sketch out the sort of style I am trying to create. I sketched in my own signature calligraphy style, which aligns with the sign-writing script I have been researching. I then used the photo to trace on my iPad on Procreate using my Apple pencil. From this I uploaded the file outline to my laptop and used Adobe Illustrator to vector the text and create an outline and a drop shadow.


VECTOR - a digital image that remains the same resolution regardless of size. This file can be used for printing and cutting software such as vinyl cutting and laser cutting.


NEXT STEP - cut a prototype from vinyl to test the cut file before using the laser.

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