The Christmas State of Mind Ornament

by Leandro_Rolon

9.2K8923

Intro: The Christmas State of Mind Ornament

Every year, The President of the United states delivers a Christmas message. In the spirit of the holiday season, The Christmas State of Mind Ornament pays homage to American History by celebrating Presidential Christmas Quotes shared throughout time.

For The White House 3D-Printed Ornament Challenge we have selected a special quote from former President Ronald Reagen during his 1981 Christmas Speech.

"Christmas is a state of mind. It is found throughout the year whenever faith overcomes doubt, hope conquers despair, and love triumphs over hate."

— Ronald Reagan

STEP 1: Select Your Message, Design and Trace

Once your message is selected a typographic design is created then outlined utilizing Adobe Illustrator.

After the design is generated the outlines are exported from Adobe Suite and then imported into your preferred 3d software.

STEP 2: Extrude Your Message

Utilizing 3d software the letters are imported then extruded to create printable solids. For this design we are using Rhino 3D and the Grasshopper parametric plugin.

STEP 3: Wrap Your Object

The letters are extruded then applied to the ornament based on our set parameters.

The final geometry is an ornament, articulated via typographic characters. The message wraps around the ornament creating a complex and interesting sculptural form.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

STEP 4:

22 Comments

BigDaddyDawg 2 years ago

What material did you use for the extrusion, Leandro?

What a wonderful quote and beautiful design...it certainly captures the heartfelt sentiment of the season.

RonC76 7 years ago

This is amazing. I have tried to use Ai and duplicate with my own lyrics from White Christmas and I can't even get it started. I am computer illiterate and hoped it would be easier than it is. I just can't seem to figure out how you got the words to align like you did. Any tips?

3D Printing Ninja 8 years ago

Congrats, your model has been selected as one of the best 3D Printed Ornaments this year! See: http://3dprintingninja.blogspot.com/2015/11/top-free-3d-printed-ornaments-2015.html

seanbell157 9 years ago

here is what I was talking about. not sure how to private message on here yet or do you mean on Facebook?

Leandro_Rolon 9 years ago

Just sent you a private msg.

seanbell157 9 years ago

nice work, how much is one of them 3d printers? I made a scene from the movie ...the Christmas story complete with flick stuck to the flagpole,scut farkis and his yellow eyes,randy all bundled up,like a tick about to pop,randy holding a red rider bb gun with a compass in the stock. anyway when I made them I used Styrofoam for the heads and cut the face off them printed pictures of the kids and laminated them to protect from the elements. I'm wondering if anyone who has a 3d printer can help me out and print me heads for the kids or direct me somewhere where I, can have it done. this year I'm adding wiper motors to the kid on the flagpole so he flips and flops like the kid in the movie. and yes I did make a,leg lamp that is in my front window.
so,if anyone out there can jelp me out or steer me in the right direction I would really appreciate it.

Leandro_Rolon 9 years ago

Hi Sean! Thanks for the msg. 3d printers cost anywhere between $500 for an entry level machine and up to about $3000 for higher quality machine. Alternatively you can use a service provider such as shapeways or sculpteo which offer superior results in terms of print quality. FYI, these guy have $50,000 machines! For your project, have you looked into crowdsourcing your design on a website such as cadcrowd? Typically this route is more affordable as multiple designers compete for your project. Of course I would also be happy to help. Feel free to private msg me some more details about your project and we can take it from there. Best!

seanbell157 9 years ago

Here is some of my work

Mr Makes It 9 years ago

Great idea and execution! I got to learn Rhino.

Leandro_Rolon 9 years ago

Hey Thanks mparker07! Yeah Rhino is a great tool, but don't forget its just a tool and where there is one there are many. Sketchup, Inventor, Solidworks, etc are all great software's as well. If you know any of these its just a slightly different procedure to get the same result. Goodluck and let me know if you have any questions!

Leandro_Rolon 9 years ago

Depending on which software your using this process may vary. I recommend Rhino if your going for the same look although Solidworks apparently has a pretty good "wrap" tool. Also if your just looking on adding curvature to your letters and stacking them you can utilize the "shape bender" tool which is pretty straight forward.

Leandro_Rolon 9 years ago

Hi Fred and Tiff. Are either of you familiar with Rhino or Grasshopper?

fred27 9 years ago

Could you expand on step 2 and explain how to actually wrap the 2D design onto the ornament?

tiffanitwysted 9 years ago

Can you give more detail on how you did the wrapping to the shape of the ornament?

Blackdog3d 9 years ago

Really Cool Orinament!

Leandro_Rolon 9 years ago

Thanks Blackdog3d, same to you! Goodluck!

Leandro_Rolon 9 years ago

85%!!! Unfortunately the power cut off on our printer a little too soon. Cant wait to see this bad boy on our tree!