Last year, Creative Bloq challenged us to reimagine their Brand Impact Award (BIA) mallet trophy.
The brief was simple - create a new design for the mallet that celebrates the unique opportunities afforded by utilising 3D printing as a manufacturing process.
Our primary goals were to produce a piece that establishes a visual weight, inferring impact, demands attention when placed on a shelf, and explores forms that can only be achieved through 3D printing.
Our team got to work, producing two distinct concepts to present to the Creative Bloq Team. The first focused on a strong, bold silhouette, giving the impression of weightiness, suggesting the impact that the award represents. A soft square form explores a delicacy that, combined with exaggerated printed layer lines, proposes a pleasing juxtaposition. This textured finish celebrates the process as an intentional decision rather than something to hide, and metal end cap fascias give the design a premium edge.
The second concept, which was ultimately selected for development, explores a complex handle form, consisting of a 3D lattice texture, that is achievable through the unique capabilities offered by 3D printing. Marble effect PLA gives a timeless impression, evoking sculpture or fine art. A subtle flat creates a poise that angles the metal fascia plate towards the perceiver.
Following the conceptual phase, we developed the trophy fascia plate, proposing a handful of graphical styles for the client to select a preference. We then took feedback from the conceptual stage, and a direction for the fascia, to work through a finalisation stage, the culmination of which was a firmed-up design direction.
The main changes that we identified from the concept were to thin down the metal plates, allowing them to be laser cut from a flat sheet. This reduced the cost and ensured we could get the optimal polished finish that we desired. The proportions were adjusted slightly to give the head more visual weight, and an embossed strike plate, complete with BIA branding was added to the rear face.
Following client approval, our team engineered the design direction to be optimised for scaled 3D printed manufacture, including creating a cavity for a weight to be added to each mallet, and breaking the mallet down into different elements to assist the ease of printing. The design, construction and assembly was optimised at this stage through iterative 3D print testing.
An advantage of using 3D printing is the ability to rapidly implement local manufacturing at low volumes. We produced all 85 of the mallets in-house in our Nottingham studio, a far more sustainable manufacturing practice than outsourcing.
A big congratulations to all of the winners of the award, and a big thank you to @creativebloqofficial for their collaboration and efforts in bringing this project to life.
Established in 1984, Centreline is an award-winning, design-to-manufacture consultancy, with studios in London and Nottingham.
Got your own great idea that you’d like to turn into reality? We’d love to hear it - call 01623 884300 today to arrange a free consultation.
