My initial thoughts were to create a lamp featuring different colors on each side. 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' eventually inspired me and the symbols representing each element provided interesting shapes for the light cutouts. I felt it was a little empty with just the cutouts, so I then added a simple rectangular border engraving as well as the words below for each element.
Technique:
The basic box for the lamp was made with MakerCase.com, and I imported the .svg file into Ilustrator to prepare the inner cuts and engravings. I found an image for each nation symbol and traced over them with the pen tool. I didn't use image trace because I found it easier to modify the curves manually. This was especially important because I had to slightly alter the water and fire symbols and wanted to have cleaner lines than image trace could produce for the laser cutter.
With the file ready for laser cutting, I built the 3d model in Rhino by extruding curves and then using various boolean operations to produce the raster carvings. I then imported the model into Keyshot to apply the textures/colors and assembled the final composition in Photoshop.
Materials:
I had the lamp laser cut on .205in sande plywood and assembled it with Loctite professional super glue. It's lit up by an LED candelabra bulb and different colors are diffused with construction paper glued to the inside of the wood.
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