Process

Ideation & sketches

Inspiration from the Lusik Aguletsi House-Museum

I recently visited the Lusik Aguletsi House-Museum in Yerevan, and it was such an inspiring experience! The museum is filled with traditional Armenian artifacts, from beautifully detailed national costumes to intricate pottery and jewelry, all showcasing the richness of Armenian culture.

My guide was amazing—she shared so much valuable information about the exhibits and even gave me tons of ideas for my project. I left feeling super inspired and even more motivated to incorporate elements of Armenian heritage into my work.

If you ever get the chance to visit, I highly recommend it!

We also had an interesting conversation about Armenian carpets and their unique symbols. I learned that many carpet patterns hold deep meanings, often representing family, life, and personal stories. If you know how to read a carpet, it can tell you everything about the family that made it—like a visual diary passed down through generations.
Inspired by this, I decided to incorporate some of these traditional carpet patterns into my project. Using them felt like a beautiful way to connect my work to Armenian heritage and tell a meaningful story through design.

During my visit to the Lusik Aguletsi House-Museum, I also learned a lot about traditional Armenian jewelry and the deep meanings behind its designs. Most of the pieces are not only decorative but also symbolic, often representing fertility or serving as protection from the evil eye.

One piece that stood out to me was the "Shamshik." This traditional brooch features intricate Armenian patterns inspired by nature. It is believed to have protective qualities, acting as an amulet to safeguard the wearer from harm. Shamshik is a beautiful example of how Armenian craftsmanship combines artistry with cultural and spiritual significance.

Sketching Ideas for My Project

Inspired by my visit to the Lusik Aguletsi House-Museum, I started creating sketches to imagine how traditional patterns could work in my project. I explored ways to incorporate these motifs into interactive designs.

Creating an Accordion-Style Book Inspired by Armenian Folklore and Crafts

1. Concept and Inspiration
Instead of creating a traditional book, I chose to design an accordion-style book. This format will unfold in a continuous way, representing a flowing narrative. Just like Armenian folklore, the idea is to have one long, connected thread that guides the reader through the story.

2. Interactive and Immersive Format
The accordion-style design is interactive. As the reader unfolds the pages, they will engage with the story in a more immersive way. This format invites them to explore the story as they physically manipulate the pages, creating a dynamic reading experience.

To make this kind of book, you can see the tutorial below:

Watch the Pinterest video

3. Integration of Art and Design
I want this book to go beyond just a storytelling tool—it's an art piece in its own right. To make it even more engaging, I’ll be incorporating textures and embossed designs into the pages. These details are inspired by traditional Armenian crafts, adding a cultural and tactile element that enhances the reader's experience.

4. Blending Tradition with Modern Storytelling
By combining the timeless traditions of Armenian art with modern narrative techniques, the book becomes a bridge between the past and present. This blend offers a fresh way to share stories, while also honoring the rich cultural heritage of Armenia.

5. Final Touches
Once the structure is ready, I’ll refine the materials and printing techniques. The textures and embossing will be carefully chosen to match the themes of Armenian folklore, creating a cohesive look and feel throughout the entire book.

Book Cover Design and 3D Printing Process

Designing the Cover The cover of the book was designed using Illustrator. I chose an aesthetic and beautiful font for the title, complemented by patterns representing themes from the book such as the sun, moon, fire, and water. The goal was to create an old-style book design to capture the essence of the book and make it visually intriguing.

Concept: Old-style book design with symbolic patterns reflecting the themes of the book.

After finalizing the layout and vector elements in Illustrator, I exported the design as an SVG file. This allowed me to preserve the crisp lines and shapes when importing the artwork into Blender for the 3D modeling process.

In Blender, I used the SVG to extrude the shapes and convert them into 3D geometry. This process helped bring the flat design into a tangible form, making it suitable for 3D printing. I adjusted the thickness, placement, and scaling of different elements to ensure they would look good when printed and also align properly with the rest of the book cover.

• Software Used: Adobe Illustrator for 2D design and Blender for 3D modeling.
• Export Process: Illustrator → SVG → Blender for extrusion and layout.

First Attempt for Printing on Fabric

For the initial print, I chose blue felt as the base and used golden PLA filament for the title and patterns. This combination created a beautiful result, but I wanted to explore another version.

• Material Choice: Blue felt for base and golden PLA for patterns and text.
• Printer Used: Creality Ender 3 Pro.
• Printer Settings:
• Filament Type: PLA (golden).
• Print Temperature: 220°C (adjusted for PLA).
• Layer Height: 0.2mm for fine detail.
• Print Speed: 50mm/s for balanced quality and speed.
• Support: None (printed directly on fabric).
• Bed Temperature: 60°C for optimal adhesion.

The Ender 3 Pro provided great precision and consistent results, especially with the combination of fabric and PLA, which required some fine-tuning. The blue felt worked as a good base material, and the golden PLA filament stood out well, offering a striking contrast.

Experimenting with Sparkle Blue Magic Filament

For the second attempt, I decided to use a sparkle blue magic filament as the base instead of felt. I thought this would add a unique texture and enhance the overall look. The golden PLA filament was used for the title and patterns, providing a nice contrast and detail that made the design stand out more.

• Material Change: Sparkle blue magic filament for the base and golden PLA for the design elements.

Printing Process with Qidi 3D Printer

For this project, I used the Qidi 3D printer to bring the cover to life. The process was more complex than the first attempt, as I switched between filaments to create the desired contrast and fine details in the design.

The first print involved using the sparkle blue magic filament as the base material, which gave the cover a striking and textured appearance. The choice of filament also provided a lovely shimmer effect under light, which was exactly what I envisioned for the overall design.

During the printing process, I relied on the help of the Qidi 3D printer's capabilities, which offered precision and flexibility with its dual extrusion feature. This allowed me to print the blue base and golden title/patterns separately without any issues. The printer handled the intricate details, especially around the font and illustration, with ease.

• First Attempt: I printed the base using the sparkle blue magic filament and the patterns and fonts in golden filament. The contrast between the two filaments worked well, creating a vibrant and visually appealing design.
• Second Attempt: In this version, I used the golden filament only for the title and parts of the illustration. The rest of the cover remained blue, making the title stand out even more and emphasizing the design's focal point.

The Qidi 3D printer played a crucial role in achieving this design, and with its help, I was able to experiment with different filament combinations for each section of the cover. The precision of the printer, especially in handling detailed parts like the fonts and intricate patterns, made the process much easier. Without the support of the Qidi printer, achieving such a high-quality result with multiple materials and precision would have been much more challenging.

• Printer Settings:
• Filament Type: Sparkle blue magic filament for the base and golden PLA for the title and details.
• Print Temperature: 220°C for PLA filament.
• Layer Height: 0.2mm for fine detail.
• Print Speed: 50mm/s for quality and precision.
• Support: None (printed directly on the base material).
• Bed Temperature: 60°C for better adhesion.

This printing process was a great learning experience, especially when working with multiple filaments and fine details. The results showed how important the printer's features were in getting the design just right.

Printing Strategy: Multi-filament printing with blue for the base and golden for highlights and patterns.

Final Results

The final result was fantastic! The combination of blue and gold created a striking contrast, with the sparkle blue base giving a magical effect and the golden elements providing a timeless elegance.

Outcome: The two-tone design with sparkle blue and golden filament produced a stunning book cover with depth and visual appeal.

✨ General Process for All Illustrations and 3D Files

For every illustration and 3D model I created in this project, I followed the same general workflow.
First, I designed the visuals in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop, depending on the type of image.
Then I either printed them on paper for presentation or converted them into 3D models for printing.
The same steps and techniques were repeated for each design to keep everything consistent and clean.

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🖨️ Printing the Illustrations on Paper

• Created illustrations in Illustrator and Photoshop.
• Saved files in CMYK color mode to ensure proper print colors.
• Printed on A4 matte paper for a soft and professional finish.

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🧱 From 2D to 3D: Turning Illustrations into Solid Files in Blender

This is the step-by-step process I followed for each 3D printable design:

1. Saving as SVG
   Exported the vector design from Illustrator as an SVG file for clean path import.

1. Importing into Blender
   Imported the SVG into Blender.
   Used the Scale tool to adjust the size, since Blender often imports SVGs at the wrong scale.

2. Adding Thickness with Solidify
   Applied the Solidify modifier to give the flat shape depth and turn it into a solid 3D object.

3. Cleaning the Mesh
   Checked the mesh carefully to make sure it was clean — no overlapping vertices or non-manifold edges.

4. Exporting as STL
   Exported the final model as an STL file, ready for slicing and 3D printing.

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FABRICATION FILES

• Book Cover