Improved Laser Printing Equipment for Ceramics ILPEC
Lead Research Organisation:
Royal College of Art
Department Name: School of Art and Humanities
Abstract
'Improved Laser Printing Equipment for Ceramics' builds on the results of the AHRC funded project: 'Extending the Potential for the Digitally Printed Ceramic Surface' (AH/M004333/1). The new project will offer immediate incremental improvements to the ceramic laser printing equipment currently available to ceramic tableware and giftware manufacturers and ceramic design studios. The project will also act as a longer term stimulus by identifying the technical specifications for the next generation of machines that will be directly dedicated to the needs of UK ceramics companies and related creative industries.
The value of laser printed ceramic technology has been proven in limited contexts: it is now widely employed to print small runs of ceramic transfers used to decorate tableware, giftware and artworks. More recently leading UK ceramic companies have started to recognise the technology's true potential and its commercial disruptive capability. This new appreciation is due in part to the AHRC funded research project conducted by the Royal College of Art. This has demonstrated that the new technology offers a range of aesthetic and economic opportunities unattainable with screenprinting, currently the dominant means of creating the large runs of ceramic transfers used to decorate high-value ceramics i.e. porcelain and bone china. As a truly digital technology, laser printing also holds the potential for complete integration of digital design development and the actual print processes.
One unanticipated outcome of the project was that the project team identified two key technical barriers to wider take-up of current laser ceramic printing technology. Whilst the laser print machines currently available were adequate for the requirements of office printing, two aspects of these laser printers' construction have proved to be weak links in the context of high volume, multi-colour accurate ceramic transfer printing. First is the inability of the current toner delivery system to handle the large quantities of different coloured mineral pigments needed for large runs of ceramic transfers. The second is the poor registration accuracy of the printer's paper feed mechanism.
This project will develop the improved machine parts needed to successfully print high volumes of high-quality multi-colour ceramic transfers. The new parts for and improved toner delivery system and more accurate paper feed system will be iteratively developed using digital modelling and 3D printing or laser cutting. The final designs for these parts will be published as open source CAD files on the RCA Repository, allowing other users to create the parts themselves using the same techniques.
The project will also assemble an industry working group to look beyond the currently available technology and define the requirements for a next generation, purpose-built, ceramic pigment digital laser printer. Drawing on the combined expertise of the working group, the project team will draft a comprehensive set of specifications that will respond to the needs of ceramics manufacturers and related industries that could use such machines. It is envisaged that the existence of the working group will also facilitate active partnerships amongst companies in complimentary areas and assist in the dissemination of both projects' outcomes across the members' own professional networks.
The open access CAD files will offer immediate material improvements to current printers and the specifications will inform the next generation of specialised digital laser printers. Both these will be available through the RCA's repository and disseminated through a dedicated RCA project webpage. The project team will also present the project's results at trade shows, conferences and ceramic festivals as well as through articles in relevant trade and academic publications.
The value of laser printed ceramic technology has been proven in limited contexts: it is now widely employed to print small runs of ceramic transfers used to decorate tableware, giftware and artworks. More recently leading UK ceramic companies have started to recognise the technology's true potential and its commercial disruptive capability. This new appreciation is due in part to the AHRC funded research project conducted by the Royal College of Art. This has demonstrated that the new technology offers a range of aesthetic and economic opportunities unattainable with screenprinting, currently the dominant means of creating the large runs of ceramic transfers used to decorate high-value ceramics i.e. porcelain and bone china. As a truly digital technology, laser printing also holds the potential for complete integration of digital design development and the actual print processes.
One unanticipated outcome of the project was that the project team identified two key technical barriers to wider take-up of current laser ceramic printing technology. Whilst the laser print machines currently available were adequate for the requirements of office printing, two aspects of these laser printers' construction have proved to be weak links in the context of high volume, multi-colour accurate ceramic transfer printing. First is the inability of the current toner delivery system to handle the large quantities of different coloured mineral pigments needed for large runs of ceramic transfers. The second is the poor registration accuracy of the printer's paper feed mechanism.
This project will develop the improved machine parts needed to successfully print high volumes of high-quality multi-colour ceramic transfers. The new parts for and improved toner delivery system and more accurate paper feed system will be iteratively developed using digital modelling and 3D printing or laser cutting. The final designs for these parts will be published as open source CAD files on the RCA Repository, allowing other users to create the parts themselves using the same techniques.
The project will also assemble an industry working group to look beyond the currently available technology and define the requirements for a next generation, purpose-built, ceramic pigment digital laser printer. Drawing on the combined expertise of the working group, the project team will draft a comprehensive set of specifications that will respond to the needs of ceramics manufacturers and related industries that could use such machines. It is envisaged that the existence of the working group will also facilitate active partnerships amongst companies in complimentary areas and assist in the dissemination of both projects' outcomes across the members' own professional networks.
The open access CAD files will offer immediate material improvements to current printers and the specifications will inform the next generation of specialised digital laser printers. Both these will be available through the RCA's repository and disseminated through a dedicated RCA project webpage. The project team will also present the project's results at trade shows, conferences and ceramic festivals as well as through articles in relevant trade and academic publications.
Planned Impact
The Commercial Sector:
The main immediate impact beneficiaries will be companies working in the UK ceramic industry, including, but not limited to, the members of the Follow-on Funding project industry working group. This will be immediately delivered through the open access availability of the new toner feed and registration systems, which will allow commercial companies to undertake large-volume accurate print runs. This extended capability, combined with direct access to the research team's work on developing new print methods that are more responsive to the medium's demands and aesthetic possibilities (a key outcome of the previous AHRC funded project), will give these companies a competitive advantage over overseas competitors.
Additional beneficiaries will be companies working in related creative industry sectors that share the use of ceramic pigment printing, but who do not currently employ laser printing techniques, and who could adopt the technology if improvements were made. These include the glass decorating and metal decorating industries, for whom an improvement in scales, speeds, economies and visual aesthetics would also boost production capabilities and market potential.
New start-ups and SMEs in the creative industries and manufacturing more generally, who are looking to laser printed ceramic technology as a market opportunity beyond the bureaux model for the delivery of ceramic transfers, are part of both the sectors mentioned above. The improvements in equipment function that the project will deliver will support and benefit this growth sector (see 'Innovation Through Craft: Opportunities for Growth', Craft Council 2016)
The project's gathering of diverse industry specialists to engage in roundtable discussions focussing on the next generation requirements for a made for purpose ceramic laser printer will provide clear definitions and specifications for further developments to be made to the technology. This knowledge will reach beyond the ceramic sector to benefit commercial companies from other fields such as: mechanical and software engineering as well as toner and transfer paper manufacturers.
Individual Technical and Managerial Professionals:
The creation of the project working group will facilitate the creation of professional contacts across different parts of the UK's digital printing community that currently have little opportunity for direct engagement. Members of the group will therefore personally benefit from the networking and partnership building the project will encourage, over and above the opportunity to extend their subject knowledge in relation to the technology in question.
Policy Makers:
The textual outputs of the project, including: the new machine specification, executive summary, project website and academic papers will all include a section contextualising the project's aims and results. By building on the material from the previous project: "Extending the Potential of the Digital Ceramic Surface", these outputs will offer an extended, comprehensive view of industrial perspectives on, and concrete developments in, digital printing technology for the ceramics industry stretching over the past three years. The project will therefore provide sound and referenceable evidence for policy makers engaged in activities related to industrial manufacturing, the digital economy, the creative industries and urban regeneration or development projects (especially the creation or support of urban creative quarters).
Individual Practitioners in the Creative Industries:
Individual artists and designers working within the disciplines of ceramics, glass, metals and printmaking will benefit from the advances in capability and capacity that the improvements will bring. The improvements in the toner feed system and the registration capability will open up new more sophisticated possibilities for artists in the areas of advanced colour saturation and precision printing.
The main immediate impact beneficiaries will be companies working in the UK ceramic industry, including, but not limited to, the members of the Follow-on Funding project industry working group. This will be immediately delivered through the open access availability of the new toner feed and registration systems, which will allow commercial companies to undertake large-volume accurate print runs. This extended capability, combined with direct access to the research team's work on developing new print methods that are more responsive to the medium's demands and aesthetic possibilities (a key outcome of the previous AHRC funded project), will give these companies a competitive advantage over overseas competitors.
Additional beneficiaries will be companies working in related creative industry sectors that share the use of ceramic pigment printing, but who do not currently employ laser printing techniques, and who could adopt the technology if improvements were made. These include the glass decorating and metal decorating industries, for whom an improvement in scales, speeds, economies and visual aesthetics would also boost production capabilities and market potential.
New start-ups and SMEs in the creative industries and manufacturing more generally, who are looking to laser printed ceramic technology as a market opportunity beyond the bureaux model for the delivery of ceramic transfers, are part of both the sectors mentioned above. The improvements in equipment function that the project will deliver will support and benefit this growth sector (see 'Innovation Through Craft: Opportunities for Growth', Craft Council 2016)
The project's gathering of diverse industry specialists to engage in roundtable discussions focussing on the next generation requirements for a made for purpose ceramic laser printer will provide clear definitions and specifications for further developments to be made to the technology. This knowledge will reach beyond the ceramic sector to benefit commercial companies from other fields such as: mechanical and software engineering as well as toner and transfer paper manufacturers.
Individual Technical and Managerial Professionals:
The creation of the project working group will facilitate the creation of professional contacts across different parts of the UK's digital printing community that currently have little opportunity for direct engagement. Members of the group will therefore personally benefit from the networking and partnership building the project will encourage, over and above the opportunity to extend their subject knowledge in relation to the technology in question.
Policy Makers:
The textual outputs of the project, including: the new machine specification, executive summary, project website and academic papers will all include a section contextualising the project's aims and results. By building on the material from the previous project: "Extending the Potential of the Digital Ceramic Surface", these outputs will offer an extended, comprehensive view of industrial perspectives on, and concrete developments in, digital printing technology for the ceramics industry stretching over the past three years. The project will therefore provide sound and referenceable evidence for policy makers engaged in activities related to industrial manufacturing, the digital economy, the creative industries and urban regeneration or development projects (especially the creation or support of urban creative quarters).
Individual Practitioners in the Creative Industries:
Individual artists and designers working within the disciplines of ceramics, glass, metals and printmaking will benefit from the advances in capability and capacity that the improvements will bring. The improvements in the toner feed system and the registration capability will open up new more sophisticated possibilities for artists in the areas of advanced colour saturation and precision printing.
Publications
Oakley, P.
(2018)
Creating a Brighter Future? Responses to the commercialisation of a new ceramic print technology
in Making Futures
Title | 'Welwyn Garden' Collection |
Description | Collaborative design development and production of ceramic tableware collection |
Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Impact | Launched collection during London Design Festival in Thomas Goode's flagship Mayfair showroom |
URL | https://www.smithbrown.co.uk/clients#/new-gallery/ |
Title | Artistic/Creative Exhibition - Milton Keynes Arts Centre - 2018 Plate Fundraiser |
Description | Milton Keynes Arts Centre has invited artists and designers to contribute to the 2018 Plate Fundraiser, an exhibition of the works and a live online auction. The project team worked closely with 10 of the exhibiting artists to interpret their concepts through the new print methods as developed within the project. |
Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Impact | Milton Keynes Arts Centre are a nationally significant gallery. There are 43 artists involved in the exhibition with a large audience range, including a Turner Prize nominees. In addition to the exhibition there is an online auction of the works that is internationally accessible, and is a major contributor to the galleries revenue funding. In previous years the Director of the gallery Emma-Jayne Taylor commented that they had used the digital print process in the past but was always disappointed with the results. Working with the research project has completely changed her perception of the technology and they will continue to encourage their artist's to continue to use it in the future. |
URL | https://miltonkeynesartscentre.org/Plate-Fundraiser-2018 |
Title | British Studio Ceramics Exhibition |
Description | British Studio Ceramic highlights the leading lights of a new wave in ceramics that emerged from the Royal College of Art in the 1970s. Creative freedom and an anything goes attitude defined this time at the Royal College and an influential group of students radically challenged and deconstructed notions of ceramics and particularly functional pottery. They led a revival of ceramics in the UK and continue to shape the scene today as leading figures in British ceramics. |
Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | The exhibition ran from 6 March 2021 - 4 April 2021 at Messums Gallery in Wiltshire, UK. https://messumswiltshire.com/ |
URL | https://messumswiltshire.com/exhibitions/exhibition-british-studio-ceramic/ |
Title | Contemporary British Ceramics exhibition |
Description | 'Contemporary British Ceramics: Beneath the Surface' is a landmark exhibition that brings together the work of 21 leading ceramic artists. It offers a rare opportunity to see work by internationally respected makers alongside award-winning new talent. Produced to coincide with the important new book Contemporary British Ceramics: Beneath the Surface by Ashley Thorpe, this exhibition charts the rich diversity of contemporary ceramic practice in Britain. |
Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | The Exhibition took place in the Drawing Schools Gallery at Eton College from 11 Nov 2021 to 5 December 2021, over the following dates: The exhibition was open to the public between 2.30pm - 5.30pm on the following weekends: 13th-14th November, 27th - 28th November, 4th - 5th December The exhibition was accompanied by an illustrated book, published by Crowood Press in 2021, featuring a selection of works by all the artists represented in the show. |
URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/contemporary-british-ceramics-beneath-the-surface-tickets-18115393529... |
Title | Digitally printed tableware designs |
Description | These realised designs sought to make improvements to the existing systems by reverse engineering the toner delivery system to deliver increased amounts of toner and the design of a new paper registration system to allow for multiple passes through one or more machine, in register, to allow for double printing and an extended colour range. These prototypes make use of the most recently developed printer and a new colour set of toner to: 1. achieve very subtle fades 2. revisit earlier Moire designs to achieve greater intensity of colour and stability of result in variable atmospheric conditions 3. achieve results that emulated a metallic surface |
Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Impact | Prototypes were shown at Top Drawer London 2018 and images of the works were published on the Royal College of Art open access online repository. |
URL | http://researchonline.rca.ac.uk/3135/ |
Title | Display at Ambiente, Frankfurt, Germany |
Description | Working with the Queensberry Hunt design consultancy research staff from the ILPEC team realised design ideas using the new digital print technology. The resulting material prototypes were displayed on a commercial manufacturers (Monno) trade stand, providing opportunity to gauge market interest in terms of commercial viability. |
Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Impact | Attendees at the trade fair were able to see and handle the prototypes and discuss the potential of the technology with the members of the ILPEC research team |
Title | Display at the British Ceramic Biennial, Stoke on Trent |
Description | Display presenting material results from the ILPEC project. Exhibits included the redesigned printer pump parts and paper feed mechanism and examples of digitally printed ceramic tests and commercial products created during the project. |
Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Impact | The display was seen by attendees at the Biennial including directors and senior managers of Ceramic manufactures, including the CEO of Wedgwood and Global Design Director os Steelite International |
Title | Display of objects at Top Draw, Olympia, London |
Description | Display presenting material results from the ILPEC project. Exhibits included examples of digitally printed ceramic tableware prototypes and commercial products created during the project. |
Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Impact | The display was seen by attendees at the Trade Fair including Ceramic manufacturers and distributers for the Hospitality sector |
Title | ILPEC work in progress pop-up exhibition at Making Futures V |
Description | The exhibition consisted of a selection of the digitally printed tableware produced during Extending the Potential for the Digitally Printed Ceramic Surface and the follow-on project Improved Laser Printing Equipment for Ceramics. |
Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Impact | The pop-up exhibition enabled conference attendees to making futures to see a selection of the objects that were produced for Extending the Potential for the Digitally Printed Ceramic Surface and the follow-on project Improved Laser Printing Equipment for Ceramics. Images of the works on show were shared on Instagram by Making Futures presenters and attendees. |
URL | http://researchonline.rca.ac.uk/3183/ |
Title | Milton Keynes Arts Centre - 2019 Plate Fundraiser |
Description | Milton Keynes Arts Centre has invited artists and designers to contribute to the 2019 Plate Fundraiser, an exhibition of the works and a live online auction from Friday 17 March 2017. The project team worked closely with 4 of the exhibiting artists to interpret their concepts through the new print methods as developed within the project. |
Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Impact | Milton Keynes Arts Centre are a nationally significant gallery. There are 30 artists involved in the exhibition with a large audience range, including a Turner Prize nominees. In addition to the exhibition there is an online auction of the works that is internationally accessible, and is a major contributor to the galleries revenue funding. In 2017 the Director of the gallery Emma-Jayne Taylor commented that they had used the digital print process in the past but was always disappointed with the results. Working with the research project has completely changed her perception of the technology and they will continue to encourage their artist's to use it in the future as has happened this year. |
URL | https://miltonkeynesartscentre.org/Plate-Fundraiser-2019 |
Title | Places and Spaces |
Description | This exhibition further investigates the formal language of the vessel and the way that it can both contain a space and define a place. It makes reference to elements of architectural language and further analyses the poetic qualities of mathematics and geometry. Building on previous work shown with Marsden Woo Gallery (Plates - Bowls - Vases, 2015) and its exploration of the archetype of the vase as a jumping-off point, the new body of work drops the scale to that of the cup, mug or beaker for an exploration of the geometric intersection of cylinders and cubes. This series of work uses Parian. The immaculacy of its marble-like appearance is echoed in the geometric purity of the piece, and then juxtaposed by a rough texture - closer to the erosion of an organic materials than the precision of the ground and polished surface that has characterised Smith's most recent work. He utilises a more monochromatic palette, offset with defined areas of intense colour produced through the digital printing technology |
Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Impact | The exhibition was widely reported in specialist ceramic and craft journals eg. Crafts, Ceramic Review, Ceramics Art and Perception and also associated on-line articles eg http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/articles/perfectly-formed/ |
Title | Production run of digitally printed bone china for commercial partner Santorus Ltd |
Description | Santorus Ltd have become known for their lavish, exuberant designs onto luxury fabrics, wallpapers, furniture and clothing. The Design Director Tara Strickland exploits the language made possible through new digital tools, and the company has identified companies to work with that use digital print production techniques to match. Keen to extend their business to include luxury bone china tableware, Santorus Ltd found the ILPEC project to be the only solution available to them at the time. Working closely with Steve Brown and Martin Smith at the RCA, Strickland and her team developed 17 entirely new digital designs for ceramic items, which were prototyped by exploiting the project's unique reprographic strategies, and printed using their new double printing methods. Workflows were then explored and set up, which utilised existing transfer application and firing methods in Stoke-on-Trent, in order to facilitate a limited edition production run of all 17 ceramic items. This unique set of three limited edition collections are the first production run to use the project's new knowledge, and the first to be commercially available, launched by Santorus Ltd at a number of design shows during 2017/18. |
Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Impact | Shown at Decorex London 2017 and Heimtextil Frankfurt 2018 allowing attendees to see the application of the developments in the new digital technology. |
URL | http://researchonline.rca.ac.uk/id/eprint/3130 |
Title | Prototypes manifesting unique visual qualities, realised through the research projects (ILPEC) developments |
Description | Dr Steve Brown's collection of digitally printed ceramic tableware on bone china, were produced through the use of new knowledge developed during the AHRC funded project ILPEC 'Improved Laser Printing Equipment for Ceramics'. Throughout the project unique visual qualities were developed, specifically focussing on saturated colour made possible through double printing, used in combination with the technology's inherent ability to produce near continuous tone blends and fades. New reprographic strategies were also put into place, contributing to a sophisticated new visual territory opening up for the production of uniquely rich ceramic surfaces. |
Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Impact | Prototypes were shown at the British Ceramics Biennial in Stoke-on-Trent in 2017 and Top Drawer London 2018 and images of the works were published on the Royal College of Art open access online repository. |
URL | http://researchonline.rca.ac.uk/id/eprint/3129 |
Title | Selection of Prototypes displayed at Design Research for Change |
Description | Prototypes demonstrating the technical and aesthetic capabilities of the digital print system |
Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Impact | Attendance at the Festival Show was 29,286. trade 76% Press 6% Public 18%. Images of the work and a description of the project was featured in the Design Research for Change catalogue |
URL | https://www.londondesignfair.co.uk/features/design-research-for-change |
Title | Spring Fair at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, UK |
Description | This was the opportunity to showcase at the "UK's No. 1 trade show for gift and home" the results of the project to the international ceramic industry and retail sector |
Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Impact | The Spring Fair reaches 60,000 visitors and attracts a purchasing power of £2.4 billion from buyers across independents, multiples, e-Commerce and department stores. Critical conversations were held with key personnel from manufacturing and retail industries, stimulating a new perception of the potential for digital print production |
URL | http://www.springfair.com/page.cfm/Action=Exhib/ExhibID=6010 |
Title | T Plane Bespoke Tableware for Private Plane |
Description | Bespoke custom personalisation designs developed and produced for private jet plane for a Thomas Goode client. |
Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Impact | Personalised tableware used for private jet plane |
Title | Thomas Goode bespoke range |
Description | Collaborative design development and production of ceramic tableware collection |
Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Impact | Launched collection during London Design Festival in Thomas Goode's flagship Mayfair showroom |
URL | https://www.smithbrown.co.uk/clients#/new-gallery/ |
Title | Three art works in a group exhibition at Marsden Woo 17 Jan - 23 Feb 2019 |
Description | Three art works using the developments with the digital print technology referencing the blue part of the spectrum. |
Type Of Art | Artwork |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Impact | Open access exhibition open for 4 weeks in central London |
Title | Vivi Commission |
Description | A bespoke commission for 512 decorated ceramic items utilising the new digital print technology |
Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Impact | The output has the capacity to generate significant publicity for the new technology in the key market of short run, high-value bespoke ceramic products. |
Description | The project team have confirmed that the two key technical barriers to wider take-up of current laser ceramic printing technology printer registration and toner feed. Whilst the laser print machines currently available were adequate for the requirements of office printing, two aspects of these laser printers' construction have proved to be weak links in the context of high volume, multi-colour accurate ceramic transfer printing. First is the inability of the current toner delivery system to handle the large quantities of different coloured mineral pigments needed for large runs of ceramic transfers. The second is the poor registration accuracy of the printer's paper feed mechanism. This project will develop the improved machine parts needed to successfully print high volumes of high-quality multi-colour ceramic transfers. The project team consulted an industry working group to look beyond the currently available technology and define the requirements for a next generation, purpose-built, ceramic pigment digital laser printer. Drawing on the combined expertise of the working group, the project team defined a comprehensive set of specifications that responded to the needs of ceramics manufacturers and related industries. |
Exploitation Route | Having undertaken specific technical explorations in response to the needs and requests of commercial partners we can now confidently state that there is definite commercial potential for the process for mid volume, high value prestige ceramics. |
Sectors | Creative Economy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
URL | https://www.rca.ac.uk/schools/school-of-arts-humanities/funded-research/improved-laser-printing-equipment-ceramics-ilpec/ |
Description | The project findings, in terms of the material artifacts and understanding of the potential of the digital printing system as a whole, are now informing the work of design consultancies e.g. Queeensbury Hunt, and major ceramic manufacturers, e.g Steelite International and luxury brands e.g. Santorus. The results of the project led to a Spin Out Company, Smith & Brown. Through this, the technology has been presented to key commercial ceramic manufacturers in the UK and Europe and two of the project team have also undertaken commercial production exploiting the new digital print technology. The project team have engaged in further impact activities over 2020 and 2021, including assembling a new website, exhibiting artworks and prototypes created during the project and presenting papers that draw or reflect on the project activities. |
First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
Sector | Creative Economy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Retail |
Impact Types | Cultural,Economic |
Description | Invitation to join consultancy panel to review draft content of Craft and Design T Level |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
Impact | Thank you for registering to attend the Craft and Design employer engagement event on Monday 11th January 2021 to review the draft outline content for the T Level and feedback your views. For your convenience, we have attached a copy of the Craft and Design draft outline content for you to review beforehand. This draft document contains the core content for the Creative and Design pathway and the Craft and Design occupational specialisms on which we'll be asking for your views. We have also attached the agenda to give you an insight about the discussion points for the day. |
Description | Membership of the Interfolio Strategic Committee for Researchfish |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
Impact | The strategy group inputs result in ongoing improvements in the efficiency, economy, and coverage of the ResearchFish platform and ensures its continued and enhanced relevance for the subscribed funders, including those managing UK public funds. The group also considers the ongoing impact of changes to the system on the researchers that provide the annual data reports, ensuring a balance between the necessity of gathering and collating substantive and useful data and keeping the demands and complexity of the submission process to a miniumum.. |
Title | CAD working drawings for a unique registration system enabling multi-pass printing for A3 Ricoh 830 and 840 model laser printers |
Description | The ILPEC project has developed multi-pass printing for laser printers that utilise ceramic pigments, in order to address the often weak qualities conventionally available. This registration system has been designed specifically to produce very fine re-registration of transfer paper. The addition of the comb element allows the paper to be loaded and the system to then work hands free. While the design has been used for ceramic printing the concept of multi-pass laser printing can be extended to other uses and materials such as for glass and enamelled metals. |
Type Of Technology | New/Improved Technique/Technology |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Impact | The creation of technical prototypes enabled the testing of the equipment at higher volumes and colour saturation. This in turn enabled the realisation of products for the commercial market, which were then exhibited at trade fairs. |
URL | http://researchonline.rca.ac.uk/id/eprint/3132 |
Title | Working CAD files that allow the fabrication of 3D printed parts to replace and improve the quantity of toner flow for a Ricoh Aficio SP C830DN laser printer |
Description | Working CAD files that allow the fabrication of 3D printed parts to replace and improve the quantity of toner flow for a Ricoh Aficio SP C830DN laser printer |
Type Of Technology | New/Improved Technique/Technology |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Impact | The creation of technical prototypes enabled the testing of the equipment at higher volumes and colour saturation. This in turn enabled the realisation of products for the commercial market, which were then exhibited at trade fairs. |
URL | http://researchonline.rca.ac.uk/id/eprint/3133 |
Company Name | Smith&Brown Ltd |
Description | Smith&Brown Ltd has been established as a private company limited by shares with Martin Smith, the PI, and Dr Steve Brown, the Researcher, as the two Directors. Making use of findings and systems developed through the project, it aims to provides a design and production offer for bespoke tableware for the hospitality industry, particularly hotels and restaurants. It will also develop a series of signature tableware items for on line sale. |
Year Established | 2018 |
Impact | The company was incorporated on the 14th March and is in the process of equipping its studio |
Website | http://smithbrown.co.uk |
Description | IMPACT 11 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 'Towards a Vitreous Printed Syntax: Developing Visual Language through Printed Ceramic & Glass Media'. This presentation built upon my previous observations of where creative thinking lays within the social and individual layers of print production in relation to ceramics and glass media. I extended that thinking towards a discussion of how printmaking technology, in combination with ceramic and glass materials, has a determining influence on visual language and how artists have paid attention to and embraced these factors to form their own visual grammar. IMPACT - International Multi-disciplinary Printmaking, Artists, Concepts and Techniques - is one of the largest professional conferences dedicated specifically to printmaking. IMPACT 11 took was hosted by Hong Kong Open Printshop, 20-25 April, 2021 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.impact11.hk/application/en/submission/submission-viu8z6mx/ |
Description | New ILPEC Project Webpage |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | The new project webpage, constructed to align with the newly designed RCA website, introduces the 'Improved Laser Printing Equipment for Ceramics' (ILPEC) project, as well as listing the approach and outputs and presenting a gallery of the prototypes created during the project. The page links to high level pages on the RCA website, including the Research header page and the School of Arts and Humanities header page. The page is being maintained as a permanent project legacy. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.rca.ac.uk/research-innovation/projects/improved-laser-printing-equipment-ceramics-ilpec/ |
Description | Presentation given to undergraduate students at Thammasat University, Thailand (Dec 2019) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | Digital Printing for Ceramics presentation was a seminar delivered to the Industrial Craft programme at Thammasat University's Lampang Campus in Northern Thailand. Students are engaged in ceramics design for the local Thai ceramics industry. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Presentation to Shanghai Centre of Public Art faculty, Shanghai University |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Combining Materials and Concepts: the case of ceramics in Western art was a presentation delivered to Shanghai Centre of Public Art faculty, Shanghai University. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Public presentation in Bangkok |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | The Value(s) of Crafting in the 21st Century was a presentation given at the Thailand Creative and Design Centre, Bangkok |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | The Order of Colour (Chemfest) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | A public presentation of selected holdings in the RCA Colour Reference Library and related AHRC funded research projects delivered with Neil Parkinson, RCA Archives and Collections Manager, as part of Chemfest 2019 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.discoversouthken.com/itinerary/chemistry-festival/ |