Making of the Fabrica Mint

ALTERNATIVE EXPERIENCES
- Design is not just things. We experience the world around us in a myriad of forms, and design should be responsive to this, exploiting this fact to communicate ideas. By providing firsthand experiences, in the form of workshops, interactive installations and events, these projects aim to engage people in a ‘hands-on’ approach, bringing design to life, and as such combining a wide range of skills, ideas and opinions from all involved.

DIGITAL TOPOLOGY
- Knowingly or otherwise, we are immersed in a Digital Topology. We are surrounded by digital objects and electronics, and these have become an intrinsic, inescapable part of contemporary life at all levels. The projects in this category consider the current and future development of this landscape, and how digital technology can be used in a social, cultural and local way. Merging digital and non-digital elements, I aim to create subtle and creative alternatives for this technology, questioning (and breaking) the rules of the current digital paradigm.

FANTASTICAL
- These projects challenge the concept of what is (im)possible. Asking what we really know about reality, these designs are fantastical in their nature, but never frivolous or parodies. Taking design beyond its traditional role, I intend to show how it can be used to not only clarify, but to distort. Such speculative design can excite and stimulate, feeding our need for discovery and our imagination. The products in this category take us beyond our hopes for the future, making tangible our dreams of today.

After begin asked by Dean Brown, of Fabrica, to contrite something to the current Mobile Museum exhibition in Luxembourg’s Mudam exhibition, I set about idea generation for concepts to fit with the exhibition theme of “Money”. After considering various different routes to take, I finally settled om the idea of producing a “Fabrica Currency”. To keep the project lighthearted and playful I wanted to make this new currency from chocolate coins. My contribution to the show could be an edible giveaway, as well as the devices used to make the coins.

By deconstructing the process into its basic elements, I wanted to isolate one aspect, and produce a beautiful product to craft the delicious chocolate coins! The most obvious area to focus on was the actual moulds themselves. Distilling the essence of the chocolate coins, and heightening their worth, I decided to make the moulds single coin only. This allowed me to really focus on the aesthetics of the pieces and and the manufacture of them.

The key element of the moulds are of course the silicone parts which will actually hold the chocolate. The process of making these is set out below.

> Scales, pot, original to mould, food grade silicone, chemical hardener, fork

> Use rice to measure volume of silicone required

> Pour required volume of silicone into pot and note weight.

> Add hardener.

> Once thoroughly mixed, pour into mould container from a height to remove bubbles.

Once the individual silicone inserts had been made I had to think about how I was going to make 50-100 coins to send away to Luxembourg for the show?! Of course it would take ages to do them signally, so I made a tray of 5×2 so I could make 10 at a go. The first mould original was made from laser cut acrylic done by the wonderful Cut Laser Cut in Vauxhall , but the ten originals for the tray were produced on Novalia’s new laser cutter!

Unfortunately I don’t have any picture of the process of the making of the mould holders, but they are made from painted ceramic with a handmade walnut and cork ring base. For pictures of the final products and coins see the project page in my portfolio section. Thanks has to go to my assistant Kathryn for helping with the actual chocolate moulding!

Making of the Fabrica Mint

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