Challenges

Most of the challenges we needed to overcome were related to: interpretation, details, longevity, and very lower costs to create a great product. For example, to make sure we obtained the highest level of details we wanted to work in a similar production process used in the jewelry industry. This is a complex process that includes: 3D digital artists and designers, sculptors, 3D tooling systems, materials and art experts.

The research process for creating a 3D interpretation of a 2D image was also challenging. We went through several iterations, some of which failed. After several 3D digital artists and designers spent many hours creating 3D models, the models were first reviewed by us together with art historians. At the same time we were selecting the best shop in the world to create the molds we needed.

The booming of the 3D printing and tolling industry has definitely helped our project, but sometimes, all that buzz made it difficult to find the right tools and partners.

Thanks to several past projects we knew all of that already. At the beginning we valuated several shops internationally, then we started working with two and then proceeded only with the one that demonstrated the best capability and expertise.

To proof and improve our project we created several "workshops" (mainly parties) with blinds and visually impaired people with different demography that tested our tactile paintings. User testing allowed us to collect feedback directly from the users. This was something we enjoyed and definitely we’ll keep doing to improve the product.