May 23, 2013
Tietz-Baccon’s Next Act
Technology and new skills help define, early in the process, the feasibility of prototypes and reduce the cost of making them.
This past weekend at ICFF I ran into Erik Tietz and Andrew Baccon. As you may recall, the co-founders of Tietz-Baccon, a Long Island City-based digital fabricator, were prominently featured in our Makers issue back in December. Way off in the back corner of the Javits’ lower level, they were exhibiting under a new banner, Machinemade.
Their recently launched website holds real promise, especially for younger industrial designers. It allows them to digitally explore a variety of services (CNC Milling, CNC Routing, Laser Cutting/Engraving, Waterjet Cutting) and materials, providing a mix and match capability that should greatly simplify the process of fabrication. Perhaps more importantly, it will help to define early in the process the feasibility and cost of potential prototypes.
machinemade.com
5axis CNC Routing
machinemade.com
2″ Clear Acrylic Cut & Etch
Machinemade is also a nice piece of design, possessing a kind of utilitarian elegance. The interface is simple and intuitive; everything feels clean, legible, and logically ordered. “We’re excited that you like the design, because we’ve definitely been focusing on making it as straightforward as possible,” Tietz explained to me via email. “The main workflow and content came from us. The front-end user experience, functionality, and graphic layout, was a collaboration between us and our friends at RockPaperRobot, an engineering boutique specializing in the fabrication of kinetic furniture and lighting. The back-end database management and order processing was done by Shady Hill Studios.”
Ty Cole
The VIP entrance at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Ty Cole
Detail of the Corian wall at the arena, designed by SHoP Architects
For industrial designers in search of fabrication help, or aficionados of clean web design, take a look.
