Laser Cut Paper Forms

Here is my paper form of a gem!!!

For this project, I used pink cardstock, Fusion, Adobe Illustrator, and the laser cutter.

My first step was sketching out ideas. I knew I wanted a playful shape that imitated an object, so I landed on a gem. I explored two possible designs, but chose the version where the bottom triangles connect, it felt like the simplest way to assemble once cut.

Next, I moved into Fusion to test both of my sketches. One design was easier to model but seemed tricky to fold, so I chose the more spread-out layout. Getting the sizing right was harder than I expected; every piece had to be even and aligned to assemble correctly. At first, the measurements felt frustrating, but I realized the set constraints (and Fusion’s constraint tools) were actually really helpful for making the design work. Throughout this design process, I realized how useful the constraint tools were, like conicents and the parallel tool, which were really helpful and made me realize how I could use them in the future for other projects.

After finishing the design, I exported it into Illustrator and set up the lines—red for cutting and blue for engraving. This part was super satisfying because without all the constraints, it looked so clean, and I could finally see the whole layout come together.

Next, I sent it to the laser cutter with all the right settings. Watching it work in person was really cool. On my first try, I lowered the power to 2% for the engraved (blue) lines, but that didn’t show up well. I adjusted it to 3%, and that worked much better.

Finally, I folded everything together and taped the flaps I had made. The flaps actually worked well, and it was pretty easy to shape overall. I just wish I had printed it larger; it was tiny and tricky to handle, so it didn’t come out as clean as I wanted. If I had more time, I’d go back into Fusion and tweak the top so it pops out more. I can totally imagine making a bunch of these in different sizes to hang from the ceiling or even as jewelry store decorations. This reminded me of the reading and how I can create 3D models using materials around me rather than using plastic. This would help me a lot to use this as a prototype to make sure I only need to print my final project once. This helped me understand that we can design with limits, which I also learned from the reading "Print Green". This project made me realize we can design while being mindful of our resources. Before this project, I would initially always think of 3D printing objects before even looking at laser cutting as an option. Overall, this project gave me a much better feel for both Fusion and laser cutting, and it was super fun to experiment with!