Upcoming Nervous System Events in Boston

We’re doing several fun events in the upcoming month, and we wanted to tell you about them.

3D Printing Night @Room 68 — April 4, 6-9pm
68 South St, Jamaica Plain, MA

Tomorrow night (April 4th) we’ll be at Room 68 from 6:00-9:00pm. Stores and galleries in Jamaica Plain stay open late on the first Thursday of each month, and our friends at Room 68 invited us to be involved. We love working with the Room 68 team, and we’re excited to be showing off a brand new cellular coffee table designed with our Radiolaria web app. You can also buy Nervous System lamps or jewelry and see a MakerBot 3D printer in action. Maybe we’ll make a 3D-printed cat for you!

Science Crawl @Xylem — April 18, 5-8pm
287 Third St, Cambridge, MA

On Thursday, April 18th, we’ll be hosting one of the stops on the Science Crawl, a Cambridge Science Festival event. We’re thankful to our friends at Xylem for letting us use their store. We hope you’ll come by and see the exhibition: we’re going to transform Xylem into a space where you can explore everything Nervous System. We’ll have all our new stuff on display, including tables, superhard jigsaw puzzles, and neon-colored jewelry. We’re also going to invite visitors to experiment with our interactive design tools, and Jesse and Jessica will be there to explain the math and science behind their designs. Ask them anything!

Somerville Open Studios @Nervous System — May 4-5, 12-6pm
561 Windsor St, Suite A206, Somerville, MA

In May, we’re going to be involved with Somerville Open Studios, a great event where artists all over Somerville invite people to see the spaces where they create. First, Nervous System will be featured at the Somerville Open Studios fashion show on May 1st. The fashion show starts at 7:30pm in the Center for Arts at the Armory. Then, on May 4th and 5th, the Nervous System studio will be open from noon til 6:00pm, and we’d love for you to come visit. We’ll be featuring our interactive design tools, and we plan to show some new experiments as well.

updates from Nervous System: radiolaria table, 2-color 3d-printing and more

We’re following through with our promise to add tables to the Radiolaria app. Soon you will be able to design your own cellular tables on our website which we CNC route in the studio from plywood. We’ve been testing out various designs and settings. We should have a finished prototype to show you next week. The tables will come complete with organic wood bases and glass inserts for the larger holes.

We now have custom jewelry boxes that fit our larger pieces. These boxes feature a branching pattern we generated with the system show in this video. They are printed in black on recycled speckletone paper, wrapped around recycled chipboard boxes.

We’ve been developing our colors for our spring/summer jewelry collection by creating our own acid dye mixes. Our retail manager, Lia, created an impressive palette of neon colors that should be available before the end of March.

We’ve been playing with two color 3d-printing using our Makerbot Replicator 1. Jesse created an app that takes any 3d model and converts it into a 3d-printable 2-color shell using reaction-diffusion. So far, we’ve just applied it to cats. But, we have some other things in mind and hope to release it as an app on our website soon…so anyone can convert any model into a 2-color print. You can download the 2-color cat models from our Thingiverse.

We made a version of the Large Hyphae Ring in sterling silver for a magazine cover photoshoot that came out spectacular!

When we release the new colors, we’ll be retiring a few pieces from the Hyphae collection and replacing them with some new designs.

Holiday Shipping and Return Information

The Holidays can get pretty hectic so we’ve put together some important information about last chance shipping dates and extensions to our return policy.  In order to get your Nervous System purchase by December 24th, please order by these dates.

US Orders for arrival by December 24th

First-Class Mail: December 18th
Priority Mail: December 19st
Express Mail: December 20nd

International Orders for arrival by December 24th

Priority Mail International: December 10th
Express Mail International: December 15th.
First Class International: Can take up to 6 weeks – please DO NOT select first class international if you would like to receive your item in time for the Christmas Holiday.

Please review these dates when shopping or head to the USPS Holiday Shipping Guide for more info.

Return Policy

We are extending our return policy to accommodate holiday orders, please read carefully: Any orders placed between November 23rd and December 31st are eligible for return until January 18th. Please note that as always we will only accept items unworn, unused and in original packaging. For speedy return/exchange processing PLEASE include the original packing slip/invoice or receipt with any packages sent back to us.

Additionally, we will not begin processing returns until January 3rd.  Any questions regarding ordering, order status, shipping or returns/exchanges should be sent to orders@n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com.  Orders that fall outside of these dates must adhere to our standard two week return policy.

Introducing Engineering Crewman First-Class Nathan!

Hello followers of Nervous System!  My name is Nathan, and I just started work at Nervous System as an Engineering Crewman First-Class!  Jessica asked me to write a blog post introducing myself to the Nervous System world, so here I am!

I always find introductions difficult; you only get one chance to make an impression, and I don’t really like talking about myself either. So let me distract you with a picture while I think a bit harder about how I’m going to do this!

Not only does that provide a brief distraction, but also a segue into talking about myself.  This is an image from a visual art project I started a few months ago, where I used a Gray-Scott diffusion-reaction algorithm to try to create symmetric mandala-like images.  Like Jessica and Jesse, I’m fascinated by the beauty found in the natural world, and am constantly trying to find new ways to use phenomena I’ve encountered in math and science for works in art.

My background is in electrical engineering, where I previously worked on control systems for physics- and biology-focused applications; during this work I was exposed to digital fabrication and this is when I started to get really excited about it.  I spent many late nights in the fab lab exploring what the machines were capable of, and eventually branched out to more artisanal methods of manufacturing like casting and forging.  These formative years instilled a rather single-minded obsession with creating things in me, whether its a piece of visual art generated from code or hand-crafted widget.  Now I’ve finally managed to escape the world of research, and can focus on helping Nervous System make the best stuff that our collective minds can think of!  The first few projects I plan to tackle include designing more lighting products and  exploring some alternative fabrication techniques for manufacturing our products.

I’m really excited to contribute my expertise to the work at Nervous System, and looking forward to sharing it what comes out of it with the world! Hopefully I’ll be posting more stuff to this blog soon to provide updates about the projects we’re working on.

Now hiring: Studio Coordinator @ Nervous System

Generative jigsaw puzzles

Jigsaw puzzles for the 21st century! Each generative puzzle is a one of a kind creation with unique art and pieces. Our goal was to marry the artistry of traditional, hand-crafted jigsaw puzzles with the possibilities of new technologies. Custom software simulates crystal growth to create an organic interlocking pattern. Our laser cutter translates this into a unique set of plywood pieces. We collaborated with contemporary digital artists who created engaging artwork for the puzzles.

The puzzles are made entirely in our studio in Somerville, MA. We print the artwork on archival paper and laser cut the puzzles from birch plywood. They come in two sizes, a round 7.5″ puzzle with 85 pieces and a rectangular 18×12″ puzzle with 410 pieces. Every puzzle is unique.

We’ve created a project page with tons of information about our inspiration, process and methods for creating these jigsaw puzzles. We invite you to explore it here: Generative Jigsaws Project Page.  The project page discusses

• Why Jigsaw Puzzles?
• Inspiration for the Shape of the Pieces
• How we generate the pieces
• Whimsy Guide
• About the Artwork of Jonathan Mccabe
• Process – the making of
• What’s Next?

We designed a puzzle cut generation system based on a simulation of dendritic solidification, a crystal growth process similar to the formation of snowflakes that occurs in supercooled solutions of certain metallic alloys. This system generates a unique cutting pattern, and by varying the parameter space, can produce a variety of cut styles. You can read about how our simulation works here.

The puzzle images are one of a kind, original artworks by invited generative artists. Our first series is created by Jonathan McCabe, an artist based in Melbourne who works with reaction diffusion patterns. His pieces are created by layering several reaction diffusion simulations at multiple scales. Additionally, he imparts flow and movement by combining this with a compressible fluid simulation. The result is an explosion of color and pattern reminiscent of flowers, animal patterns, and watercolor. Jonathan talks about his process on our project page here.

The first series of puzzles comes in two varieties: a 7.5″ round puzzle with approximately 85 pieces and a 18″x12″ puzzle with approximately 400 pieces. The smaller puzzles come with a selection of whimsies themed around “Microscopic Life”. Each puzzle is a veritable petri dish teeming with special pieces resembling algae, diatoms, radiolarians and other minuscule creatures. The large puzzles come with a broad range of whimsies spanning all of our interests here at Nervous System.

Our puzzles are manufactured in our studio in Somerville. We print the art on archival quality paper, mount them on birch plywood, and laser cut them. Each puzzle comes in a handcrafted wood box made in Vermont.

Nervous System Holiday Ordering Deadlines

Don’t worry! There’s still time to pick up one of our Small Seed Lamps, a Sterling Silver Bamboo Cuff, or anything else from our shop for your favorite friends and relatives.

To ensure delivery by Christmas, please get your orders in on or before the dates below and select the mentioned shipment speed on checkout.

Dec 14th – International orders shipping by Express Mail
Dec 15th – Canadian orders shipping by Express Mail
Dec 19th – USA orders shipping by Priority Mail
Dec 20th – USA orders shipping Express Mail

New: Cell Cycle Cuffs and free design files!

Introducing 6 new members of the Cell Cycle family!   The bracelets feature a C-shaped design which allows the 3d-printed nylon to flex so the cuffs can both slip on and fit closely against your arm. There are three 2-layer designs and three 1-layer designs; all available in black and white nylon.  The prices start at $40 for the Bamboo and Structure cuffs to $55 for the Subdivision and Spiral cuffs.

We are making them in two sizes, M and L. I recommend M if you want a tight fit and L for a looser one.

The 2-layer designs are also all available in 3d-printed stainless steel.

To make room for these new designs in our collection, we have discontinued three of the 8 Cell Cycle bracelets from our original collection: the Diagrid, Subdivision, and Regular bracelets.  While we will no longer sell these designs through our website, we’ve decided to give them a new life as open-source design files! You can download the STL files for all three bracelets completely for free from Thingiverse in sizes S, M and L.

Hyphae – a new collection from Nervous System

Hyphae is a collection of 3D printed artifacts constructed of rhizome-like networks. Inspired by the vein structures that carry fluids through organisms from the leaves of plants to our own circulatory systems, we created a simulation which uses physical growth principles to build sculptural, organic structures. Starting from an initial seed and a surface, we grow a hierarchical network where nodes constantly branch and merge. The densely interconnected structure is at once airy and strong.

Our most diverse collection to date, Hyphae contains a range of necklaces, earrings, cuffs, bangles, rings and brooches. The pieces are 3D printed in nylon, a strong and flexible material, and are available in black and white.  Select pieces will also be available in stainless steel and sterling silver.

Making of Videos

Each Hyphae product is documented with a video showing the genesis of the design. The system we used to generate the pieces is an extension of our Xylem algorithm to 3D. To read more about the technical aspects see this previous post.

Win your favorite piece!

Want to win a piece from our new collection? Follow @nervous_system on twitter and tweet the following to enter.

win a piece from @nervous_system’s new jewelry collection #Hyphae http://bit.ly/HYPHAE

Add the name of your favorite piece on to the end of the tweet!  The giveaway runs until March 29th at 12am EST.  Two entrants will be selected randomly to win their pick.

holiday shipping deadlines

There is still time to get your Nervous System holiday orders in!  To insure Christmas delivery, please get your order in by Dec 20th (end of day) for Priority mail shipments and Dec 21st (end of day) for Express Mail shipments.

Ordering deadlines
Priority Mail – Dec 20
Express Mail – Dec 21