Familiar Places

I initially set out to print a couple 3d models of some mountains, but then wanted to do so much more with the project. This is where I came up with the idea to create a plaque to display the terrain pieces.

The terrain pieces are Mt Rainier, Mt St Helens, and the Chilkat, Moab, and Yosemite Valleys. I used a topographic map of Tiger Mountain as the background, where I spend a lot of time mountain biking.

The layout was challenging, in that the hexagonal shapes have a tendency to group together into an orderly pattern. I wanted something that felt more organic with more flow, and settled on this layout. The layout also leaves room for the peak of South Tiger Mountain.

Design: The plaque was designed in Illustrator, with different layers for each of the cutting or engraving passes. The design was larger than my Glowforge could handle, so I outsourced this to Fremont Laser & Designs.