I started getting into graffiti as an art form. At the same time, in my physics studying, I was trying to wrap my mind around the concept of space-time. I was bouncing back and forth between graffiti art video, and videos trying to convey why we may actually live in 11 dimensions.

As i started trying to draw my own graffiti, I realized something I’ve never thought of before. All of the graffiti I’ve seen, is on a flat surface and only in 2-dimensions. What if graffiti artists had a whole 3rd dimension to work with.

I was excited to explore this idea as it felt like my own. I started thinking about how i could 3d print letters to look like graffiti, but could add a whole new artistic dimension to them.

I started modeling my ideas in solidworks and other traditional CAD programs. The designs were cool, but they were very clunky and laborious to make. They also are not editable in an artistic way, and the nature of the organic curves really bogs down the computer.

I was happy to make this, but it seemed to plain to me. The letters are still flat and it feels forced, not like truly “3D Graffiti”

I struggled through making some other names while trying to find a better way to draw and draft ideas without freezing my computer. I was also thinking of better ways to make them look more organic.

They still feel more like 2.5D, not 3D. I have to add lights or many colors to really give them something extra.

I was realizing that the normal methods I used to design things would not work for “3D Graffiti”. I had been playing around with and watching videos about a software called blender.

Blender is designed for animation and making smoother, more organic looking models, as opposed to a more traditional CAD program that focuses on dimensions, tolerances, and precise fitments.

I was finally achieving what I wanted! Fully 3D, with no hard edges. This is really starting to feel like “3D Graffiti”

I started adding textures, decorations, and pedastals to these names. I’m trying to ensure that nothing is too symmetric along a single plane.

At this point I had spent nearly a year struggling in blender, and not being satisfied with results. There were some times where I felt like I was just wasting time trying to learn blender. I eventually realized that progress is very weird, and all the failures I was having, were just me learning how to create what I want.