Design of the Week: Clutch Bag

This week’s selection is the incredible Clutch Bag by Lionel Theodore Dean.

The Clutch Bag functions exactly as a conventional clutch bag would: a loop attaches the bag to one’s wrist, and the loosely-coupled bag segments can expand to accommodate cargo as required.

The Clutch Bag is entirely 3D printed in Titanium Ti6AI4V material, making it perhaps the toughest and most robust clutch bag on Earth. No one is going to accidentally tear a hole in this bag.

Dean, of FutureFactories Studio, is a long-time designer of complex artwork and functional pieces, used generative design to create the 3D model for this incredible work. The interlocking pieces as seen here could not have been developed efficiently using manual design techniques.

The Clutch Bag was 3D printed in two parts and then assembled. It seems the most exposed surfaces were polished; the more difficult to reach surfaces are still slight rough from initial 3D printed. Nevertheless, the Clutch Bag is a striking example of what can be made with metal 3D printing technologies.

One important note, however is the cost of this item. Since we saw the piece in an exhibition, we do not know the cost of the work itself, or the cost of the 3D printing and post processing it took to prepare it. It’s highly likely this item would carry a staggeringly high price due to the amount of expensive titanium metal involved and the 3D printing operations required to produce it.

I’m wondering, though, whether the weight of the article would prevent it from being used day-to-day.

Via FutureFactories