Monthly Archives: September 2017

When Mercer meets Paul Smith

21 colours

103 stripes

3 days

Sounds like a preview for a movie… Perhaps it could start with an interview with Paul Smith, the inspiration behind these stripes, asking his opinion on the humble (but also not-so-humble anymore) bicycle and if these two-wheeled wotsits featured in his life at any point and, if so, would he say it was a memorable impact on his life in any way, shape or form?  And what does he think about his stripes cuddling a down tube?

Would be an interesting conversation for sure.  But aren’t all conversations involving bicycles interesting?  Of course there’s always the possibility we’re hopelessly bicycle-biased but if you’re reading this you’re probably bicycle-biased too so we’ll have to get a second opinion…

 

It’s all in the prosthetics

First time we’ve been given the opportunity to try out our work on a prosthetic leg and what a refreshing experience it was.  But not without its challenges.

We had a test run on a sample of the socket to see how the paint would respond to flexing and it seemed that although there was micro fracturing it was less visible with a solid, high gloss layer.  However, we were concerned that these cracks would show up more and cause splintering of the design on the high flexing areas which would not be concealed well with the chosen colours.

We also weren’t sure how the lower part of the leg would fair being baked In the oven for the paint to harden.

So after a little experimenting and confirmation that the lower half could take the heat we forged ahead, as follows: