Senior sells 3-D printed necklaces on Etsy
Courtesy of Talley Larkin
Talley Larkin is the founder of TCL Design, an Etsy shop that sells 3D printed jewelry. She has an entire line of molecule inspired pieces, the idea for the design came from a trip to Berlin.
In recent years, three-dimensional printing has become increasingly popular. Talley Larkin has combined her creative design skills with her new technical skills to launch a 3-D printed jewelry line on Etsy.
This past summer, Larkin, a senior in the industrial and interaction design program, traveled to Berlin for an introduction to 3-D scanning and printing program at the Technical University of Berlin. While sightseeing, she came across a local merchant selling handmade jewelry. Inspired by a piece resembling a molecule, she decided to create her own jewelry using her new 3-D printing knowledge.
“I really liked them and thought I could totally make them myself,” Larkin recalled.
Larkin created a 3-D printed molecule necklace as a birthday present for her sister. The reaction she got encouraged her to create an entire line of the molecule-inspired pieces. When she returned to Syracuse, she began selling the pieces and started her business, TCL Design.
Her process involves designing the necklace through an online program. The design is outsourced to a company called Shape Ways. The company brings her designs to life through a 3-D printer and then the jewelry is sold on her Etsy page, which she created this past October.
“Most (students in the Berlin program) were engineering students … so they didn’t have the design sense,” Larkin said about the benefits of her artistic background.
She started out making necklaces with gypsum powder and some other materials, but has since then transitioned to metal for a more durable structure. Larkin utilizes both Instagram and Facebook to create buzz for her one-of-a-kind products. These platforms have helped her connect with other vendors who share a similar passion.
Over the summer she will be interning at Motorola Solutions to help work on the company’s public safety department. Both her coursework and business have made her desire a career in experience design, something that requires both technical skills and creativity.
Right now, she is content with the status and size of her business and plans to focus her energy on her internship. She believes her experiences have well prepared her to enter the workforce, and that the possibilities for her jewelry business are endless.
Published on April 4, 2017 at 9:12 pm
Contact Chloe: cjgreenw@syr.edu
