Where have you found inspiration for designs?

D

Don Nguyen

Joined
Oct 4, 2011
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I'm really curious where or how you guys come up with your stuff!

Normally I don't have any influences, just some time with pen and paper. However, this car has been tugging at my heart so much lately I may have to use it for ideas.

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Cool car. Do you know the make or model of the car (or "kuruma" since it appears to be in Japan)? I'm sure you can find some lines in there to reference when drawing up your designs. Post pics of your designs when you have them ready and we'll compare them with the car. ;)
 
I think that is a old Nissan Skyline. All models of Skylines are good looking cars, IMO. Wish I could have an early 90's one that I could shift gears with my right hand in. I see lots of inspiration in this fast back version. Love the lines of the c-pillar and the rake of the windshield to the hood to the road. For that matter, check out the line that runs right to left along the hood/quarter panel junction and continues across the top of the door and up the front of the c-pillar then around the side windows and back to the a-pillar. That looks like a tanto blade to me. I also like the wedge shape rear to front not looking at the canopy area. This example reminds me of an AMC Gremlin, they both have a similar brutish appearance. Not all that refined but pleasing none the less. Can't wait to see what perspective you incorporate into a knife design. Thanks for the eye candy none the less.
 
95% of my work is inspired by historic pieces ranging from 19th century bowies all the way back to the bronze age... the incredible craftsmanship seen on some is down-right humbling.
 
Interesting topic.

Perhaps my biggest design "inspiration" comes from bridges. They're a huge part of why I chose my career path (Civil Engineer). I can't say I've directly designed a knife based on a bridge I like, but I suppose they do play a huge part in molding what I consider beautiful. It's the same thing that draws me to knives... bridges, like knives, can be art with a purpose and function. There are millions of bridges in the world, most of which you wouldn't think twice about when you see them... however a handful are truly engineering and artistic marvels.

A couple of my favorites:

Millau Viaduct in France
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Erasmus Bridge in the Netherlands
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There's no one particular item for me that's inspiring for blade design; it could be the contours of a falling leaf one day and somebody's handwriting the next. I appeal to anything that has fluidity - plain, straight edges and blocky form just doesn't do it for me, which is why I haven't made anything that's genuinely "tactical." Though I don't etch it onto most of my knives, I am a sucker for scrollwork.
 
I draw from Coop's photo thread in the custom and handmade forum. I look to the mastersmiths and other masters. If I'm looking at a bowie, I'm looking to Hanson, Wheeler, etc. If I'm thinking slipjoint, it's Erickson, Davison, etc. Can't go wrong with Loveless either.
 
MC escher stuff like patterns in nature , like birds wings, fish scales,

microscopic patterns, u know the way molecules look as they are bound together under a microscope..

Ohh and always to split differences with that thing called the golden mean.

Also like using logic rules like design a knife on paper with one continuous line, or make every facet have some sort of geometric relationship that shares a unifying theme....(umm that one is a little weird( art school does stuff to your brain.).)

suicide girls when you want a nice variety of appealing curves

jurgen steinau, wolfgang loerchner, serge panchenko and to tell ya the truth Anders Hogstrom has always caught my eye
 
I get it from almost everywhere... I'm a nerd at heart, so it all started with Conan and ninja movies when i was a kid and went from there. I have a "design" room that i paint and draw in that has movie posters and prints on the wall as well as anything weird that catches my eye, like a rack of antlers or Kukuri I traded from a Ghurka years ago for a Gerber Multitool. Plus a folder I have that has literally hundreds of knife pictures I've printed off the internet or cut out of magazines. like I said.. I'm a nerd.
 
I have a map on my computer where I save knife pictures I like (or sometimes it's just a detail I like)
I find inspiration in classic designs. Currently puukko's and nickers.
I like natural materials. Sometimes lines in a piece of wood point in a certain direction and whisper that they are meant for a cerrtain style, or a piece of antler has a certain curve that is just perfect for a nicker or something else.
The material and design should compliment eachother, not go in competition with eachother.
Having material laying around the house and playing with it inspires :)
 
I often see knives and I think to myself, that would be really cool if it was like this...... I am not terribly creative but I am pretty good and coming up with improvements to existing designs.
 
+1 for suicide girls

What year is that car? it has a slight resemblance to a 1969 cyclone gt.
 
A variety of sources inspire me. Most recently was from a Bing image of a lake where a section of the land looked exactly like a blade on a knife, with finger guard and everything. I've even been inspired by clouds before-for later projects, as what the cloud resembled to me would make a unique carving for a handle.

I really should just start sketching out all of these ideas and try to put them into actual form later on, otherwise the inspiration will be lost.
 
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