Craft Platforms: Case studies Jeremy Nichols from the UK
August 24, 2020 2020-11-15 9:00Craft Platforms: Case studies Jeremy Nichols from the UK
Jeremy Nichols- a ceramist using 3D printing
HIGHLIGHTS
- Using outsourcing-3D printing to make the model for teapot’s handle
- A relatively large electric kiln with microprocessor controller is used in his making process
- Mobile phone and laptop are used to deal with emails and other-craft related activities
- Although he was not born in the digital age, he has social media accounts
BRIEF INTRODUCTION
Figure 1: Pots made by Jeremy Nichols
Jeremy has a huge passion for making. Making ceramics is Jeremy’s third career – he was trained as an aeronautical engineer and worked as a social worker before he devoted himself entirely to making. Jeremy makes salt-glazed domestic pots, specialising in pots for tea and coffee. He thinks it requires a balance between function and aesthetics when making teapots. Also, Jeremy is the chairman of Craft Potters Association of Great Britain.
DIGITAL ‘TOUCH POINTS’
Jeremy has a huge passion for making. Making ceramics is Jeremy’s third career – he was trained as an aeronautical engineer and worked as a social worker before he devoted himself entirely to making. Jeremy makes salt-glazed domestic pots, specialising in pots for tea and coffee. He thinks it requires a balance between function and aesthetics when making teapots. Also, Jeremy is the chairman of Craft Potters Association of Great Britain.
Use of Digital equipment
There is a relatively large electric kiln in Jeremy’s studio, which uses a straightforward program for different kinds of firings (Figure 2). He uses this kiln for his biscuit firings.
Figure 2: Electric kiln used in Jeremy ’s studio
Use of Digital technologies
Jeremy uses outsourcing to 3D print the models from which he makes the plaster moulds for slip-casting his handles. This ensures accuracy and allows variations of a particular handle design to be produced in a relatively straightforward way. He shared with us his experience of why he chose 3D printing: “Originally, I would make the original model from plaster. It would be hand-carved from a block of plaster, which is very time consuming, not very accurate, and if I want to change it, have a variation of this, I have to start all over again with another new block of plaster. So I decided to get them 3D printed, and I’m not sufficiently accomplished with type programs to do it myself, I did a course. I realised that in order to model in a 3D program this particular shape, that’s beyond whatever I would be able to learn in the time I’ve got to learn it. So what I do, I draw it out, and then I send it to somebody whose professional and he translates it into a program, and then I send the file off to a printing agency and they produce the print.”
Figure 3: 3D printed handle model and its plane graph
Use of Social Media
Jeremy knows that social media would be a benefit in promoting his business, but he thinks it is difficult for him to do much on that as he was not born in the digital age. He has three types of social media accounts: Facebook, Twitter, and Linked in.
Figure 4. 3D printed handle model and its plane graph
Online sales platform
Jeremy has a personal website which is mainly to present his work and does not include online sale functions. He thinks his website requires updating.
Figure 5: The screenshot of Jeremy’s website
One thing should be noted that there is no Internet connection in his studio. Sometimes he has to use the free wifi in Costa, which is half halfway between his home and his studio.
The challenges of applying digital platforms
Figure 6: Jeremy’s studio
- He was not born in the digital age, which means he is most likely not familiar with Internet-related skills.
- It takes a large amount of time to learn software.
Figure 7: Digital touchpoints used in Jeremy’s studio
MORE DESCRIPTIONS
Jeremy started making pots as a kind of hobby around 1980. By 1994, he decided to take a ceramics degree, and he set up his studio in Broxbourne when he graduated in 1997. “Once you start, you get more and more wrapped up in it. And partly also because as a child, I mean I did a degree in aeronautical engineering because as a child, as a kid, I made model aeroplanes. My whole life was making things. I always made things. But when I was little, it was balsa wood and flying model aeroplanes. So that was, so when I was an adult, I wanted to find a way of relaxing because social work is quite a stressful occupation. It was natural for me to make something, to go, and you know, to do making, back to making things. And I tried various things and eventually found clay and pots. And then once you start, I’m sure you’ve talked to other makers, once they start you know they just get more and more into it,” said Jeremy. At the time of visiting Jeremy (3rd October 2019), he was invited to attend a large international ceramics festival in Jiangsu, China, in October 2019.
Figure 8: Jeremy’s studio
Jeremy has also set up a photo system at home which has flashlights and good quality photographic equipment. He thinks it is convenient to take photos at any time and cheaper than professional photographers.
SUMMARY
Jeremy is a ceramist and the chairman of Craft Potters Association. He is mainly making teapots and he uses 3D printing to help him produce the models from which he makes the plaster moulds for slipcasting his teapot handles. He uses outsourcing for 3D printing as he has limited time, and it is quite difficult for him to grasp the 3D modelling skills within a short time.
His studio is outside London as his firing technique of saltglazing produces white clouds of salt vapour from the kiln chimney which is not suitable for a residential area. Compared to makers based in London his studio is much larger and less expensive. There is no Internet connection in his studio, so he has to use the wifi in a local Costa (a café shop) which is halfway between his home and studio if required.
He knows social media would be a benefit in promoting his business, but he thinks it is difficult for him to do that as he was not born in the digital age. Most of his customers know him from exhibitions, gallery and word-of-month. Customers will contact him by email.
CONTACT
Please visit the following sites to find out more about Jeremy Nichols:
Website: www.jeremynichols.co.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JeremyNicholsCeramics
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-nichols-02a23818/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremynichols99
Instagram: jeremynicholsceramics
Contact Us
Craftplatforms.org has been produced by the project research team at Queen Mary University of London, UK, and Hunan University, China.
Contact E-mail: contact@craftplatforms.org
Prof. Nick Bryan-Kinns
n.bryan-kinns@qmul.ac.uk
School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science
Queen Mary University of London
London E1 4NS
Prof. Hao Tan
htan@hnu.edu.cn
School of Design, Hunan University
Yuelu Mountain, Changsha
