THE FUTURE OF
EYEWEAR Jingfang Chen
THE FUTURE OF
EYEWEAR Jingfang Chen
The Past
3
Eyewear Evolution Timeline Glasses Become Face Jewelery The Eyewear Licensing Revolution
Intro
Contents 1 5 13 17
Custom 3D Printed Glasses Fast Prototyping For Try-Ons Scanning For Measurements In-Store 3D Scanning&Printing Station The End
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Current
The Future
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Picture Credit
Bibliography
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Illusion Of Choice New Concepts In Eyewear Buying Online Is The New Option Prototyping Then&Now Stereo Lithography Enter The Maker Community The Maker Bot 3D Printing 3D Printer Filament
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Intro O
ver the past 400 years, eyewear has gone through many changes and trends. From its earliest known origins to today, the idea of wearing eyeglasses has gone from being a device used by religious monks to a common item that has become available to everyone. At times eyewear has been seen as something for the elite, and at other times has been stigmatized as something that only the bookish and shy would wear. In the past few decades, this perception of eyewear has changed, and glasses are now seen as a fundamental piece of a person’s wardrobe—the eyewear you choose tends to reflect your personality. As the future unfolds, technology plays a bigger and bigger role in how people buy things. Soon, via the combination of personalized shopping on the Internet and breakthroughs in 3D printing, the future of eyewear will change dramatically. Soon ordinary people will be able to design and print their own eyewear styles from the comfort of their own home, for a fraction of the price that people pay today for high-end eyewear. This book will take you on a visual journey to visit the past and examine this future.
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1
The Past
“
I always think about what it means to wear eyeglasses. When you get used to glasses you don’t know how far you could really see. I think about all the people before eyeglasses were invented. It must have been weird because everyone was seeing in different ways according to how bad their eyes were. Now, eyeglasses standardize everyone’s vision to 20-20. That’s an example of everyone becoming more alike. Everyone could be seeing at different levels if it weren’t for glasses.
”
— Andy Warhol
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EYEWEAR EVOLUTION TIMELINE
Eskimo carved bones to eliminate the blinding glare of the snow, which was the invention of sunglasses.
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Nuremburg Spectacles (wire glasses).
Pre-history
1600s
1287 Eyeglasses were invented in Florence, Italy.
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Glasses were made by hand from natural materials such as tortoise, horn and shell. “Scissors Glasses” were invented.
1700s
The monocle was introduced, also called “quizzing glass”.
1806
1650
1800s
Glasses became so common that they were sold on streets by peddlers all across Europe.
Longnettes introduced glasses that fold into handles. These were seen in opera houses and used by fashionable women.
In China, glasses had strings to fold on the face, and folding pads for the wearer’s forehead.
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Celluloid was adapted for glasses. Could be used to make fake tortoise frames that look real, and also frames of different colors.
EYEWEAR EVOLUTION TIMELINE
1870s 1850s
1880s
Mechanically drawn wire was introduced.
Thin wire frames became the norm.
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The bob style haircut led to the decline of decorative combs.
The pre-war 1900s were known as the century of speed, because of the car and the plane. Glasses were worn for driving and flying. Because there were no windshields, they looked like goggles, offering protection.
Hollywood became the international center for movies and movie stars, and the stars were shown wearing sunglasses in the california sun. This made sunglasses popular.
Early 1900s
1920-30s
1911 Auto Glass was invented for protection when driving.
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Decorative combs disappeared, but their designers moved on to sunglasses. The retail network of comb manufacturters was used to sell sunglasses in drug stores.
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EYEWEAR EVOLUTION TIMELINE
US army introduces AN6531, the first “aviator glasses�. They became popular across the world.
1941
1950s 1945
(End of WWII)
Before the war, plastic was used to look like natural materials such as tortoise. After the war, plastic was used more obviously, with glasses that were fun and bizarre and frivolous.
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Licensing to fashion designers begins when Haute Couture Elsa Schapirelly signs on to a line of eyewear.This led to a designer eyewear revolution, where glasses represent cool fashion.
Designer Wilhelm Anger developed a new kind of plastic called Optyl. This plastic has a higher quality that looked expensive. Anger also got licenses from lots of designers including Playboy, Dunhill and Porsche.
1956
1969
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1953
1960s
The beginning of fashion brand licensing began with American Optical Company with Claire Cardell.
Throughout the 60’s, eyewear reflected trends in fashion and art. From the Hippies to the Mods to Glam to The Beatles.
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The punk and post-punk movements led eyemakers away from clean shapes towards angled looks and assymetrical designs.
EYEWEAR EVOLUTION TIMELINE
1980s 1974
1983
Silhouette makes the Futura collection, reflecting post modern movies such as A Clockwork Orange.
French eyewear maker Alain Mikli becomes the first eyewear designer to be known as a bona fide fashion designer.
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Asian manufacturers with their cheap prices caused the manufacturing of eyewear to stop in America, as well as England and France. Italian companies like Luxottica and Safilo focused on the high-end of the market, and were able to survive.
The demand for higher-end eyewear has led to the use of finer materials such as gold, silver, wood and fine leather. Retro eyewear has now become fashionable as well.
1990s
Current 2000s Luxottica grew to own many brands and also the ecosystem for eyewear. They now generate six billion euros a year.
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GLASSES BECOME FACE JEWELERY
During World War II, most eyewear was made from materials found in nature, such as bone and horn. Early plastics had been developed for use in eyewear, but given that most people were conserving and saving to help the war effort, buying glasses that were not fully functional seemed like a waste of money during a time that many were frugal. After the war, plastic became very popular and fashionable as a material for eyeglass frames, and people were eager and willing to spend money on all kinds of ostentatious styles that showed off their tastes.
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GLASSES BECOME FACE JEWELERY
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This was the period when eyewear went from being functional to fashionable. Sunglasses in particular were available in all kinds of colors and styles, with lots of non-traditional frills and features which in the past were more likely to be seen on fancy combs and other hair accessories than on glasses. This trend in sunglasses led the way for eyewear to bee seen as face jewelry—as something that truly shows off your sense of fashion.
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THE EYEWEAR LICENSING REVOLUTION
Beginning in the 1950s, famous designers and fashion houses began licensing their names to eyeglass designers, leading to a revolution in the way eyeglasses were viewed by both consumers and sellers of eyewear. Brands such as Versaci, Coach and Chanel began licensing their names and whole fashion lines were created around these brands. Qualiity eyewear made in the US began to disappear, and was replaced by cheaper versions of lower quality from Asia. People around the world began shopping for eyewear through the eyes of these intonational fashion brands, mush like they would when choosing a jacket, a dress or a handbag.
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Current
O
ver time, eyeglass manufacturers consolidated and merged, leading to the situation we have today where a few large companies produce nearly all of the eyeglasses purchased today. The world's biggest fashion eyewear manufacturer, Luxottica started out small and over a number of decades has become a mega conglomerate. The interesting thing about Luxottica is that they own the licensing rights for most of the fashion brands that exist today, such as Versace, Coach, Dolce and Gabbana, Chanel. They also own most of the pieces of the eyewear ecosystem, such as the eyeglass shops Lenscrafters, Target Optical and Sunglass Hut as well as one of the largest eyewear insurance comanies, EyeMed. It seems that when shopping for glasses that there is a diverse set of choices on display when in actuality almost all of the eyewear is made by the same mega-company. This monopoly has led to illusiuon of choice and has also kept prices very high, sometimes leading to profits that can exceed 400% of the cost to produce the products. This has led some people to start thinking of other ways to make and sell glasses for a lot more value to the consumer.
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ILLUSION OF CHOICE
“
I think people love diversity, people love to have different brands, people love to have different experiences. —Andrea Guerra
It’s an illusion of choice if they’re all owned by the same company.
”
—Lesley Stahl
Most high-end fashion house brands don’t design or produce their own eyewear. They sell the rights to massive companies that do it all for them. These large companies design, manufacture and sell branded glasses for astronomical prices directly to optical shops and then pay fees to the fashion brands for using their name and logo. Then, optical shops mark up frames and lenses an additional two to three times before selling them to you.
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ILLUSION OF CHOICE
Luxottica has cornered the world’s market in fashion eyewear with licencees from most of the world’s biggest fashion brands.
Luxottica owns the eyewear distribution and sales channels for the majority of eyewear sold in the US, with shops that include Lenscrafters, Sears, Target and Sunglass Hut.
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Luxottica also owns EyeMed, one of the biggest vision insurance companies in the US.
This Italian firm, which began small by making eyeglass frames from goat horns, now dominates the world market. Luxottica grew to own many brands and also own other parts of the ecosystem for eyewear. They now generate six billion euros a year.
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NEW CONCEPTS IN EYEWEAR
With the combination of the Internet and an interest in vintage eyewear from past decades, new trends include unique frames made from natural and recyclable materials. The Internet has also allowed small companies to compete with huge companies such as Luxottica. This is done by providing customization over the web and direct shipping, avoiding the need for a physical showroom and warehouses. 36
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These days, there are new and interesting eyewear options for those that are tired of overpaying for frames from the eyewear mega-companies. With the advent of the Internet, it has become easy to sell products without having to have physical stores everywhere. Shipping has become a lot cheaper, and given the reduced costs of manufacturing in Asia, it is now possible for smaller companies to offer new styles that compete with the fashion brands. Some of these new companies have had success in making frames made of natural and recycled materials, as well as designing eyewear that reflects the vintage styles of the 1940s and 1950s.
BUYING ONLINE IS THE NEW OPTION
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Companies such as Warby Parker let people choose frames online, and will ship some samples to them for a try-on. Once the customer has chosen their desired style of frames, Warby Parker is able to sell the frames and lenses as a package for around $100, which includes prescription lenses. Fashion frames of similar quality could typically go for $300-$700, not including the lenses. 38
“
Retailers mark up frames and lenses an additional 2-3 times before selling them to you.
”
—warbyparker.com
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BUYING ONLINE IS THE NEW OPTION
Warby Parker’s mission: To create boutique-quality, classically crafted eyewear at a revolutionary price point.
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PROTOTYPING THEN & NOW
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Not long ago, if a designer wanted to develop a prototype for a product, be it eyeglass frames or anything else, the prototype would need to be crafted by hand, usually by a skilled craftsman. These prototypes would either be crafted from a single piece of wood or metal that was whittled into the right shape with the help of a milling machine, or would be developed using custom molds to shape the materials. This process could take months. Within the last few decades, computers have been used to design the model, which can then be produced on a 3D prototyping machine in a fraction of the time.
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STEREOLITHOGRAPHY
“
With pricey lasers and high-precision optical components, SL 3D printers can easily cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
�
—kickstarter.com
Early 3D prototyping machines were expensive and could take up more space than 3 large refrigerators. These early machines use a process called stereo lithography, which incorporate lasers as a part of the process and can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. They produce high quality parts, but were out of reach for most smaller design firms and were not practical to use to create more than one of two examples of a product or design. The prototype would be used to test the design, and if the design were to become final, the final product would likely be sent to a larger manufacturer to be mass-produced.
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“
Maker Faire brings together families and individuals to celebrate the Do-ItYourself (DIY) mindset and showcase all kinds of incredible projects. At Maker Faire, you'll find arts and crafts, science and engineering, food and music, fire and water but what makes this event special is that all these interesting projects and smart, creative people belong together. They are actively and openly creating a maker culture.
ENTER THE MAKER COMMUNITY
”
—Maker Faire website
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THE MAKER BOT
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Over the past few years, a new movement called the Maker Community has been taking off in the US and around the world. Started by a small group of Do It Yourselfers (DIYers) and hackers, the maker community is comprised of people who want to use electronics components and other materials to make and share their own products. Makers are often interested in blending technology, engineering and fashion to create interesting things that either never existed before or were not affordable for individual to create. The Maker Faire is an event where makers share ideas. In 2008, a group of Makers got together and started to experiment with freely available, open source technology to make a cheaper version of the 3D printer. The goal was to create something that would allow the hobbyist or home designer to make a 3D object —without having to pay tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars for the type of 3D printer that was commercially available during that time. After lots of tinkering and experimenting, they created the first Maker Bot 3D printer. At a cost of around $1200 to build, it provided an alternative option for 3D prining. 49
The quality was not as good as the professional printers, but designers began to see the potential for how such a printer could evolve in the future.
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3D PRINTING
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3D PRINTING
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The original Maker Bot printer and its modern counterparts use a technique known as plastic extrusion to print objects in 3D. A cord of plastic, known as the filament, is used as the “ink�, which is melted in a manner similar to the glue in a glue gun, but at a much smaller size and with much greater precision. A 3D object is created by printing multiple layers of filament on top of one another until the desired shape is created. Some printers have a printer head that moves to create the object, while others have a fixed printer head but a platform that moves to create the shape. In all cases, the blueprint for the desired shape comes from a computeraided design (CAD). The Maker community has an online library called Thingverse, which has community-created CAD designs that anyone can use or modify for their printing needs.
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3D PRINTER FILAMENT
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The Future
U
nlike today’s new model of choosing your frames online and personalizing things such as the color and style from a set number of options, the future will bring online personalization and 3D printing together, allowing much more flexibility. For the more adventurous or design-savvy customer, online design tools will be available to allow the customer to create their own custom style of frames from a set of base templates that they can build atop. For other customers, building your own frames may be similar to working with LEGO building blocks: the customer can choose from a number of pre-set elements to customize their frames, without having to go to the trouble of designing them.
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There are two possible models for building the frames themselves. The customer could choose to have the glasses printed from a 3D printer hosted by the company they are ordering from, and the glasses would then be shipped to them. Alternatively, the digital blueprint for the glasses could be downloaded over the Internet, and the customer could choose to print them from their home 3D printer, or from a printer at a nearby location.
CUSTOM 3D PRINTED GLASSES
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“
It’s not often that a new technology comes around which has the power to change our fundamental view of the world. We believe 3D printing (aka rapid prototyping) is one of these great, disruptive technologies.
”
—makeeyewear.com
FAST PROTOTYPING FOR TRY-ONS
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Another possibility would be for the customer to print a low fidelity version of the glasses—perhaps in the correct size and shape, but a bit rough around the edges— to try out at home before ordering the final pair from the company. This low-fidelity version, once tested, could be recycled and the material could even be reused to try out a different pair of frames.
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FAST PROTOTYPING FOR TRY-ONS
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The (3D) scanner uses lights and lasers and to record the colour, size and shape of an object with accuracy to 0.005 of an inch. The finished scans are transferred to your computer.
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—nextengine.com
Visiting the eye doctor will also be a different experience in the future. In addition to testing your eyes, the doctor could take a comprehensive scan of your whole head to be used as the measurements for customized frames. This data would become a part of your eye prescription.
SCANNING FOR MEASUREMENTS
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In the future, retail stores, including mega-companies like Luxottica, could have a comprehensive 3D scanning and printing solution right there in the store, providing custom eyewear during the same visit to the store.
IN-STORE 3D SCANNING &PRINTING STATION
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THE END
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“
In the future, designers will, in theory, all be on the same playing field, because they will all be producing at roughly the same cost, using similar materials and manufacturing at roughly the same speed. Less concern with manufacturing limitations results in more design potential. Of course, we’re still not there yet, and new production methods will never change the fact that designing a product is an extremely demanding task, but the possibilities are very exciting.
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—3dfuture.com.au
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THE FUTURE OF EYEWEAR Jingfang Chen GR 601. Type Systems Academy of Art MFA Graphic Design Professor/David Hake Editor/Dan Harrison Typefaces/ArcherPro, Avenir Software/Indesign CS6, Illustrator CS6, Photoshop CS6