Making Buzz Fly
C
onsidering that (leorgia
Tech is one of the world's leading research universi lies, it is perhaps fitting that the
Georgia T& b . Minimi Magazine is, we believe, the first publication of its kind in the country to display .1 hologram on its cover. The Buzz hologram was created from a combination of a 3-D model and two levels ol Hat art: a photograph of the Tech Tower ami line an of a (icoi^ia lech logo pattern. Buzz was sculpted by New York artist David Dann, one of a handful of artists who specialize in holographic models. I lis tied its include the hologram on the November 1000 issue n\ Omni. and the Spiderman model for the 30th anniversary comic book hologram. Working from .111 original design by Mike Lester, I >ann spent a week on tin'
project, I [olographic modeling is a highly specialized field that com bines artistic ability with know! edge of the laser imaging process. To achieve the best resolution of detail, the buzz model is slightly flattened front and back so it is only 3/8 inch deep, yet it is designed in such a way as to preserve its proportions. Holograms are produced on a 1:1 settle, so (he model is the same size as the final image. Because laser light is monochromatic, the model is painted in a Hal finish, with gray tones used for highlights and shadows. 1 lolograms referred to as 11-1 exposures were made of each of
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GEORGIA TECH • Fall 1992
the three levels of art with an Innovtt tOO blue light krypton laser. An 11-1 appears milky gray under normal conditions, and only laser light reveals the image that has been captured on the plate. Next, the three 11 Is tire combined in a final exposure called H-2—a hologram of holograms, Lite H-2 is made of a photoresist material that is sensitive to blue light only, and records a hologram tts a surface relief pattern. "An embossing plate is made by eleclrochemically depositing pure nickel on the photoresist I I J." explains Jeff St. Thomas. product manager for the Holographic Division of Crown Koll Leaf, the I'ttterson, N.J., company that produced the hologram. This plate is copied through an electrodeposition process to make the actual embossing plates that will be used on press—ultra-thin replicas called shims, St. Thomas says. 1 sing tt special rotary press, we emboss the hologram onto rolls of plastic film that have a special resin coating. The film is then metalized by depositing it with aluminum vapor under vacuum." Lite final product is sized, cut and hot-Stamped onto the cover. The best way to view the buzz hologram is under direct sunlight, or a clear incandescent bulb or halogen spotlight. The
hologram will display a threedimensional image when tilled from side to side, but not up and clown. •