One of my first CAD projects after my studies was also one of my most challenging ones.
In November 2012, I was an Intern at Sennheiser and I got the task to model a snake that could wrap around the cable of a headphone. The idea was that the snake would become a small charm for a special edition of the Sennheiser HD 25.
I really like these kinds of challenges.
Like always, I had a tight deadline, and modelling an complex shape like this with a conventional CAD approach didn’t make much sense to me... So I went for hard-surface modelling in Cinema 4D instead.
This workflow allowed me to sculpt the snake and iterate until I felt the shape was beautiful, but also manufacturable.
I was quite confident about the workflow because we decided to use 3D-printed lost-wax investment casting, and I was also tasked with setting up the supply chain myself. So I could select and visit the manufacturer, Altman Casting, discuss the design with them and make sure the handover format worked for their process.
Judging from my archive, it took me maybe a week to finalize the model :)
The final snake was cast in silver and polished. At some point we also considered adding a texture to the surface, but it just felt like too much.
Sometimes less is more.
The snake was eventually used for a Sennheiser HD 25 special edition for Chinese New Year – Year of the Snake.
As far as I remember, 88 pieces were sold for $888 each and sold out immediately.