7 years ago I started my resin casting journey with the original Steam Controller. (blog post about it here) With the release of the new one, I wanted to revisit one of my favorite designs from the original controller all of those years ago.
The beginning of a new product cycle is usually one of the few windows of time where I get to just creatively experiment and “play” a little.
One thing I didn’t anticipate when this turned into a full time career, is how often you have to stop and ask yourself, “Is this actually a good use of my time?”
Usually I’m buried in mold making, packaging, restocks, and building up inventory for larger releases. There’s a pretty small window before all of that fully takes over again, and before I dive deep into CAD work to get these buttons out. I wanted to step back and just enjoy the process with some unfamiliar hardware.
I enjoyed doing essentially the same photo shoot (now featuring a tiny remote controlled fog machine! Those didn't exist back then) I'm using the same lights that I was all of those years ago.
These involve 6 different layers, each layer being roughly 40 min to an hour in the pressure pot to cure. Something that would be hard to justify for a full fledged release these days. But I may end up doing a smaller one off release of them in the future just so people can get their hands on them.
It's been really fun to revisit these with the knowledge, technique, and equipment that I have these days. Sometimes it's nice to just make something purely for the sake of creating art! Hope you enjoy!
