Medusa

A rotary tattoo machine shaped by serpentine movement.

Medusa is a functional rotary tattoo machine that I designed, fabricated and later translated into an interactive 3D experience. Inspired by the muscular movement of a serpent, it combines mechanical construction with an organic, scaled visual language.

Area: 3D · Product Design · Interaction
Focus: Form · Ergonomics · Mechanical Detail
Tools: Blender · ThreeJS

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Project overview

A machine with a mythology.

Medusa is a functional rotary tattoo machine that I designed and physically built as an intersection of two parts of my practice: engineering and tattooing.

The machine uses a 12V DC motor, with a body constructed from PVC tubing, epoxy and binding wire. The skeletal structure was formed in wire before being built up with epoxy, allowing the outer body and individual scales to take on the muscular, serpentine character that defines Medusa.

Process & exploration

⌁

Original concept sketch for the Medusa rotary tattoo machine

01Concept

Medusa tattoo machine during physical fabrication

02Fabrication

Completed functional Medusa rotary tattoo machine connected to its power system

03Functional Prototype

Wireframe view of the Medusa tattoo machine reconstructed in Blender

04Digital Reconstruction

Final 3D visualization of the Medusa rotary tattoo machine

05Final Visualization