Designer insights with Chisel and Mouse

Chisel and Mouse was founded in 2011 by brothers Robert and Gavin Paisley. They make architectural sculptures. Each model is made of plaster and designed using a combination of computer aided design, 3D printing and traditional sculpting and moulding in their Sussex based workshop. Models include famous buildings such as Big Ben, wall mounted cityscapes or you can have a model made of a building of your choice to whatever scale you choose.

Designer Insights with Chisel and Mouse

Image Credit: 1-4) Wikimedia 5) Pixdaus

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1) In your own words describe your unique style and creative aesthetic?

We marry traditional and modern production techniques to create our models. We utilise CAD and 3d printers to create our master models and then revert to old school moulding and casting. We love to keep our models white to exaggerate the form of the buildings.

2) When starting a new project, what is your creative process?

There are four of us in the company, we sit round looking at images and/or initial CAD drawings of the building or city and then bounce ideas about production techniques, materials, extents etc around until we reach a consensus or till Gavin gets bored and does it his own way!

3) Out of the creative people you have worked with, who is it that you respect and admire the most?

Sheridan from SCP stands out. He has been an inspiration to generations of designers. We don’t meet regularly but when we do he always has a cool design tweak or project to explore. He was also the first person to place a trade order and remains one of our best customers.

4) When looking for inspiration is there a particular thing you do to get inspired?

Walking the dogs and a few pints in a country pub always helps.

5) What has brought you to this point in your career? And what is your advice for people looking to follow in your footsteps?

After 10 years in the IT consultancy business using acronyms and being incredibly self important we eventually woke up and decided to do something “real”. We are still techies at heart and we are passionate about using technology in our production processes but tired of corporate life. As for advice for others, you need resilience in the designer maker arena as buyers and journalists are super busy and can sometimes be discourteous, but without their help you are not going to be noticed.