We are excited to announce the launch of T-Rex vs. The Gorilla: The Quest for the Stone, unveiled on Tuesday, March 8, 2016, by Lionel T. Dean at the REAL 2016 conference in San Francisco, CA, USA. This project is a collaboration between product artist Lionel T. Dean of Future Factories Studio and Philip van der Walt of Nexus Advanced Geometries.
Inspired by 1950s Japanese science fiction, T-Rex vs. The Gorilla is a collection of five jewellery ring designs, each representing a different moment in a manga-style animation fight sequence between the two monster characters. The plot revolves around a precious stone, which the creatures use as a weapon in their battle. The short film is a traditional hand-drawn animation, while the rings have been digitally sculpted to match key frames from the sequence. The clip pays homage to 1950s sci-fi, 8-bit video games, and manga animation.
The rings are cast in silver from 3D-printed waxes, with the gorilla rhodium-plated to distinguish the characters. Each creature perches atop the finger, with the T-Rex’s tail forming the ring’s loop. The underside of the ring carries a QR code that, when scanned, plays the animated sequence on a mobile device.