A color wheel book in three dimensions
From staff reports
Have you seen the beautiful rainbows spinning outside the Sleeping Bear Gallery in Empire this summer?
Last year, owner Heather Caverly acquired a patent on the 3D Colorwheel Book, which she hopes will turn the traditional wheel into a fun and accessible tool to enhance learning for kids of all ages. She will take her invention to Art Prize in Grand Rapids this month, and hopes to one day sell the colorwheel book at her gallery.
Here’s how the book works. Once open, the 12 colors of the primary color wheel are displayed around the top surface. The leaves directly beneath show the primary colors: red, blue and yellow. The next level (wings positioned between the primaries) are the secondary colors. The top surface of the lower leaves are the tertiary colors. The primaries’ complementary colors are arrayed around the bottom so that the corresponding primary and complimentary colors can be seen together when viewed from the base.
Caverly sees many learning and retail uses for her colorwheel book. “They can hang as mobiles for babies,” she said. “Or be used in classrooms for children. It also makes the perfect Christmas ornament. … You could even use them as little earrings.”
In Empire she has both a six-inch tabletop version and a 5-foot magnetic sculpture with a steel base holding the magnet. She hopes the books, mobiles and earrings will be available for purchase at the gallery, soon.
The three-dimensional color wheel book arose from assignments for two different classes at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, where Caverly was studying Fine Arts.
“I had an assignment due in color theory class. And at 4:30 in the morning I also had to complete an assignment to create a three-dimensional book,” she said. “I folded the paper together, then noticed there were three points on the book and I could get the color wheel to fit on the book.”
“Had I not been studying color theory, and had am assignment for a three-dimensional book, I never would have come up with this.”
The head of the Fine Arts Department saw my book, picked it up and said, ‘Heather, there’s nothing like this out there! You need to patent this.’”
It took until 2011 before Caverly found a patent attorney who grasped the concept, and she secured the patent last October. This spring she submitted the 3D colorwheel to Art Prize as a way to generate attention about the product.
This year’s Grand Rapids Art Prize is from Sept. 23 until Oct. 11. The Grand Rapids Children’s Museum will host Caverly’s exhibit.
