What is the Cricut?

 

Cricut Maker is an electronic cutting machine that can cut all sorts of designs from materials like paper, vinyl, card stock, and iron-on transfers.   

You can think of a Cricut cutting machine like a household printer. Except instead of printing your design onto a sheet of paper, a Cricut machine uses a small, movable blade to cut the design out of a sheet of paper (or other material.)

First, you create a design in Cricut’s design software or app. Then, you send the design to the Cricut cutting machine via USB. The Cricut machine receives the design and cuts it out using a small, precise blade, or draws the design using a secured pen.

The DSI also offers access to the Cricut Autopress and Mini Heat Press, which are both heat presses that can apply heat-transfer vinyl and infusible ink designs to fabric, wood, and other materials. After you cut or print a design with the Cricut Maker, you can then use the heat press to apply it to your project.

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Here are a few popular projects you can make with a Cricut:

PAPERCRAFT SCULPTURES

https://www.lisalloyd.net Links to an external site.

http://www.mililitros.com/intro/ Links to an external site.

CUSTOM T-SHIRT

Flower T-Shirt Links to an external site.       Kitty T-Shirt Links to an external site.      Balloon Jacket Links to an external site.

CUSTOM STICKERS

 Cat Stickers Links to an external site.    Plant Sticker Links to an external site.

PLOTTER ART

Using the Cricut Maker's Pen tool, you can use different colors and types of pens to draw generative art and detailed pen "drawings." A plotter is just any machine that mechanically draws a line in a path based on instructions. Various types of plotters were used for decades in electronics, computing, engineering, and drafting. Today, they generally have fewer industrial uses, but many people use old plotters to make generative art. Take a look at these Links to an external site. links Links to an external site.about the history of plotter art for some inspiration!

 

Left: The Field Links to an external site., Grace C. Hertlein, 1970. Inks, nylon brushes, Calcomp plotter.

Right: Fire Maple 1 Links to an external site., Mutsuko K. Sasaki, 1976. Created using generative art techniques.

Below: Bird Plot, O.A.,  2022. Created by a DSI student worker using Plotterfun, Adobe Illustrator, and Cricut Design Space; the image is derived from a still from the 1972 film Solaris, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. The image on the right was created using a Cricut Maker, transparency paper, and Sharpies.