The Making of a FrankenViolin - Design Process

My goal was to not only make an electric violin, but a strong artistic statement as well. My design was inspired by KISS, a band my dad got me listening to at a young age. I loved their combination of great music and theatrical performance, especially their awesome face-painted masks. I wanted to create something that captured that spirit. 

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​The shape of the violin’s body also reminded me of the shape of a skull. When researching all the different parts of a violin, I learned that the sides of a violin are also called the ribs! This got me thinking of ribcage design as well, hence the skeleton pattern. Skeletons are both fun and creepy—a perfect combination. I needed to develop a design for the violin's front and back that was simple but that would stand out. The neck seemed like a good place to start with a spine and work from there.

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The design reminded me of those skeletons you see on Halloween with glowing eyes. I thought my skeleton should have glowing eyes too, so I added some LEDs in.

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