The image burned onto the acrylic is of the downtown Evanston area. I traced the map design on an app called MediBang Paint on the iPad.

Then I transferred it into Photoshop. RetinaEngrave, the software that works with the laser cutter, uses Photoshop to burn all of the black marks, and leave the white parts clear.

The next task was to figure out how to make the frame stand up. I glued two scrap pieces of wood 1/4 of an inch apart so that I could slide the frame into the base.

I also wanted to make the frame light up. I drilled three holes and put LEDs through them.

I made a parallel circuit on the underside of the stand with copper tape and three blue LEDs and used a binder clip to keep the battery in place, but it wasn’t very reliable. Sometimes it worked, and other times it didn’t.

The lights were very underwhelming, so I rethought how to light up the acrylic.

And thus came the shadowbox design. I layered 5 pieces of wood together, creating a three-dimensional box that the acrylic could slide into. I also recut the acrylic without a hole in the middle, becoming less of a frame, and more like the focal point of the whole box.

I painted it black, and put LED strips inside the box instead of using the bulbs.

I drilled a hole in the back of the frame for the LED strip cord to run through and hook up to a 9V battery.

The laser cutter was an essential piece to making this project. All of the cutting and burning was done on it.

I used wood for the actual box part of the frame.

I used acrylic for the art inside the box.

In my original design, I used copper tape, blue LED bulbs and a coin battery to light up the acrylic.

In the final design, I used a purple LED strip that went around the map to light it up. It is hidden by the front piece of the box.

The LED strips were 12V, but we used a 9V battery to light it up.

I also borrowed a 9V base that makes it less tidious to light it up.

I used a lot of binder clips to clamp down the box when the glue was drying.