Christina Guo is the founder of U-Dimensions.
She attended OCAD University and graduated with a Bachelor of Material Design, and a minor in Communication Design. She also obtained a Leadership Certificate from the University of Toronto of the business and professional management program.
She began the U-Dimensions project during her undergraduate thesis year as her thesis was on allowing users to design and personalize 3D figurines that reflect and resemble their unique identities.
Nora Toure: Christina, could you let us know about your background and what brought you to 3D printing in the first place?
Christina Guo: I graduated from OCAD University in 2015 with a Major in Material Design and Minor in Communication Design. During my entrepreneurial journey, I studied Leadership Essential at the University of Toronto to improve my management skill. I began this concept during my undergraduate thesis year, while I was struggling with how to approach a successful career after graduation.
The idea of creating your future identity and wearing your dream in a physical form as a personal reminder of your goals was born from my own desire and struggle to achieve my dream. The concept of converting 2D illustration into 3D printed products was the result of years of study and expertise in both 2D and 3D design.
My thesis project is now called Little You and can be checked here: It allows users to design and personalize 3D figurines that reflect and resemble their unique identities.
At first, I used WordPress to create a user-friendly platform that allows customers to select and add different costumes to personalize their 2D figures. They also have the freedom to change the color, shape and add different accessories. Advanced options include adding words and images to decorate their figures. After the completion of the design process, I manually extruded their 2D design into a 3D model that can be printed using a 3D printer. For Print, the website offers a variety of materials, such as metal, plastic, and full-color sandstone.
After I graduated, I got directly accepted into OCAD imagination Catalyst and from there, I started to build the company. The first workshop I learned was to determine the problem and I realized the business idea I had didn’t have a problem and nothing to be solved, so I went through many research and investigations and saw a big gap in the market for 3D printed toys and from there U-Dimensions was born.
Nora Toure: What was your very first experience with 3D Printing?
Christina Guo: I studied material design at OCAD University and we started learning Rhino in 3rd year, which is a tool to design 3D models. We had an FDM printer in school, I was amazed by the result of 3D printing and I knew this will be big.
Read the rest at Women in 3D Printing
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