inbu’s 3D Modeling Approach

A UK-based service offers a way to transform an idea into a printed 3D model. This is the way it’s going to be for quite a while. 

Design of the Week: Morphologic

This week’s selection is Morphologic, by the team of Chien Shuo Pai, Alberto Herrera Salas, Nishanth Peethala and Zhu Kele. Their purpose was to develop a structure that could become an architectural component. In the image you can see a miniature version demonstrating how the basic component can be recombined into potentially colossal structures.   … Continue reading Design of the Week: Morphologic

The Amazing 3D Printed Designs of Rob Elford

We’ve been perusing the works of UK-based artist Rob Elford, who specializes in wearable 3D printed items. Any one of his works could easily qualify for our Design of the Week feature, but we felt it necessary to show his new collection, “Ephemeral Delusions in a Motionless State”. Elford says:    The inspiration for Ephemeral… Continue reading The Amazing 3D Printed Designs of Rob Elford

The 3D-Lab Store

We’ve uncovered yet another 3D model store, the 3D-Lab Store. Like many similar ventures, Poland-based 3D-Lab Store offers shoppers the opportunity to select a 3D print from a set of models. Some of the pieces offer sizing and color choices, which is particularly useful for bracelets.    Objects are printed in various colors of PLA… Continue reading The 3D-Lab Store

Tinkercad Shuts Down

Oh woe. Tinkercad announced its pending demise, as the team developing it has been reassigned to another project.  Launched in 2011, Tinkercad became the premier tool for web-based 3D model development. It even included direct hookups to various 3D print services, creating a very easy path to 3D prints for casual designers. By the end… Continue reading Tinkercad Shuts Down

Another 123App: Creature

Autodesk has been rapidly adding apps to their free suite of consumer 3D apps, with the most recent addition being 123D Creature, with which you can create “creatures”.    The USD$7.99 iOS app is similar to others in the suite, permitting easy generation of a 3D model. This app is focused on limb-based objects that… Continue reading Another 123App: Creature

Neri Oxman’s Mediated Matter Lab at MIT

Neri Oxman, founder of the Mediated Matter Group at MIT’s Media Lab, believes that one day everything will be designed by nature.    The Mediated Matter Group’s mission statement reads something like a manifesto.    The Mediated Matter group is dedicated to the development and application of novel processes that enable and support the design… Continue reading Neri Oxman’s Mediated Matter Lab at MIT

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Co.Design Names 3D Printing a Trend

Design blog Co.Design (part of Fast Company) listed Frog Design’s view of the “20 Tech Trends That Will Define 2013”. Such lists are always interesting to examine, as they usually confirm suspicions and indications observed throughout the year.  But what did Frog believe were the trends?    There are too many to mention, but some… Continue reading Co.Design Names 3D Printing a Trend

3D Printing Design Contest – And the Winners are…

The 3D Printing Design Contest generated some pretty incredible designs. The imagination and ingenuity of our entrants impressed our judges.  The Grand Prize Winner of the 3D Printing Design Contest wins a $2000 cash prize, and all winners receive $100 and a 3D print of their model created on a Stratasys Mojo 3D Printer.  Thanks… Continue reading 3D Printing Design Contest – And the Winners are…

There’s Only One One Just One

Some say that 3D printing is not useful for manufacturing due to the per unit cost of printing versus traditional mass manufacturing. That’s true, and so 3D printing is often used for prototypes and low-quantity production. Or even one-off personalized items.    But now a venture attempts to push that concept to the limit. One… Continue reading There’s Only One One Just One

3D Balloon Printing

Normally one makes solid objects with a 3D printer, but how about making balloons? Yes, real, floaty inflatable balloons. That’s now possible, according to New Scientist, who reported on developments at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.   The trick is that they don’t 3D print the actual balloons. Instead, they design and 3D print… Continue reading 3D Balloon Printing

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Inspired by Biomimetics

We’ve previously written on research into the application of 3D printing in building construction. The idea is that rather than having a completely uniform interior geometry for building materials, we create variably shaped interiors. In other words, instead of bricks with solid or uniformly latticed interiors, more material occurs in places where more physical stress… Continue reading Inspired by Biomimetics

On The Road With 3D Printing

The Pocket Factory Project seems a little crazy at first, but then it starts to make more sense in this rapidly evolving 21st century. It’s two creative guys stuffed into a Prius, driving around the United States seeking inspiration for creative 3D printing.    Bilal Ghalib and Alex Hornstein are those guys and they’re traveling… Continue reading On The Road With 3D Printing

Send To Print/ Print To Send

We previously mentioned the exhibition at London’s Aram Gallery entitled “Send To Print/ Print To Send”, in which artists explore the possibilities using 3D printing technology. We just found a bit more information about this event.    ArtsThread discusses the opportunity and as in other industries, the Arts can use 3D printing for custom, one-of-a-kind… Continue reading Send To Print/ Print To Send

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A Robot at Mallyable

Our sister site and 3D model shop Mallyable just announced a very cool new 3D model: the Sitting Robot. It’s an exclusive digital 3D model of a particularly lazy robot that is conveniently sitting to permit easy 3D printing.  If you haven’t yet heard of Mallyable, it’s our very own source for 3D models –… Continue reading A Robot at Mallyable

Finding 3D Models With Google

We’re always interested to find new ways of developing 3D models, be it through software modeling tools, capture through scanning of real objects, physical manifestation of found 3D data, or other techniques. Why? Because you can 3D print them! Now we see artist Daniel Michel of Germany has found yet another way to create digital… Continue reading Finding 3D Models With Google

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A 3D Printed Hairbrush Bowl?

Qatar-based designer Thomas Modeen has produced a very unusual fruit bowl design. Well, we suppose it could hold a lot of other things, too. The design is inspired by a hairbrush – but upside down so that the bristles support items placed on top.    There are plenty more pictures of the “Hair-Brush Fruit-Bowl” at… Continue reading A 3D Printed Hairbrush Bowl?

Industrial Revolution 2.0

Industrial Revolution 2.0 is the name of a special event taking place at this year’s London Design Festival. This event is located at the Victoria and Albert Museum, as are some of the other events. It turns out that most of the items on display at Industrial Revolution 2.0 are 3D printed by 3D print… Continue reading Industrial Revolution 2.0

New York City Ground Zero Model

An amazing three-part model of New York City’s Ground Zero is now on display at the Manhattan’s New York City Fire Museum. The three part model by artist David Munson shows a 3D cityscape of buildings in the vicinity of Ground Zero before the Sept 11th event, immediately afterwards, and finally after all is rebuilt. … Continue reading New York City Ground Zero Model

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Posable 3D Models From CADHuman

SolidSmack reports on CADHuman’s new posable 3D models, which are highly detailed 3D models that can be adjusted into various positions. This differs from the more common experience of non-posable models that invariably are not in the specific pose you need. The models currently include:   Male & female figures Human male head Posable hands… Continue reading Posable 3D Models From CADHuman

Freedom of Creation: Absorbed!

We’ve written many times about the amazing 3D printed furniture and artwork produced by the design house Freedom of Creation, home of master designer Jyanne Kytannen. But today we learned that FOC, like many other 3D printing-related companies and services in recent weeks, has been acquired by industry giant 3D Systems.    It’s been getting… Continue reading Freedom of Creation: Absorbed!

The SculptCAD RAPID ARTISTS Project

Sponsored by TEDxSMU and SculptCAD, the Rapid Artists project borings together a dozen Texas artists who will attempt to use contemporary 3D printing tech to produce works of art in ways they’ve never tried before. They’re using 3D modelling software to create designs in a variety of materials. The artists were selected late in 2009… Continue reading The SculptCAD RAPID ARTISTS Project

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Rethinking Education Through Technology

If you happen to be in the top end of the Italian peninsula this weekend, you might consider attending a seminar put on by the lettera27 Foundation at Festivaletteratura in Mantova entitled, “The disenchanted teacher. Rethinking education through technology”. The seminar:    focuses on how context influences the expression of each person’s potential, and how… Continue reading Rethinking Education Through Technology

A Trophy for Materialise

Materialise was selected to produce trophies for the Moto GP in Sachsenring and Formula 1 race in Budapest. The design was made by Antonio Pio Saracino at the request of Eni, who needed a new interpretation of their traditional six-legged dog logo. Saracino’s ethereal design is quite amazing, and of course, impossible to build using… Continue reading A Trophy for Materialise

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Add a Floor for only $129

There are tens of thousands of new web-based services that do practically everything, from counting kids’ allowances to photo editing to managing your sales process. One of them is FloorPlanner, “the easiest way to create floor plans”. They provide a simple web interface with drag and drop capability for true ease of use.    The… Continue reading Add a Floor for only $129

3D Printing Solves The Innovator’s Dilemma?

In the classic business book, “The Innovator’s Dilemma”, author Clayton M. Christensen describes a scenario which happens all to often in large companies:   Inventive staff come up with a new way to produce the product Management is not interested in backing the new way because even if it succeeded, the amount of revenue is… Continue reading 3D Printing Solves The Innovator’s Dilemma?

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uPrinting Arms

Tiberius Arms is a small company specializing in the design and manufacturing of advanced pneumatic weapons. You may have used similar weapons on the paintball grounds, but they’re also used by the military for training and police forces as a “less than lethal” weapon. Tiberius has been producing weapons since their first product, a sniper… Continue reading uPrinting Arms

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The New Means of Production

We’ve been reading a very interesting article by Greg J. Smith of Serial Consign, which discusses the implications of advanced personal manufacturing capabilities on art and design. Smith explains the basics for those who aren’t familiar with modern fabbing, but then goes to review thoughts by several designers, writers and analysts. A key concept we… Continue reading The New Means of Production

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Making an Artist’s Living by 3D Printing

There’s a wonderful article by 3D printing artist Bathsheba Grossman over at Say Something, where she describes her journey from student to world-renowned 3D artist. And the best part: She’s now making a living from selling 3D printed art.   But it isn’t easy. She spent ten years after completing school to build up the… Continue reading Making an Artist’s Living by 3D Printing

Nervous Jewelry

  Actually it’s not the jewelry that’s nervous, it’s the creators. Or their company: Nervous System. They produce a line of jewelry (bracelets, rings, necklaces, earrings and brooches) that were generated by sophisticated algorithms in software. The designs are then either 3D printed, or in some cases 3D printed moulds are used to create the… Continue reading Nervous Jewelry

Bios in San Jose!

The ZER01 Art and Technology Network is preparing for what promises to be a spectacular event in September 2010 in San Jose, California. The event is an art exhibition held every two years, and this year’s theme is “Build Your Own World”. Now that’s the a theme Fabbaloo readers would like to hear more about.… Continue reading Bios in San Jose!

The Spatter

We bumped into this intriguing 3D design on Flickr, produced by Phil Renato. According to the Flickr notes, the item was printed by Mike Gayk at 3D Systems University in “Projet thermophotopolymer”, for which we can’t locate any more data. The fine details are interesting, and evidently some work was done to accomplish this: I… Continue reading The Spatter

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Designing Interface Architecture

FABberz and the Live Architecture Network are collaborating on a new venture to bring design tools to students in Brazil. Their idea: produce collaborative designs with residents and students to improve housing conditions in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. They’ll be holding a series of workshops leading up to the 2016 Olympics, which are… Continue reading Designing Interface Architecture

Darwin’s Ring

Multiple tips arrived this week directing us to a rather amazing design: FluidForm’s Evolve Ring Silver, designed by Michal Piasecki and Krystian Kwiecinski. Not only does this item look very attractive, it also has a scientific heritage: The design was machine generated by Artificial Intelligence software, specifically a genetic algorithm. GAs use simulations of reproducing… Continue reading Darwin’s Ring

FOC Explores 3D Paper Printing

We’ve written a few times about the amazing paper 3D printer from MCOR, which uses common A4 paper as it’s build material. Now we see it being used by a professional design firm: Freedom Of Creation. They’ve been experimenting with the device and produced the iPhone cover shown above. As you can see, they slipped… Continue reading FOC Explores 3D Paper Printing

Planter Bricks

This one seems so obvious to us now after seeing it, but originality always comes from those who are the first to invent something. This time it’s a special brick used to hold vegetation, and you can see various styles in the image above. The bricks were designed by San Fratello Architects, who explain: The… Continue reading Planter Bricks

SUBSTANCE

We ran across an intriguing software tool that can be used to develop incredibly cool 3D models. It’s called “SUBSTANCE”, from NeuroSystems. Here’s NeuroSystem’s tagline: NeuroSystems creates and provides leading edge, high quality applications in the fields of realtime 3D simulation and Computer Graphics. One of those applications is SUBSTANCE, the Evolutionary and Organic Art… Continue reading SUBSTANCE

Sources of Inspiration

We’re always amazed by the incredible ideas from imaginative designers, who are often inspired to create fantastic works by unusual sources. We’ve seen designers taking cues from the weather, dead carcasses, natural design, mathematics, evolution, sketches and many other sources. Today we read an interesting article in The Daily Mail, in which they post startling… Continue reading Sources of Inspiration

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MaterialEcology

MaterialEcology is an interesting initiative by Neri Oxman, who is attempting to devise experimental design forms that leverage the synergy of computing, ecology, material engineering and design. Their mission: an interdisciplinary research initiative that undertakes design research in the intersection between architecture, engineering, computation, biology and ecology. As such, this initiative is concerned with material… Continue reading MaterialEcology

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Robert Geshlider’s Works

Robert Geshlider is a San Francisco-based artist that makes great use of 3D printers for his works. They are abstract and can be found from time to time in the great galleries of the world, including the SFMOMA. This work, entitled “Journal”, is from 2008 – and was created using SolidWorks and a ZCorp 3D… Continue reading Robert Geshlider’s Works

MCOR Paper Samples

MCOR passed us images of sample prints from their new MCOR Matrix 300 3D paper printer (that’s right – it uses sheets of paper as it’s build medium.) We’re quite surprised at the quality and features. Look for yourself: This is a Geocalamus acutus, Amphisbaenidae, or Worm Lizard, courtesy of Dr Emmanuel G. Reynaud, School… Continue reading MCOR Paper Samples

Printing Carcasses

Continuing with the biology-meets-3d-printers theme today, we’ve run across a dark hobby: printing 3D models of animal carcasses! Designer Harry Allen has scanned and modelled a dead firefly, and then implanted an LED to create an unusual lighting system.   He’s also scanned a deceased piglet to create an actual “piggy bank”. Perusing his portfolio… Continue reading Printing Carcasses

BIOS Explores 3D Printing

The BIOS Collective is a working group of academic and professional designers exploring the application of biological patterns to architecture. We’ve seen a bit of this collision before where natural things inspire designs made real by modern 3D fabrication techniques. In this example, designer Charles Lee is working on a tower study for Ideate Inc.,… Continue reading BIOS Explores 3D Printing

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The “Most Complex Join”

The picture illustrates very clearly the problem here: how to fit the tabletop to the stand? By using a monstrously complicated join pattern! How can one create such a complex pattern? Designer Daniel Dendra used audio from Cairo streets to generate the intricate patterns, and then mapped them first to the tabletop and then a… Continue reading The “Most Complex Join”

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FOC Left and Right

  The most recent issue of Freedom of Creation’s newsletter describes a project they undertook for ASICS, in which custom packages were designed and made containing half of a secret object. The idea was to promote the notion of bringing two sides together, an admirable philosophy for any environment. From FOC: Asics launched their Left… Continue reading FOC Left and Right

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MathMorph

  This intricate model was designed by Jonathon Anderson by adapting the MathMorph techniques. MathMorph? It’s described this way: First, a series of computer models were generated by computer algorithms, cellular automation, and mathematic equations using Maya and Houdini programs. These computer models were fabricated as physical prototypes by the Stratasys FDMTM (Fused Deposition Modeling)… Continue reading MathMorph

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Designer Power

  An interesting concept got stuck in our heads, as you can see above. It’s from the Power Of 8 project in London, UK. What is it? According to their site: In this collaborative project, 8 people from different walks of life work together to build a public conversation about their individual aspirations for a… Continue reading Designer Power

CATIA Design Visualization Contest

  A post at 3D Perspectives shows some of the great entries into their recent Design Visualization Contest. While some of the visualizations were well beyond the capability of 3D printers alone today, others might well be attempted on current technology, such as Dominik Wolm’s second place winning entry above. Via 3D Perspectives and YouTube

Designers: Needed or Not?

We’re written on this topic before, where the proposition goes something like this: 3D printing devices and technology become widespread; either they’re installed in homes or are in easily usable nearby service centers Consumers use the devices and begin designing their own models. But, they’re 3D laymen The need for designers begins to dry up.… Continue reading Designers: Needed or Not?

Light Fixture Design

  What do you get when you combine barnacles, a ZCorp 450 3D printer and garlic? A really cool light fixture, of course! Designer Zach Kron created this curtain panel after extracting the fundamental design elements from the biological items and aggregating them into the above light fixture. Zach’s experimentation leads him to this tip:… Continue reading Light Fixture Design

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Chair Made of Itself

  Designer/Artist Eric Ku has several very interesting projects on his website, but this one caught our eye: An inspiration from the American contemporary artist Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chair. Instead of giving new definition, I redefined the concept of a chair by using alphabet. One is able to construct a chair by assembling… Continue reading Chair Made of Itself

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How Small Are Your Fingers?

  Ours are not exactly small, and therefore we’ll probably not be able to handle what’s being called “the world’s smallest cube puzzle”. It’s available at ShapeWays right now. It’s a classic 3D puzzle with tetris-like 3D shapes. The only catch is that they are really tiny, with the maximum dimension being only 7.5mm! Fortunately,… Continue reading How Small Are Your Fingers?

Breed!

  We came across an interesting design that leverages 3D printing tech in a unique way. Erwin Driessens and Maria Verstappen are Netherlands-based artists who’ve developed many amazing pieces; their portfolio includes a wide variety of approaches. One of their works, “Breed” involves 3D printing. According to their website: Breed is a computer program that… Continue reading Breed!

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Monaghan’s 3D Visions

  We were contacted by designer and artist Jonathan Monaghan, who recently worked on the Digital Stone project in China. Jonathan normally works at much smaller scales, and much of his work involves use of rapid prototyping techniques.   We particularly like the way in which he combines lighting to emphasize the 3D structures. The… Continue reading Monaghan’s 3D Visions

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Architectural Concepts via 3D

Readers may notice our occasional rant on how 3D tech is often used to produce common objects, simple things that are merely more conveniently produced than traditional approaches. But that’s not what gets our gears turning. We look for entirely new concepts, things that would not have existed if not for the exploitation of contemporary… Continue reading Architectural Concepts via 3D

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SketchBot Comes to Life

SketchBot is a character designed by Brooklyn, NY designer Steve Talkowski. Hsi blog, appropriately named, “SketchBot” covers the gradual evolution of SketchBot through various designs and adventures over more than a year. Steve has created this character using an iterative process over a long period. Once his hand-drawn concept was completed, he built a prototype… Continue reading SketchBot Comes to Life

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Langford’s Prints

Sean Langford is a “lead artist at Green Grass Studios”, where he works on “modeling, texturing, animation, lighting, compositing, and editing”, but his “focus has always been on character creation”. Recently he entered a model into 3DTotal’s periodic Sculpting Challenge and came in second place. With this amazing magical staff model shown above. Here’s the… Continue reading Langford’s Prints