Second nominee for the i.materialise Designer of the Year Award: William du Toit

The second nominee for the ‘Designer of the Year’ Award is William du Toit, a designer from Denmark. His designs are really playful, including small figurines and robots.

William du Toit (DN)

Will du Toit: “The nomination came as a complete surprise. I’m very honored to be nominated since there are some great designers on i.materialise. I’m originally from South Africa but have been working in Europe at various game developers as an animator for the last decade. I currently live in Copenhagen.”

“I started designing for 3D printing as a way to bring my character designs to life, which 3d printing is perfect for. This led me to making various other designs, as birthday and Christmas gifts, for family and friends. Once I started to grasp the versatility of the 3d printing process I was hooked and couldn’t stop thinking of things to make. The possibilities with 3D printing still amazes me.”

A robot named Hero (L) - Mech with Panda Pilot (R), both printed in prime gray

 

“For inspiration my friends are amazingly creative without knowing it. Conversations with them are my greatest source of inspiration. I am also heavily inspired by video games and graphic novels since most of my designs feature characters of some kind.”

Courage Pendant, printed in high detailed stainless steel

“I still feel like I’m just getting started with it and there is such a long list of possibilities. Moving forward, I would like to focus more on designing for metals, like stainless steel, silver and even titanium. I also have some new ideas where I would like to incorporate more articulated designs with moving parts that come straight out of the print. Being able to do that still seems like pure science fiction.”

Three Legger, printed in stainless steel