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3D Printing Blog

The i.materialise blog keeps you updated about outstanding 3D designs, the newest 3D printing technologies and the best 3D modeling software tutorials.

The Year of 2010 in 3D Printing: An Overview

To my abject horror there was no “year in review” for 3D printing. I decided to right this wrong and produce this one. I’ve tried to be as unbiased and inclusive as possible. If I’ve missed something, feel free to point it out in the comments and I’ll add it. 2010 was a miraculous year in 3D printing. Thousands of people have bought and made RepRaps and Makerbots en tens of thousands use 3D printing services such as i.materialise to 3D print their own creations. (more…)

Portal inspired Bookends on Thingiverse

We were thinking of some fun things to do with our Design Your Own Bookend. Because some of us are obsessed by Portal & Reddit, we had seen this awesome Portal  Bookend on Reddit. So we asked Nicolas de Jaegre to make a Portal (and Reddit) inspired bookend fit for 3D printing. We put the 3D printing files on Thingiverse so you can download them and play with the files should you want to. Now everyone with a 3D printer can 3D print their own Portal inspired book ends. Enjoy!

.MGX opens world”s first store for 3D printed goods

.MGX, Materialise’s high end design label for 3D printed furniture and lamps, just opened the world’s first physical store for 3D printed goods. The .MGX Flagship store is in Brussels” exclusive Sablon district. At the store people can look at and explore .MGX’s lighting and other collections. In the future .MGX will showcase new designs and exhbitions by its designers in the store. You could obtain .MGX items in other design stores world wide previously such as New York”s wonderful Moss but this is the first dedicated .MGX store. It is also the world’s first store dedicated to 3D printed items, we’re guessing it won’t be the last!

The .MGX Flagship Store is located at Rue Joseph Stevensstraat 31 – 1000 Brussels (Zavel/Sablon).

UPDATE: We take you inside the .MGX store here.

The Rhino & i.materialise 3D printing Design Challenge

Together with McNeel we would like to stimulate Rhino artists & designers worldwide to get the most out 3D printing. We both want to encourage stimulating, innovative and creative 3D printed products that are “Future Forms Today.”. That’s why we’re jointly announcing the Rhino & i.materialise 3D Printing Design Challenge and making over $1000 in prizes available to you.

What can you win?

  1. First place wins $500 in 3D printing & an i.materialise Appear lamp.
  2. Second place wins $300 in 3D printing.
  3. Third place wins $200 in 3D printing.

How will we judge the contest?

McNeel Europe & i.materialise team will jointly judge the contest. We will be looking at people who show the power of Rhino & 3D printing in their designs. We will be looking at designers and artists that can make “Future Forms Today.” We will consider the originality and presentation of the design. We will also take into account if you use maximize the power of 3D printing in your product. So is your pro

i.materialise interviews groundbreaking shoe designer Marloes ten Bhömer

i.materialise interviews groundbreaking shoe designer Marloes ten Bhömer

In my mind there are only two shoe designers that are really revolutionizing shoe design. One is Rem D Koolhaas of United Nude and the other Marloes ten Bhömer. Both a are using cutting edge materials and design to make shoes contemporary and amazing again.

Marloes ten Bhömer is a lauded designer who has been called “one of the most promising designers of her generation”. She uses innovative production techniques, new materials and completely different ways of looking at form & function to redefine footwear. Marloes’ Rapidprototypeshoe, pictured below, is a great example of using 3D printing to create wearable footwear. We interviewed Marloes to find out more about her beautiful shoes.

Joris Peels: Why use 3D printing?

Marloes ten Bhömer: 3D printing is interesting to me on various levels.

It’s quite difficult to convince manufacturers to produce parts for products that are outside their usual industry. In my case I use production methods and materials that are rarely o

The Google SketchUp lamp Challenge winners 3D printed

We wanted to share the winning designs of the Lamp Challenge we conducted together with Google SketchUp. We think that the four lamps we chose look incredible 3D printed. What do you think? Which one is your favorite?

If you”re a designer you can go here to learn how to 3D print your own lamp. Not a designer? No problem. You can individualise your own Appear lamp here.

Congratulations to the winners and thank you for everyone that participated. We enjoyed all 55 of your designs and are really very happy with the results of the competition.

Special Jury Award for the Amazelight by Oscar Rottink.

Third place for HD Studio Lamp by Zach Hines & Oliver Dibrova.

In second place: Parasite by Paradox.

In first place, the 3D Maze by Corre.

Vormgevers РStefan Sch̦ning

Belgian designer Stefan Schöning is probably best known for his redisgn of the corporate identity for the Belgian Railways and the resulting iF product design award & the red dot product design award. He also does a lot of product design for his Stefan Schöning Studio & design label polyline. Recently Stefan was featured on the Belgian TV show Vormgevers. The Belgian channel Canvas let us put the resulting clip on YouTube. The TV show is in Dutch and has no sub titles. But, if you do happen to speak Dutch the segment shows you how Stefan uses 3D printing to make prototypes for his cutlery collection. You can see him interact with his client and it is a great look inside the entire process from start to finish. It is also a good detailed example of how designers use 3D printing in their design process to itterate and communicate with clients. They discuss the forms, the design and lots of disparate elements of the process.  If you don”t speak Dutch at 4.14 there is some

3D Printing the Individualized Appear Lamp

Introducing the individualized Appear Lamp.

The Appear Lamp holds a secret. Your secret. Once you turn it on, it reveals itself.

You can individualize your own appear lamp with your very own hidden message. You can play with the different fonts and see how your lamp will look online here.

The lamp costs $99 ($19 including shipping to the States) and comes complete with light, fitting and stand. The lamp comes in both a European and US version. The Appear Lamp is 3D printed in polyamide and manufactured with care in Belgium.

What will you reveal? Will it be a message for a loved one? A joke? A surprise? Explore your creativity with the Appear.

We would like to thank the team at .MGX for all their help with the engineering of the Appear and for letting us build on their ten years of expertise in 3D printed lighting. You can find more images of the Appear Lamp on Flickr.

3D Printed .MGX art added to the Smithsonian

The Mylight.MGX lamp by Lars Spuybroek and the Future Systems Bowl by Amanda Levete now form part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York! Already on display in the Cooper Hewitt are the One Shot and the C2 chair by Patrick Jouin.

Congratulations are in order for our designers & colleagues at .MGX on this amazing form of recognition for their 3D printed work! Below you can see all the .MGX models that are in the Cooper-Hewitt.

Mylight.MGX by Lars Spuybroek

Future Systems Bowl by Amanda Levete

One Shot  by Patrick Jouin

C2 chair by Patrick Jouin