With more than 25 years in the film and entertainment industry, Dunne has quite the impressive CV. He started out in the film industry making weapons for “Braveheart,” and has gone on to work on films like “Fifth Element,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “V for Vendetta,” and many more. Just from looking at the weapons themselves, you can tell that what drives him every day, on every project is his love and appreciation for the crafts of weaponry and armor.

print awards-worthy props

Each weapon is conceptualized and designed specifically for the character and scene it will be used in. Dunne takes everything into consideration, such as the size of the actor wielding it and marks of age and wear on the weapon. It’s important to carefully craft each prop so that it looks like it comes straight out of the world it’s from.

In a previous post, we raved about the “Game of Thrones” Dorne Dagger which was printed in our Frosted Ultra Detail plastic. When choosing materials, Dunne focuses on what they’ll become: The materials themselves impact how the weapons will be decorated and finished. He also chooses materials that have the most appropriate weight. Aside from Frosted Ultra Detail, Dunne has also printed with our white Strong &Flexible Plastic.

try it yourself

While Dunne’s been intrigued with 3D printing for a while, this is only the beginning of his foray into our world and industry. Fans of historical fiction and fantasy, 3D printing, and “Game of Thrones” can expect to see many more incredible creations from Dunne and Shapeways to come.

The artist at work

Head over to Dunne’s website for high-resolution documentation of his works.

The post The Secrets of Game of Thrones Weapons Master Tommy Dunne appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

V Design Lab is a one-woman “jewelry laboratory” by Valeria Vigliani. Taking inspiration from everyday objects, V Design Lab transforms them into precious jewelry collections.

Originally from Milan, Vigliani travelled to Melbourne to take courses in metalsmithing and jewelry making, and continued her education back in Milan in two top-tier schools: Scuola Orafa Ambrosiana and Milan Politecnico University.

This ring hails from the “Ingrinaggi” collection, which means ‘spinning gears’ in Italian. Fascinated with the movement and form of the gear, Vigliani honored this undervalued object by creating jewelry from its shape and characteristics. Printed in our precious plated metals, the stacked rings really do embody both the industrial energy of gears and the elegance of minimalist jewelry.

This adorable lighthouse pendant is from the collection “Travel Through Jewellery”. Titled Faro de Itapua, this pendant is based off of the lighthouse by Itapoa Beach in Brazil. Vigliani hopes that this collection can remind people of the beautiful travels they’ve embarked on, and inspire people to go on more adventures.

“Outliers” is V Design Lab’s experimental collection, each piece conceived from an epiphany. This ring is called Contrarie because it is based off of a hex key — quite the practical, basic tool— and transformed into an elegant, precious piece of jewelry.

Are you as intrigued with Vigliani’s design concepts as we are? Come by the Shapeways Expo this week in Eindhoven (through October 29) to admire the jewelry collections in person! Don’t forget to visit her personal online store and her Shapeways shop to hear Valeria’s take on each of her extraordinary creations.

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Malinko Design is a sweet treat for those who appreciate sophisticated, playful design. The Australian design studio applies the same elegant approach to a mixed bag of products, from housewares to light fixtures to jewelry. Every piece is familiar at first glance, but they all have that one element — a little something unexpected — that makes them stand out from the rest.

Black Ceramic Soap Dish

The design studio offers its prints in materials suited to each item, from our food-safe porcelain ceramics to our silver. There doesn’t seem to be a central design theme to all the products — other than playfulness. The designers behind Malinko create whatever strikes their fancy, and it looks like they’re having fun doing it. Check out this somewhat abstract and super adorable pig ring:

Silver Piggy Ring

There is a reason why Malinko’s designs feel so intuitive. Each piece is embedded with thoughtfulness, giving them each a purpose behind the functionality and aesthetic. In their design statement, they write: “We actively seek ways to address mass consumerism through customer-minded and environment-friendly design.”

On Malinko’s blog, they discuss topics such as 3D printing as a manufacturing technique and the intention behind 3D printing their own designs. Explore it to learn more about the designers behind the brand.

White Nest Egg Cup in Strong and Flexible Plastic

If you get the same kind of unique satisfaction that I feel from perusing high-quality designs, don’t miss Malinko at the Shapeways EXPO this week at Dutch Design Week (through October 29). Can’t make it to Eindhoven? Take the full virtual tour on their website.

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3D modeling provides a faster, more accurate way of designing prosthetics unique to their wearers. But custom prosthetics have been around for millennia — for the wealthy. 3D printing has ushered in an era wherein prosthetics are actually affordable. In fact, they’re much more affordable than traditionally manufactured devices. And, the possibilities for personalization are greater than ever before. Enter Form.

Form is nothing less than part of a new reality. Far from the purely necessary, functional, medical, and clinical, Form turns prosthetics into fabulous, futuristic accessories.

Their product range includes leg prosthesis covers in over 30 colors and dozens of styles, including below-knee 3D art (3D sculpted) covers, below-knee printed art covers, and above-knee 3D art covers.

inspired? print your design

Form prints their covers at Shapeways in our sturdy Strong & Flexible Plastic, then post-processes them to take on the rich hues and high-shine finishes you see in the photos above and below.

Prosthetics themselves must prioritize function over form, leaving little room for creativity on the part of the designer or the wearer. Form recognizes that while a prosthetic becomes part of the body, functionally, it can also express its wearer’s personality.

The prosthetic covers range from sleek and subtle to maximalist and pop-art-inspired. Because some days, you’re feeling more sexy android, and others, more artsy tastemaker.

Right now, the company processes orders from Australia and New Zealand only. In the meantime, here’s sneak peek:

prototype your work

The post Form Prosthetics Let You Be You appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

For those creativity junkies who never truly outgrew their childhood toys, TriToy is Urbano Rodriguez‘s shop featuring building blocks — well, polygons — for adults. From brightly colored triangles and squares, the things one can build are limited only by imagination.

Just a square and a triangle. These two geometric shapes can make as many wholes as one desires. Printed with Shapeways’ Strong & Flexible Plastic, these little toys are perfect material for hours of fun, but are also super handy for prototyping and designing architectural models. So, fidget spinners step aside, TriToy takes desk toys to the next level — enabling outside-of-the-box thinking, and letting those creative juices flow.

And yes, dreams do come true — you can combine TriToys with Legos! Like the sick ride above, you can take advantage of Lego’s accessories and parts — such as wheels and propellors — to further realize the creatures and objects lurking in the corners of your imagination. Aside from the Legos, it does require a Lego adapter piece, also available in TriToy’s online store.

The result of these polygons is multicolored, geometric versions of anything:

A personal favourite of mine is the shark hand puppet that highlights the fact that yes, these shapes are moving parts!

Screenshot from Feature Video https://youtu.be/of7IoRzIzdY

And just for good measure, here’s 36 more possibilities:

Ready to play? Rodriguez will be showcasing TriToy at Shapeways EXPO during Dutch Design Week from October 21 to October 29. In case you won’t be in Eindhoven, you can browse detailed instructions, descriptions, and more possibilities in the online store, and visit Rodriguez’s Shapeways shop for his other designs.

The post Shaping Dutch Design: TriToy appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

You can view the full events schedule at this link, and highlights below:

We’re focusing on two new materials: HP Strong & Flexible and Premium Strong & Flexible, plus giving visitors a first look at designs created under our revolutionary Valve licensing program. Each day at Shapeways Community EXPO, we’ll feature themes from personal style to virtual and augmented reality. Don’t miss the groundbreaking prosthetic covers of Form, printed at Shapeways, the beautiful work of our SMK jewelry contest winners, or innovative fan art from Valve games. All events will take place in Eindhoven. You can view the map of venues here:

We hope to see you this weekend and all next week at Dutch Design Week. If you can’t make it, you can meet some of the designers who will be there via our Shaping Dutch Design magazine series, and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter throughout the week. For a full list of exhibitors, visit DDW.nl.

The post Make the Future With Us at Dutch Design Week appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

Mulderendevries is what happens when two Dutch architects, Remco Mulder and Marian de Vries, come together to create jewelry inspired by what they see in their everyday lives. Of course, as architects, what they see is a little different. They spot architectural motifs and patterns in both the mundane and the grandiose, and directly apply them to their jewelry designs.

Byzantine motifs are found in a number of Mulderendevries’s jewelry pieces, and the duo take good advantage of 3D printing to achieve the intricacy of the designs. By isolating the parts of different motifs that really stand out to them, we are able to appreciate the designs to another degree.

Muderendevries applies a similar structural aesthetic to their other designs, such as this bracelet filled with silhouetted blackbirds perched on intersecting lines that was designed for their niece. Their straightforward, bold jewelry has its own special ornamental charm to it, attracting both practical and romantic onlookers.

The pair certainly has an affinity for our black Strong and Flexible nylon, but they do offer their jewelry in a variety of metals and acrylics, which only proves that these timeless architectural motifs look gorgeous in any and every context.

Catch the duo at Shapeways’ exhibit at Dutch Design Week, which runs from October 21 to October 29. Before then, browse the whole collection on their Shapeways shop, or take a look at their portfolio on their website.

The post Shaping Dutch Design: mulderendevries appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

(in)Somnia is a jewelry line designed by California-based Adnohia. The accessories are influenced by nature, both conceptually and literally — she invites us to embrace the rusting process of the metals, believing that the rusting turns the 3D-printed object into a personalized journey. This is just one aspect of Adnohia that makes her jewelry stand out.

Adnohia comes from an architecture background, which perhaps explains her attention to detail and beautifully pared-down compositions that make the jewelry pieces so poetic. She isolates typical elements of nature such as talons and beetle horns and reinterprets them completely into forms we’ve never seen before while simultaneously convincing us that they were always meant to be jewelry.

The simplicity makes these statement pieces as sophisticated as they are bold. With Adhonia’s level of consideration, the pieces are just as much as a visual experience as an emotional one, as she intends for the jewelry to “speak directly to the wearer’s sense of nostalgia,” creating a special relationship between the owner and jewelry.

The artistic value of (in)Somnia has not gone unappreciated, as Adnohia’s wearable sculptures have been featured in galleries such as La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Feliz, her Hammershøi bracelet inspired by the painting Interior in Strandgade, Sunlight on the Floor by Vilhelm Hammershøi has been chosen to be displayed at the National Gallery of Denmark as part of Shapeways’ partnership with the museum.

Be sure to admire more (in)Somnia jewelry in person at Shapeways’ exhibit at Dutch Design Week, which runs from October 21 to October 29. Not in Eindhoven? Worry not, just hop over to her Shapeways shop or take a look her personal website, which includes more hand-finished 3D printed jewelry.

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At last October’s Dutch Design Week, the 2016 CHIL-DISH project challenged children to draw the perfect tableware for their favorite food. Of the drawings submitted, a group of 10 were chosen to be designed and printed. Finally, last Saturday, we had the honor of revealing the completed 2016 CHIL-DISH Project collection. It may sound long overdue, but creating designs based on the kids’ drawings was quite a process. Over 300 children submitted their drawings, so just narrowing it down to 10 winners was quite a challenge. But now, after months of hard work, the results have finally been brought to life!

Above are the winning drawings. CHIL-DISH Project initiators Kristos Mavrostomos and Anna van der Leij transformed them in 3D designs, and we 3D printed them in porcelain.

Looking back at drawing day

In our exhibition space at YKSI Expo, we gave CHIL-DISH Project founders Kristos Mavrostomos and Anna van der Leij a space where hundreds of children could draw their best ideas for tableware for their favorite foods. Below is our Facebook Live broadcast from that day in which I got to chat with Anna about the CHIL-DISH Project.

The winning designs were so hard to choose

As you can imagine, going through more than 300 unique drawings of tableware was not easy, though it was pretty adorable. Luckily, my colleague Astrid (whom you may know from our Scanning Stories series) helped out. Some of the drawings were very both imaginative and functional, and some others were extremely creative… but less identifiable. We started by asking a few simple questions when evaluating the drawings: What is the context of the drawing, what does the child plan to use this for, and can it be translated into something 3D printable?

Once the selection was made…

Astrid and I sent over all the designs with our recommendations to Kristos and Anna, and they then chose the 10 winners. It took a fair bit of effort to translate the imaginations of the children into something physical, but they did an amazing job, and we’re so proud to finally reveal the work. See the full collection of CHIL-DISH Projects 2016 below:

Sushi & Soya Bowl | Design by Miguel

Spiral Mug | Design by Livin

Ring Cup | Design by Sara

Noodle Dish | Design by Ilpha

Cookie Jar | Design by Juul

Yoghurt & Bread Combi Dish | Design by Frida

Cool Hot Soup Bowl | Design by Kristin

Snack / Fingerfood Plate | Design by Madelief

Lid of a teapot | Design by Lex

Friethak (Fries Heel) | Design by Meis

The post With the CHIL-DISH Project, Kids’ Designs Jump off the Page appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

Dutch Design Week was started by the Design Academy Eindhoven as a one-day event that has grown to span nine days, thousands of square meters of exhibition space, and hundreds of events, including music shows and interactive sites. Here are a few of Shapeways community member displays as well as innovative products and concepts from some the the Netherlands’ best design minds. While VR and AR are definitely having a moment in the interactive design space, the work we’ve seen over here is still very much meant for the physical world.

Pierre Niviere’s The Trophy is a 3D printer powered by human energy

A visitor is 3D scanned at Shapeways EXPO at Dutch Design Week

Shapeways Designer Anna Ruiter’s jewelry on display at Dutch Design Week

3D printed sound board elements from Shapeways designer Retrokits

The WastedBased recycled furniture collection by StoneCycling and Ultra Studio

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