Testing the Future of 3D Printing

I had the chance to hear a fascinating talk by designer Francis Bitonti on the marriage of art and 3D printing. He has created a number of unique designs as 3D printed objects – from bicycle racks for New York City to a 3D printed dress. He is a true visionary who can see the potential for unleashing 3D printing as a game changing technology in the world of design and fashion. Not making toys, but real works of art. He’s put his money where his mouth is and designed a number of household accessories with 3D printing in mind. Unlike many designers and artists, the extent of his design IS the design. He does not produce the products. He makes the design available for you to make on your 3D printer. He operates his design website like a download service. For a small fee (in our case, $1.00), we downloaded his design for a small bowl. We loaded the design file into our MakerBot 3D printer, and 9 1/2 hours  later, had an original Francis Bitonti bowl in our hands. A little clean up and a can of metallic spray paint and we had a three dimensional accessory available nowhere else except through the mind of Francis Bitonti and a desktop printer!