Vambit Designer Toy January 28

Ponoko made product from Drownspire

Vambits are spooky cute, laser-cut toys from Québécois creatives Drownspire. They come in “Ghostly” white acrylic or “Lumberjack” wood, and are available at the recently opened Drownspire online store for just $15. You can watch a cute 20 second video promo for the Vambit here (or just click the picture).

Drownspire doesn’t just make designer toys. They can also hook you up with tickets to an 8bit concert, a collection of Montreal artists’ comics, and news on artsy-fun events around the city like the weekly Drink & Draw.

Posted in Design, Functional Art + Objects, Kristen Turner, Laser Cutting, Maker Stories, Toys + Games by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: Laser Cutting

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Flat Pack Bike January 28

The Roll Bike Concept By Nicolas Belly

Winning second prize from the L’Argus Design Competition for his Roll Bike Concept design, Nicolas Belly has taken the children’s balance bike to another level. Sure the chain and tyres are not made of plywood, but the design does fulfill the competition of “Less is more: travelling in the era of simplicity”.


I think I saw the scooter in ‘back to the future’ though?

via trendhunter

Posted in CNC Routing, Design, Duann Scott, Functional Art + Objects by Duann | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: CNC Routing

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Movisi 2010 Collection January 26

linking partitions, wallpaper you tear, and a chair that’s 95% air

The Movisi mission is to produce “modular lightweight furniture which is eco friendly and socially responsible.” The 2010 catalogue showcases an array of inventive, customizable, and award winning designs from Ronen Kadushin, Karim Rashid, and PearsonLloyd. A few of my favorites included the LINK modular partition system, the Tears Off wallpaper line, and the featherweight Lyta chair. Read on.

(more…)

Posted in Design, Furniture + Lighting, Kristen Turner, Mass Customization by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

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MAKE Volume 21 — Desktop Manufacturing January 25

The latest issue of MAKE takes on the technological and democratic shift of product manufacture.

Don’t miss this month’s issue of MAKE magazine which is packed with all things Desktop Manufacturing! 3D softwares, CNC machine building, sustainable surfboards, a look behind the scenes of MakerBot Industries, a ShopBot and Ponoko mention on page 71 and LOTS more.

Desktop manufacturing is so cool and such a big deal that even US President Obama had to be briefed! (picture not featured in Make magazine)

Posted in 3D Printing, CNC Routing, Digital Fabrication, Kristen Turner, Laser Cutting, Maker Movement, Technology by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: 3D Printing, Laser Cutting, CNC Routing

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500 Plastic Jewelry Designs January 25

Lark Books delivers an extraordinary selection of contemporary craft.

3D printed, laser-cut, hand fabricated, found object — it’s all covered in 500 Plastic Jewelry Designs, one of the latest editions to the stunning 500 series from Lark Books. The book is truly, as the subtitle claims, “A Groundbreaking Survey of a Modern Material.” The selected works prove that plastic can be an exciting, versatile, and avant-garde material for creating accessories every bit as exquisite as traditional pieces made from precious gems and metals. 500 Plastic Jewelry Designs is also an excellent source of inspiration for makers and designers, especially those interested in the capabilities of rapid manufacture.

After the jump are a few pages I scanned from the book. You really must flip through the entire thing yourself! You can purchase 500 Plastic Jewelry Designs at Amazon for under $20.

(more…)

Posted in 3D Printing, Design, Jewellery, Kristen Turner, Laser Cutting, Materials by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: 3D Printing, Laser Cutting

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Uncommon: Customized iPhone, iPod and Blackberry Cases January 21

Cosmetic Customization

Minimal inc. has has started manufacturing totally customizable graphics on iPhone, iPod and Blackberry cases. Uncommon allows you to upload your own graphic (which you can also make cash from if other users use your design) or choose from a case in their existing lines. Their is quite an extensive library of community designs, as well as basics and an artist series to choose from if you want to be a little more common.

(more…)

Posted in Duann Scott, Functional Art + Objects, Mass Customization by Duann | Comments are off for this post

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February Competitions Listing January 21

LAUNCHES

• Good Things Come to Those Who Wait — deadline 16 March 2010
“Create a 1-minute video that shows or tells the story of something you believe is worth waiting for, or, from experience, something you had to wait for that was worth it in the end!” The latest competition from Social Designer; prize is $500 plus a set of the 500 colored pencils from Felissimo.

• The Left Hand of God — deadline 4 April 2010
Your chance to design the cover of a sci-fi novel from Penguin publishers. Winning artist also receives £200 worth of Penguin books.

• Crochet Guild of America — deadline 15 June 2010
six categories and lots of cash awards for original work in crochet

DEADLINES

• Craft Alliance Artist-in-Residence — 5 February 2010
Free studio workspace is available for 3, 9, and 12 month residencies in St. Louis, Missouri.

• Comic Book Bin Web Site — 8 February 2010
Redesign the look of Comic Book Bin for $500 fat cash.

• Red Dot Award for Product Design — 10 February 2010
A competition that needs no introduction.

• CustomMade Design Challenge — 12 February 2010
Your chance to have a custom piece of furniture built from your own design. Entries can be created in any 3D program.

• 500 Felt Objects — 13 February 2010
Enter your felt creations for publication in one of Lark Books’ beautiful 500 series.

• RELEASE Create for the Tate — 26 February 2010
Design the next iconic product for the Tate Museum. Winners earn £500.

• Craft Cubed — 28 February 2010
Artwork and installation proposals are being accepted for this Melbourne festival. The theme is Childhood.

HEADS UP

• TECHstyle Art Biennial — 1 March 2010
Works that explore the intersection of fibers and technology are the focus of this inaugural event in San Jose.

• Craft Texas — 1 March 2010
Submit your craft for a 15 week juried exhibition in Houston, TX. The show will also be filmed and released as a dvd documentary. Open to Texas residents.

• Art on the Streets — 1 March 2010
This is a call for outdoor public art for display in the streets of downtown Colorado Springs for one year. First prize earns $15,000. Wow.

• USGBC Natural Talent Design Competition — 1 March 2010
Design an elderly-friendly, green home as part of the EnviRenew initiative from the Salvation Army to rebuild 125 homes in New Orleans.

Posted in Contests + Competitions, Kristen Turner by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

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HP and Stratasys announce HP-branded 3D printer January 20

“We believe the time is right for 3D printing to become mainstream,” said Stratasys Chairman and CEO Scott Crump.

“We also believe that HP’s unmatched sales and distribution capabilities and Stratasys FDM technology is the right combination to achieve broader 3D printer usage worldwide. HP has made a similar move in this market before, capturing a dominant position in large-format 2D printers.”

Now we have a couple of heavyweights joining forces to bring 3D printing into the mainstream but we do not yet have the initial price point of the 3D printer. We are faced with the price gouging that may well follow if HP uses it’s current business model of making their money out of consumables more than the product itself.

The example of the cost of ink compared to other liquids in the graph above (slightly outdated from a 2006 gizmodo post, and maybe of interest to vampires in that it compares ink with the cost of blood, which is weird in itself, imagine if HP sold blood, but back to the story at hand)

Even though the cost of consumables may rise with a HP branded polymer cartridge at least it is a major leap forwards getting 3D printing onto the broader public’s radar. How many schools and businesses may be more comfortable buying a 3D printer from a ‘reputable, known brand’ rather than something like RepRap or MakerBot. What greater way to open up mass customization, consumer innovation, product hacks and mutilations than access to the tools used by the professional designers.

Posted in 3D Printing, Digital Fabrication, Duann Scott, Technology, Tools + Apps by Duann | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: 3D Printing, Laser Cutting, CNC Routing, App Gateway

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Thank you January 18

Over past few weeks we’ve had a hellva time with the blog being hacked. It all came to a bit of a head today with some of our email links redirecting to a drug store. Firstly I’d like to apologize for that. Secondly I’d like to publicly thank Stefan Pause and Reese De Luca for helping out and giving me the info needed to get to the bottom of the problem.

Dave ten Have
CEO
Ponoko

Posted in Ponoko News by davidtenhave | Comments are off for this post

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the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly January 18

hacks and stats on the Ponoko blog

The Ponoko Blog will be three years old this Thursday. (Yay!) The first post welcomed readers saying “We are very much still under the radar right now, but you can expect to see a LOT more from us in the very near future.” Well, we’re not under the radar anymore. The Ponoko Blog now ranks in at #84 in the top 100 design blogs. The ranking is based on all kindsa factors from RSS membership and social media site statistics to incoming links and monthly page views. (You can read more about the algorithm here.)

That’s the Good!

The Bad is that, as many of you have noticed and notified us to, our blog has a little hacking problem. A cruel thing to do to a three year old! The ugly? Blog search results and RSS feeds link to sites that I’m pretty sure most of you do not care about. We know all about it, and the Ponoko team is working to clean things up and set things straight. Sorry for any inconveniences and irritations that this has caused, and thanks for your patience.

Posted in Kristen Turner, Ponoko News by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

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