- Departing from traditional sales, fashion designer Kimberly Ovitz debuts her first jewellery line at New York fashion Week , choosing 3D printing. 3D printing helped her make the pieces available for purchase on her website that day itself, when usually a product line takes about six months to arrive after runway.
- A designer named Cunicode proved that you could go from idea to product in a day by creating 30 different model coffee cups in 30 days, now for sale online.
- SoundCloud and Shapeways recently teamed up to let fans turn their favorite songs into 3D-printed iPhone cases by imprinting the soundwave onto the back of the case.
- Creators Project , a collaboration between Vice and Intel, turns your Facebook profile into 3D-printed sculptures.
Why everybody is embracing 3D Printing is because it is good for both customers and products.
For a customer, 3D printing extends the conversation with brands opened by digital and social media to the possible co-creation of products. Nike, Threadless, Levis and others paved the way in recent years by allowing customers to choose among design options for products that were made by traditional manufacturing. With 3D printing apps, a customer can tweak a larger range of parameters within a product template, to choose not just colors or styles, but a unique product.
Similarly, without having to invest in a 3 D printer, retailer can give customers a a chance at personalizing their purchase by creating customization stations and having products shipped directly to the customer. The costs of launching a product using 3D printing are limited to sweat equity, testing of prototypes in different materials and marketing.
Adapted From: The Next Leap in Social: 3D Printing
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