Designer Spotlight: Jamie Spinello

This weeks Designer Spotlight focuses on Jamie Spinello, whose creations in Stainless Steel captured our imagination.

I am Jamie Spinello, a designer and artist currently living in Austin, Texas. I have a shop here at Shapeways called Cactusbones, where I sell my 3D prints.  As a designer I have been making almost all of my designs by hand, so 3D printing is a relatively new venture for me and has opened up a new world of possibilities. 

What’s the story behind your designs? What inspires you? 

I am inspired by similarities between our ancient past and the modern world, as well as the similarities between plant and animal anatomies. I love making designs that teeter on visual boundaries. Making designs that are loaded with symbolic meaning that hopefully can be transfered to and empower the wearer is important to me. In addition, some of my general inspirations are fossils, insects, astronomy, astrology, alchemy and mystical stories. 

What brought you to 3D printing with Shapeways?

Stainless Steel. As soon as I saw that Shapeways was offering prints in stainless steel I spent a weekend coming up with my first design and got it printed. I had been creeping on Shapeways since 2010 watching all the magic others were making and finally decided in 2012 to start making models myself.

How did you learn how to design in 3D?

I am still in the infantile stages with my knowledge of 3D design, but I have taught myself through watching YouTube tutorials and exploring the programs for hours trying to see how everything works. I try to integrate my working knowledge of other 2D graphic programs with programs like SketchUp to create my designs. I find the forums here very helpful and love that there is a community to turn to when I have questions. 

How do you promote your work?

I have a shop over at etsy as well as a Facebook page where I share my new designs both handmade and printed. My Facebook page is my alternative to a mailing list and it allows me to share my process and studio practices with others. My drawings, paintings and sculptural work are on my website.

Who are your favorite designers or artists?

Lee Bontecou, Greg Lynn, Frank Lloyd Wright and Theo Jansen.

If you weren’t limited by current technologies, what would you want to make using 3D printing?

I would love to be able to buy 3D prints composed of solid copper, bronze, and brass as base metal materials lend themselves to more post production adaptations and integrations through sawing, soldering and forging. I would also love to be able to print sculptures on a large scale rather than being limited to smaller scale projects.