Michiel Cornelissen's work transcends & extends 3D printing while being both inspirational and fun. We're very proud that he is a Shapeways community member and also proud that we played some small part in helping him launch his solo career. As part of New York Design Week 2010, Michiel will exhibit at the Model Citizen NYC show at the Hosfelt Gallery starting on May 15th. To celebrate this, we interviewed Michiel.

Joris Peels: Why did you want to become a designer?                                   

Michiel Cornelissen: It's how my mind works, I suppose. I look around and get all these ideas for things that I'd love to have around but aren't there yet. Looking back, I was doing things at a very young age that you could call design. Some of those, I still like, even...

Even so, getting a design education and a job as a designer was sort of due to a succession of seemingly random events. I probably only realized how much I enjoyed designing after college.

Joris Peels: When did you decide to become an independent designer?
Michiel Cornelissen:It's a feeling that started growing on me in, say, the past 5 years, but again, there were probably earlier signs. I got serious about it in the beginning of 2009, and started my company in the second part of the year. First, part-time, next to the product design and creative direction I was doing for a certain large electronics company in the Netherlands, and now full-time.

Joris Peels: Has Shapeways helped you to become an independent designer?
Michiel Cornelissen:I probably would have made the step anyway, but what's incredible about Shapeways is that it allowed me to create an independent portfolio of actual products within a few months, weeks even - and not only that, but have my designs available for sale around the world at the same time. The great response I've been getting on the work certainly helped making the decision.

Joris Peels: Tell us about your Icosahedron?
Michiel Cornelissen: It's one of these cases where restrictions make you creative. After a few jewelry pieces, I was itching to make larger products, but ran into the price limitations of 3d-printing. It dawned on me that I might be able to combine 3d printing with existing parts, but in order for it to work for anyone, anywhere, they would have to be parts with worldwide availability, preferably even things that many people already own. I always have a few color pencils around on my desk - and suddenly, the connection was made.

Joris Peels: What software do you use to design?
Michiel Cornelissen:Rhino.

Joris Peels: All of your work is currently 3D printed, will this continue?
Michiel Cornelissen: I actually have quite a few designs waiting in other materials and at other scales, but I will only publish them when I'm really ready and the time is right. I've given priority to the Shapeways stuff, because the barriers for production and distribution are so low.
I usually design around some sort of functional starting point, and sometimes I'll be able to get what I want with 3d-printing, but it's still limited in scale and price.

Joris Peels: What is your Show about?
Michiel Cornelissen:I feel very fortunate to be asked to join a group of independent designers in the Model Citizen NYC show at the Hosfelt Gallery, as part of New York Design Week 2010. I'll have a small exhibit showing icosahedra, pencil bowls  - with a bit of luck, including a new one - and various jewelry pieces. The show is at the Hosfelt Gallery, 531 W 36th street, right across from the Javits Centre. Opening night is on May 15, 5-8 PM, and the show is on until May 17.

Joris Peels: Do you spend a lot of time marketing yourself?
Michiel Cornelissen:I don't so much market myself, but my ideas. When I believe I have a good product, I think it's worth putting in every effort to explain it well in words and images, and to give it a chance to be known in the places where people might be interested in it. So that part, yes, I probably spend more time on that on the actual designing.

Joris Peels: Your work is currently for sale at Frozen Fountain how did you accomplish that?
Michiel Cornelissen:When I got the Merry Birds in, I realized I had a shot at creating an offering that could sell in shops, in time for Christmas. So I sent the best image I could make to the owner of the shop, and he immediately responded that he'd like to see one. I showed it to him, he loved it and ordered a bunch. It's not always that easy though, and you should be careful about what you show to whom. You want to open doors, not close them.

Joris Peels: Why do you think your A Bit Cross model became so successful?
Michiel Cornelissen:Taking such a well-known icon, and remixing it with practical functionality was fairly new, I think. In general, I try to create products that have value regardless of whether they're 3d printed or not.
A Bit Cross is probably also the sort of design that works well on the internet, because one image can explain the idea in a split second. Which doesn't mean that I expected anything like the avalanche of e-mails and website hits that followed...

Joris Peels: What do you think of Shapeways?
Michiel Cornelissen:You're onto something amazing. It's very addictive, and holds a lot of promise.

Joris Peels: What are we doing right, what are we doing wrong?
Michiel Cornelissen:I was a bit shocked when I read this morning that you're changing all the colors! I'd love to see a nice magenta/pink added to the range, and I can imagine that you'd want to ditch an unsuccessful color every now and then - but I get a headache when I think of all the work I'll have to do on my site and my images when everything goes. Gradual change in that area, please...

The technology you're offering is great. I literally can't keep up with all the material introductions you guys are having. The business model of taking production, sales and distribution out of the designers hands could be even greater than the technology aspect of Shapeways - and it doesn't have to be limited to 3d printing.  

Prices - I know you guys are probably doing all you can there, and they're pretty good for small stuff, but I really hope that the larger stuff can get a bit cheaper someday.

The next frontier is marketing. If I were you, I'd focus about 80 to 90% of my energy on that for the next year or so. Shapeways is already a great place for designers and modelers, but it should be just as great for shopping and browsing - and I don't think we're there yet. Just like YouTube needed its hits, in my eyes, Shapeways will need some hits. A few products that sell in 4-digit numbers, to compete with any retail chain - that would be proof that it's really working.