This weeks Designer Spotlight focuses on Onur Mustak Cobanli,an industrial designer working at OMC Design Studios by Como Lake in Italy.

New York based fashion designer Kimberly Ovitz took the idea of natural defense, an exoskeleton, and brought it to Shapeways, the world’s leading 3D Printing marketplace and community. Together, we pioneered a fluid, organic jewelry collection that molds to your body like armor. During New York Fashion Week, Kimberly Ovitz presented her first jewelry line that you can buy straight from the Fall 2013 runway, custom made for you. The future of fashion is now.

What's the story behind this particular line? Where did you draw inspiration from? 

I studied animals and insects with natural defense mechanisms and found inspiration in the intricacies of their innate built-in protection systems. 

What brought you to 3D printing with Shapeways?

My team and I are very interested in technology. We read a lot about it and found out about Shapeways through some research.

How has thinking in this new medium changed the way that you approach design?

It has granted us the ability to do things we couldn’t do before because of timing  or volume.  3D printing has no limits which is amazing for small designers that do not have a large volume of orders yet.

How do you see 3D Printing being incorporated into your work in the future?

I hope in as many ways as possible! The possibilities are endless and I hope to continue a great partnership with Shapeways.

How do you see fans impacting your designs?

That is the coolest thing about Shapeways and 3D printing. The fact that it is so democratic and that the public can have input on the designs. I think it is important to listen to and hear the consumer and 3D printing makes it easier to produce objects that do that.

Who are your favorite designers or artists?

I’m very much inspired by minimal artists such as Sol Lewit and Cy Twombly however I appreciate photography the most artists such as Taryn Simon who not only take beautiful photos but also are educational and provocative at the same time.

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

I'd 3D print a whole house!

Shop the runway now on the Kimberly Ovitz Shapeways shop or see her beautiful collection on her website.

Tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? Where are you located?

Chris Schmidt and Megan Ender are Seedling Design. We have created jewelry and art for over 10 years and currently work out of our home studio in Oakland, CA. By day Chris is an industrial designer and invents toys for companies such as Mattel, Hasbro, Fisher-Price, MGA and LeapFrog. Megan has a career in non-profit work and art education. We design bold and unique pieces that attract attention and our wish is that you enjoy, get complimented and feel especially delightful wearing our products! 

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

Seedling Design stems from the concept of taking a seed of an idea and seeing how we can transform it into something magical. Some concepts we’ve started off with are: Imaginary rock collections, magnetic sculptures, food as jewelry, cool geometry, tensegrity, planet inspired jewelry, self-defense rings, what would our favorite artist’s jewelry look like, textiles with 3D printing, and other mixed media pieces. Inspiration comes from our everyday lives, our childhoods, nature and our interest in geometry, science and technology. We have a list of 200 ideas that keeps growing, including ideas such as how to bring back pop-beads for kids in a modern form.  

What brought you to 3D printing with Shapeways?

In working in the design field for 15 years, Chris has seen the growth of 3D printing and was excited to use the technology. At work Chris uses an FDM (fused deposition modeling) printer all the time, but the output is less than attractive. Any other technology was always too expensive up until we discovered Shapeways. Now we can experiment all we want at a minimal cost.

How do you promote your work?

Since we are just starting out as a part-time, just for fun company, we’re only in the beginning phases of promoting our work. We started on Etsy and we are experimenting selling our work in several local Oakland shops. Since we both have fulltime jobs, getting ourselves out there has been a slow but informative process and we hope to keep expanding our audience.  

Who are your favorite designers or artists? Who in the Shapeways community has served as an inspiration to you? 

Our favorite artists and designers include: Tara Donovan, Gaudi, Anish Kapoor, Alexander Calder, Buckminster Fuller, Herbert Bayer, Louise Nevelson, Olafur Eliasson, Barbara Hepworth, Gabriel Orozco, Ai Weiwei, Shepard Fairey, Eva Hess and probably 50 more. As far as 3D printing artists, we’ve always liked the work of Nervous System and Bathsheba.

Check out their colorful designs on their Shapeways shop or their website.

Want to be our next featured designer? Send me an email at natalia@shapeways.com.

Hi my name is Justin Howlett, I am 24 years old and I have lived in London for about a year. I studied animation at Bournemouth University where I used my computer model making skills to make 3D sets and props for animation productions that we would put on as students. After leaving university and now working as a freelancer I continue to develop my practice.

I've been working on my ring project for the last few months. Much like the steampunk aesthetic, I really like to imagine my rings as something someone from the future might wear or something you might find that was once lost in the ground centuries ago. I have always been interested in ancient Egypt and especially the pyramids and I often have this in mind when I start a design. I like to use triangles or other simple forms as a starting point for the shapes in my designs. Sometimes me and my girlfriend Jess brainstorm ideas together which can lead to interesting results! 

When I was 12 I bought a game and it came with an editor which lets you create maps for the game. Later on taught myself to use 3D modeling programs like Maya and 3D Max.

I have recently used Pinterest and Twitter to get more exposure for my shop. My website is where I keep my portfolio of work and a link to my Shapeways shop, but I am new to this and I'm still figuring out the best way to do it.

Designing has always been a passion and escape of mine. I am constantly visually inspired by the built and natural environment. I usually design by daydreaming and picturing things in my mind before bringing them into reality. Alternatively I create by experimenting with different digital design processes, and apply various levels of conscious intervention.

What brought you to 3D printing with Shapeways?

When 3D printing becomes more affordable for larger items, I would love to create more sizeable sculptures, furniture, and significant architectural components, perhaps part of a building facade or an enormous contemporary chandelier. 

Check out Janelle's intricate jewelry designs and this incredible LED fractal lampshade on her Shapeways Shop or her website. 

Tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? Where are you located?

I would just go larger and create furniture. It would be so much fun!

Check out Susans jewelry on her Shapeways shop or on her website.

What's the story behind your designs?

The cluster of current fascinations change every few weeks. We love so much obscure stuff that we actually keep a secret tumblr to pass references back and forth amongst the group. In the Shapeways community, Theo Jansen's Animaris Geneticus Parvus is our favorite: it's complex, impossible to understand, and totally awesome to watch crawl around.  We also love the Bugaboo Locking Pin by the Bugaboo Repair Guy. Because it's a real solution to a real problem of modern products made with 3D printing. Simple, elegant, and the kind of thing we can get behind.