The easiest thing about making your rewards with Shapeways is you can wait until the end of your funding cycle, and then place an order for exactly the amount of rewards you need. So even if your project wildly exceeds your expectations, you are not suddenly faced with hand-making 1200 individual rewards!

More examples from the Shapeways community include the MeshUp and Iconic.am. Have you launched a Kickstarter project using Shapeways? Share your Kickstarter + Shapeways project with us!

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.

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

I am Bo, originally from Denmark, now living and working in Hollywood, California. My background is photography and graphic design.

What's the story behind your designs? What inspires you to design for the GoPro?

My designs are mostly created to solve my own needs and wants.  The GoPro for me is a amazing camera, which truly shows how scale and technology affect how we do things, because it creates images with quality better than my broadcast cameras of years ago.

I did actually take classes in 3D animation in the nineties, but 3D product design is something I have slowly figured out the hard way. I probably learned to think in 3D from my mother who is very artistic and "forced" us as kids to draw, to work in clay, and generally hammer together and build whatever we were thinking. So when we saw a TV program about pirates, we would later be building a pirate ship in the backyard.

How do you promote your work?

I don't really promote like I should,  most of my sales are from word of mouth, from happy customers using my designs. I write a blog, where I share my thoughts about photography.

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

The products in my Shapeways shop, are basically products I needed myself. I couldn't buy them anywhere so I decided to design them myself. While enjoying the results I thought more people could benefit the solutions and I decided to make my designs available to everyone. That turned out to be a good idea. People where having the same problems and suddenly I was selling thoughful solutions. This was especially visible by the product Clip-it, a simple clip to convert your iPhone charger to a travel dock. The phone is somehow designed to have a flat battery within a day, so designing an easy charging solution made sense and turned out to be something people wanted worldwide.

Check out Remi's beautiful products for your iPhone on his Shapeways Shop, his website, and stay up to date with his designs via Twitter.

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

I am an artist, author,  designer and yoga teacher, working at the intersections between art science and technology. These practices, often considered divergent, find a common denominator in thinking of ourselves as a part of a system. For instance a yoga posture is about our body defining a geometric form changing in time and relating to space; human movement can also be thought of as a design solution.  I have been living in New York for over two decades but I was born and grew up in Rome. Living in a city where you breathe geometry in every building and street, probably had a major influence in my work.

I started working with 3D design in architecture, as my formal degree is a masters in architecture. I have been working with 3D modeling for over twenty years using several different softwares, from AutoCAD to 3dMax, often writing scripts to customize built-in functionality. More recently I have been using Bentley GenerativeComponents, a parametric associative software, where C# scripts can be used to build geometric elements as well as a sequence of transformative operations. I find GC the best design tool so far for its flexibility; the change of parameters allows me to design wearable objects of different sizes and materials specifications using the same set of operations. 

What brought you to 3D printing with Shapeways?

Who are your favorite designers or artists?

Leonardo, Filippo Borromini, Marcel Duchamp, Buckminster Fuller, Philip Stark and Kraftwerk. On Shapeways, I like Bathesba's work a lot.

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

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.

What's the story behind your designs? What drew you to making miniatures? 

In 2008, my wife suggested that I (again) take up model railroading.  I started working on a train layout, but quickly found that there were items (especially houses) that I wanted, but weren't available for purchase. Even though I can do a few artistic things, my very early background was in architecture and mechanical drawing, so I tend to work with real or technical objects more than fanciful organic creations. My normal workflow involves in designing the object in decimal feet using 1:1 dimensions as often as possible.  If the real object is 40 feet long, I design my object to be 40 units long. Then, I have the freedom to re-scale the items to match whatever train scale I happen to be working for, which then makes it easier to offer multiple sizes.

How did you learn how to design in 3D?

My first semester in college, rather than work on homework, I attempted to construct what you would call today a voxel-based model of the Star Trek Enterprise. If you can imagine, it wasn?t a great success using 80 column punch cards, but I did get it to the point where I could do 2D prints of the ship from any random rotation angle.  In the 80's, I played with Pov-Ray and week long scene rendering.  Then, in the 90's, out came Truespace, which allowed you to build VRML worlds you could walk around in, which has always been my true goal: a virtual world you could walk around in, like Stark Trek's Holodeck.  I've used Truespace since version 0.9, and I am really saddened that Microsoft bought it and killed off new development. I really should try Blender, but that's for another day.

What brought you to 3D printing with Shapeways?

Anything else you want to share

It is almost impossible to describe how fulfilling it is to design something on the computer and then hold a copy of it in my hand: it's truly a life-long dream. Beyond that, it brings me to a profound sense of accomplishment when someone shows me a painted and finished version of my items sitting on their train layout. Understand: Stony Can't Paint, and when someone takes one of my models and finishes it up properly, it's overwhelming.

This weeks Designer Spotlight focuses on Stijn van der Linden, the creator of one of our most popular items on Shapeways: Gyro the Cube. He is an avid and prolific designer, and he also finds time to answer questions on the forum as one of our moderators.

Hi everyone! My name is Stijn van der Linden, probably better know as Virtox around here . I live in Tilburg, in the Netherlands together with my lovely wife and son. I am a work-at-home dad, so I juggle my time between housekeeping, changing diapers and late night sessions of tinkering, designing and programming. I have a college degree in Electrical Engineering and worked as a software engineer for several years, but shortly after discovering 3D printing and Shapeways, I switched careers to my life long passion of 3D Art & Design.

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

Initial sparks often come from the intrinsic beauty found in nature, science and life: a twig, an atom or a kitchen sink. I have a particular fondness for using primitive shapes, such as circles, cubes and spheres and morphing them into the desired forms.

How did you learn how to design in 3D?

What brought you to 3D printing with Shapeways?

In August of 2008 I saw a mention of Shapeways somewhere and I signed up for the closed Beta. At the time I thought it was mostly expensive and very complicated,  but I kept a close eye on the newsletters and forum and started to learn about the wonders of 3D printing. I tinkered about on the site, uploaded some models and tried the shop feature. To my shock and amazement, I sold something within mere days! Someone had actually bought Holey, a model I had designed years before and now someone, somewhere, was actually going to hold something I had once designed to be impossible to make. And worse, they beat me to it! So this led me to quickly place my first order and ever since I've been hooked on 3D printing.

How do you promote your work?

It has never been my strong suit, and it's hard to find the time, but I try to post updates to social networks as much as possible, such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, my own blog and occasionally to design blogs and websites such as Designspotter and Behance. But all things marketing, I learned from the Shapeways blog, as it contains a goldmine of tips, tricks and hints on how to promote your designs and shops.

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

My all-time favorite artists are Salvador Dali, M.C. Escher and H.R. Giger. Their mind-bending work really sparked my love for art and I am very fond of surreal and impossible looking stuff! After four years of being part of this community, I must say there are so many great members helping and inspiring others, I could not hope to name them all! So a big thank you to ALL for making this place the success it is today! A special shout-out to Youknowwho, Magic, StonySmith and Stop4Stuff for driving the community forward and to Nervous System, Bathsheba, Unellenu and Opresco for making the most inspiring works. And apologies to all that escape my mind at the moment!

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

Oh wow, well just about anything and everything! I can't wait to sink my teeth into an impossibly shaped designer steak, sit down in a fully personalized chair and strap on that pair of extra robotic arms to get things done. But this technology is evolving so quickly I really do not feel limited. If anything, 3D printing just seems to be the ultimate addition to any toolkit.

Thank you to all Shapies for all your efforts to make the impossible possible, you are changing lives and the world with it!

Check out Stijn's incredible designs on his Shapeways Shop, his website, or hop onto the forums and chat with him and the rest of the Shapeways community.

I am Nancy, formerly the Materials Product Lead of Shapeways. I launched silver, frosted ultra detail, ceramics, polished strong and flexible, the image popper and a bunch of other projects while I was at Shapeways. I'm really a nerd at heart. I love hacking together everything from image poppers to dog treat dispensers. It's so much fun to make things, and I want to help other people make things too. Right now, I'm working on making web apps that make it easy to 3D model. We just launched Mixee Me, which enables people to create 3D printed characters right from their browser. 

So what are you waiting for? Make your own character on Mixee Me, or check out what other people are making. Check out the Holiday Gift Guide for your meme fix too!

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. 

This week's Designer Spotlight focuses on Mark Bloomfield of ElectroBloom. His customizable jewelry designs let you be part of the creative process, by adding charms to a bracelet or choosing your own colors.

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

Hi, I'm Mark Bloomfield and I'm a designer living in London. I've always been obsessed with making things and there was a time when I used to make stuff by hand! It would always be small sized objects so jewelry became my area of choice, although I have designed and made all sorts of things.

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

I've designed and made jewelry for many companies over the last 20 years. In 2011, I decided it was time to design my own collection that would be made using 3D Printing. I'm inspired by many things and love figuring out how they work, particularly natural forms. It was the sheer diversity in the natural world that led me to devise a customizable system and allows customers to build their own jewelry items and participate in the creative process.

What brought you to 3D printing with Shapeways?

I was researching rapid prototyping machines, and I came across Shapeways as an alternative to buying our own kit. We used different service bureaux before buying our own 3D printer. When I finished working with that company I wasted no time setting up a Shapeways account!

How did you learn how to design in 3D?

I have always loved making things and I also got into home computing early on so 3D modeling was like a natural next step. Although 3D modeling in the early 80's was very basic it's been very rewarding growing with the software, I've used many different types of 3D software over the years but decided in 1999 to focus on Blender which is just brilliant and free!

How do you promote your work? 

I keep getting sales through my Shapeways shop, which is great as I don't do that much promotion. I am now gearing up for a sales drive and I'm talking to traditional retailers and magazines. It's best to be active in as many channels as possible, both on and off line in order to get as many potential customers interested in your products.

Who are your favourite designers or artists?

I'm a big fan of the historical classics like Lalique, Faberge, Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Leonardo da Vinci and Karl Blossfeldt.

Who in the Shapeways community has served as an inspiration to you?

It's very inspirational to see so many individual designers realising their ideas with Shapeways. The brilliant thing about the community is that there are always new ideas happening daily, something that just doesn't happen with traditional forms of manufacture.  Dario Scapitta is really good at putting together a collection and he's produced some stunning designs that all work well together, his Black Rose collection is my favorite. I love what Museum of Small Things are doing, they are like little treasures you can wear. Probably one of the first designers I discovered on Shapeways was Up To Much and I still really like his combination of engineering and jewelry. Colors of Birch are doing some really interesting accessories and jewelry, and I love their branding! And Colleen Jordan's planters are just brilliant, everyone should have one! 

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

Most of my work is based on natural systems and it would be wonderful to be able to print the designs using a true multi-material printer. Just imagine different material properties and characteristics in a single build! It could mean that the designs could move or change shape allowing them to open or close based on heat or even change colour or light up when it went dark, one day, perhaps soon!

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

What brought you to 3D printing with Shapeways?

How do you promote your work?

I have been fortunate enough to win a couple of competitions including 2011 3D Printing Event which was sponsored by Shapeways.   You can also keep up with my latest designs on Facebook and my website.

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

I would have to say that Dieter Rams is on the top of my favorite designers list.  His work and design philosophy truly inspire me. There are countless great and clever designers in the Shapeways community.  I really enjoy Michiel Cornelissen products and his approach to design. I'm also fascinated by Kostika SpahoBiomimicry Shoe.  Frankly I see a lot of noteworthy designs in the Shapeways community. 

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

I would love to be able to print fully functioning electronic devices like smartphones, or maybe print organs for those in need.