This week we are excited to highlight the lovely German duo, Agathe Schmid-Koenig and Bettina Meyer. Their shop, ringdesigner, is a lovely mix of jewelry design mixed with simple industrial design, and try to find basic forms to express an idea. Thanks to 3D printing, their ideas can be realized and shared with the world!
Tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? Where are you located?
We met at the Fachhochschule für Gestaltung in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany, where Bettina studied jewelry design and Agathe industrial design. After several years of professional practice in different towns we met again at International Design Center of Berlin in 2000 and have been in contact since. We are both interested in the new technology of 3D printing, and we started our jewelry project in 2014. Bettina is running her own jewelry gallery in Berlin, and Agathe’s office is near Heidelberg.
What’s the story behind your designs? What inspires you?
Fascinated by the new technological production capabilities and having experienced the limitation of crafting by hand, we came together to develop our first three-dimensional printable collection. We are old fashioned enough to try to work within the tradition of modernity. To find the simpliest form to express an idea is our motto.
Our first collection is inspired by classical jewelry designs like simple chains or solitaire rings. The design of our bracelets and rings is based on a renaissance collar.
What brought you to 3D printing with Shapeways?
In search for possibility of production, Agathe found Shapeways, which helps a lot to learn the rules of printability.
How did you learn how to design in 3D?
Bettina learned to use AutoCad at university as part of her qualification. Agathe completed a technical drawing apprenticeship in the early 90s and now specializes in 2D and 3D drawing and construction skills. Because of this specialization, Agathe is the more technical expert of the duo, while Bettina’s knowledge and experience in jewelry builds the base of the designs.
How do you promote your work?
For the first presentation we organized an exhibition at Bettina’s gallery in Berlin, where customers learned about this new technology and could also buy our products. We also promote products on our websites and step by step we will sell them in other galleries. We think about attending a jewelry fair in the future.
Who are your favorite designers or artists? Who in the Shapeways community has served as an inspiration to you?
We see the essence of aestetic in timelessness and modern tradition, so our favorite designers are Alvar Aalto, Max Bill, Eileen Gray, Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe etc. In the Shapeways community, we like the designs of Nervous System, Emerging Objects, Virtox and Ola Jewelry.
If you weren’t limited by current technologies, what would you want to make using 3D printing?
Generally we are open for new possibilities. Concerning our designs, our aim is to striking without too many features. For example, our necklaces are now very colorful, next time they might be very fragile or very complex or…
Anything else you want to share?
We would like to invite the Jewelry Shapies to our free download of the earring-hook.
WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT THIS SHOP:
- Really fun products with matching shop branding
- Great great photography
- Sections for easy shopping
- Great idea for “collections” so customers can recognize the products by brand and collection
- LOVE the free earring hook download – that is a really wonderful idea.
Thanks, you two! Such a fun shop, we can’t wait to see more collections. You can check out Agathe’s full portfolio of work on her site, and well as Bettina’s on her site. As always, to be featured email aimee @ shapeways.com.