In honor of National Week of Making, we will be featuring makers here from our community at Shapeways! First up, is designer Ian Dwyer (Nvenom8). Ian finds his inspiration from a number fantastical things: from Dungeons & Dragons to Lord of the Rings, and then makes them into beautiful 3D printed gaming accessories.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’m a Marine Science PhD student, but my 3D work has almost nothing to do with that. I started 3D modeling as part of a job I had in college, animating shows for a digital planetarium. I moved on to 3D printing just before I graduated. In all, I’ve been 3D modeling for about four years, but have only been working in the 3D printing industry for the last year or so.
What inspires you to create?
I mostly just make things that I would want, and then try to find people like me to buy them. Sometimes that goes well, and sometimes I realize that I’m the only one who would ever want the product.
What is your favorite part of 3D printing?
Only through 3D printing would a person in my position ever be able to bring products directly from imagination to reality. It’s made product design into a much more casual and accessible process.
What does being a maker mean to you?
Being a maker, to me, means that I don’t have to endure the torture of ideas bouncing around in my head forever. I can get them out and bring them to life. It’s borderline-cathartic.
Tell us about your favorite design (it could be yours, or someone elses). What about it really speaks to you?
My favorite design of my own is probably my Elvish D20, mainly because it’s just so elegant and organic in appearance. It really looks like something elves would make, and I’m proud of capturing that aesthetic.
My favorite design of someone else’s remains Ceramic Wombat Thorn Dice set. I received it as a gift a few years ago, and it was one of the big factors that made me look seriously into Shapeways and 3D printing. The dice in the set push the boundaries of dice design, and at the time there was nothing else like them out there. Wombat was also super helpful when I was starting out as a designer, and gave me some excellent advice regarding the limitations and abilities of the medium.