Exciting news in the custom design world of Shapeways! I'm happy to tell you that today Shapeways has launched an updated and expanded version of the Designer For Hire program. This program connects people with product ideas but who have little 3D modeling knowledge with skilled 3D designers to help bring those ideas to life. Since launching this program about two years ago, the number of requests coming in daily has outstripped the availability of the designers currently in the program. A more robust platform was needed for these talented designers to display their skills and services. That new platform is now live and all qualified designers are invited to sign up for the program.
How does a designer qualify? Community members who have an open shop, have first and last name visible in their profile and who have successfully shipped three different models or model versions will be able to post their services for hire. These checks have been put in place to ensure familiarity with the Shapeways system. Having a shop makes it easy for the final design to be printed and shipped to the client without the designer having to manage those details.
An important program like this needs a dedicated manager and that's me! I'm Lauren, Design Evangelist here at Shapeways, and I'm thrilled to officially be the point of contact for questions, feedback and support of the program. Before working at Shapeways I was with Apple and Etsy.com helping their creative communities. I also teach in the Design + Technology MFA program at Parsons School of Deign here in NYC. I have spent the past three years at Shapeways teaching 3D modeling and coding so that new users can bring their ideas to life.
To join the program and start designing you can check your profile settings here:
https://www.shapeways.com/settings/designer-for-hire
If you're someone looking to hire a designer you can do that here:
https://www.shapeways.com/hire/designer
As a starting point, read this article from our blog archive about how to successfully collaborate on design, The Three C's of Designing:
https://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/18445-the-three-cs-o f-hiring-a-designer.html