Core77

Want a Free 3D Printer? Good-- Design One

By Rain Noe - February 4, 2013

in Competition | Digital Fabrication

That's supposed to be a 3D-printed question mark

That's supposed to be a 3D-printed question mark

You could spend three or four figures buying a 3D printer of your own—or you could design one, have a machine given to you for free, and take home $2,500 for your trouble.

A company called Layered Labs has apparently designed a prototype 3D printer, or at least the bare machinery, but apparently the thing is so ugly they won't even post a photo of it. Instead what they're doing is a sort of cheapo way of hiring industrial design talent: They're holding a competition to design the rest of their printer, and first prize means you get a free one plus the $2,500 prize.

As mentioned above they're not posting images of what they've got so far, but entrants in the contest will receive a 3D file revealing the guts you're meant to work with. "[The] file shows a prototype version of the machine with mounted panels that are bolted onto aluminum extrusions," they write. "The ENTIRE design needs to be CHANGED from a bolt-together chassis to an elegant stamped and folded SHEET METAL design with good structural characteristics and manufacturability kept in mind."

We HOPE that's ENOUGH information for YOU to GO on.

Click here for details.

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Jonathan Brill

11 years ago

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It's one thing to promote a contest that raises the visibility of contestants. It's another to promote designers doing free production work. Core 77 should be ashamed of promoting this garbage.

"our work will ultimately help set the design language for an entire brand of products."

"If your design is chosen as the grand prize winner, we will likely require some minor changes to be made to accommodate actual parts prior to sending the design off for prototyping."

Seriously, WTF.
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acy

11 years ago

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Please stop give your design talents away for free. I have made it a person point not to enter design competitions.
It does not help the client or the designer. When you pay for something you become more interest in the process. I have done free work for friends in the past and it was a never ending process.

Layed Labs should take the time to write up a brief, provide where to they want to be in the market. Tooling budget, IP research etc... Most companies that do not take the time to do it right end up failing.

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Tom Mc

11 years ago

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No Spec!
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bob

11 years ago

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This is a great challenge- as a person who has built a 3d printer and a CNC diy style, I think there is plenty of opportunity to add some elegance, beauty, and design function to 3d printers-

I love how the replicator has evolved from the cupcake
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