I just ordered my first swatch of fabric printed from my own design at Spoonflower and I'm so excited to do more. It's one of those things I've been meaning to do for a few years. I wonder when I might get around to ordering something printed in 3-D.
This recent article in The Atlantic about 3-D printing caught my eye. I've been following the 3-D printing evolution since reading this fascinating article about it in the NYTimes.
The Atlantic article talks about the MakerBot D.I.Y. printer and envisions this technology becoming another household item. I'm less excited by the prospect of creating more plastic for the landfills, but if it allows you to recycle plastic, it might actually be environmentally friendly too.
And then there's the copyright issue. When files for designs can easily be distributed on-line for free and printed at home, the designer may lose out on profiting from their creation. As the technology improves and proliferates, another NYTimes article imagines the future of design and manufacturing as the Wild West: exciting and frought with all the intellectual property peril of the declining music business.
I can't help but look at it from all sides, I am constantly amazed at how much recent technology is rapidly changing our designing/working lives.
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