91 Cool And Useful Things People Printed With Their 3D Printers

Good design doesn’t often happen by accident. It requires a lot of careful planning, testing, and editing. No matter the medium, industry, or era, there are some aspects of design that don’t change. They are fundamental.

At their core, they are deeply empathetic because they put the needs and wants of the consumer first. And they strike a delicate balance between function and form.

Legendary industrial designer Dieter Rams encapsulated his ideas into ten principles of design that continue to guide creatives to this day.

According to Rams, good design is:

1. Innovative
2. Makes a product useful
3. Aesthetic
4. Makes a product understandable
5. Unobtrusive
6. Honest
7. Long-lasting
8. Thorough down to the last detail
9. Environmentally-friendly
10. As little design as possible

Half a century ago, in the late 1970s, Rams was becoming more and more concerned about the state of the world around him, which he describes as “an impenetrable confusion of forms, colors, and noises.”

So, he started asking himself whether his designs were good, seeing as he was an iconic figure in the industry.

Vitsœ, which has “continuously worked” with designer Rams for 65 years, points out that the possibilities for innovation are not exhausted. There’s always room for novel approaches.

“Technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design. But innovative design always develops in tandem with innovative technology, and can never be an end in itself.”

Meanwhile, when designing anything, you have to remember that products have to be, well, useful.

“It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasises the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.”

On the opposite end of functionality, you have aesthetics, which is an important factor because it affects your well-being as a consumer. Or, to put it simply, people like looking at beautiful things. So, naturally, we want the things that we use daily to look nice.

And yet, you can’t go too far in the artistic direction or you might undermine the functional qualities of the item.

“Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user’s self-expression,” Vitsœ explains.

Well-designed products are pretty much self-explanatory and intuitive to use, and they do not try to manipulate consumers’ expectations “with promises that cannot be kept.”

Furthermore, genuinely good design embraces a long timeframe and timelessness and goes against throwaway culture. It avoids becoming antiquated by rejecting fashionable designs in the first place.

Meanwhile, good designers don’t leave anything to chance and are careful and accurate in their work. They also conserve resources, reduce physical and visual pollution, and aim to protect the environment.

Lastly—and somewhat counterintuitively—good design avoids over-the-top design work. Instead, you embrace the most essential aspects, avoid non-essentials, and focus on the “less is more” mantra.

“Back to purity, back to simplicity,” as Vitsœ puts it.

The ‘3D Printer’ community is one of the many awesome niches on the internet that unites hobbyists and fans who love the flexibility of 3D printing technology.

The group has been inspiring creatives to share their best designs since 2012, and it doesn’t look like it’ll be stopping any time soon. At the time of writing, the community boasts a solid 49k weekly visitors.

Which of these projects and designs impressed you the most? Which ideas are you itching to put to the test, whether using a 3D printer or another creative medium?

What things would you love to create if you had a 3D printer at home right now? Meanwhile, if you already own a 3D printer, what are the most interesting, functional, or niche projects or parts you’ve ever forged?

Once you’ve upvoted your favorite pics, feel free to join the conversation in the comments!