Don’t worry if you missed out on the latest Crocs Collaboration. 3Doodler’s got you covered with custom 3D summer accessories, like clog charms, that you can design with a 3D pen!
Styles come and go quickly these days. That’s why creating custom charms, bike bling, or friendship bracelets could be the ticket to staying one step ahead of the trends and on budget.
Making unique 3D summer accessories or adding custom details with 3Doodler is easy. Check out our tips, and imagine what else you can create!
Fresh Fruit Clog Charms
Summer is right around the corner, so it’s the perfect time to create DIY clog shoe charms to celebrate the season. We took inspiration from summer fruits that will soon be available in farmers’ markets and fresh fruit stands. Design a lemon slice, strawberry, watermelon, grapes, or avocado following our tutorial and stencil. There’s no end to the amazing shoe charms that people design. Find more inspiration and create new versions to reflect your style!
Customize your bike with classic details or vary it up to personalize the look of your ride! Created in the 1980s, spoke beads or spoke dokes, as they are also called, add a bit of nostalgia to any bike wheel. The original beads clip to the spokes of your bike and often make noise as the beads travel up and down the spoke while the wheels are in motion. The faster you ride, the more noise they make. Follow 3Doodler’s tips to make decals you can add to your wheels, handlebars, and more. Check out 3Doodler’s earlier blog on bike accessories for more ideas!
Friendship bracelets are a classic simple craft that never falls out of fashion. If you are a lucky Taylor Swift fan who scored tickets to the Eras Tour, you’ll likely see attendees exchanging bracelets at the show. Learn how to make a friendship bracelet with your 3D pen using our free stencil, or try the more advanced charm bracelet to test your design skills. Find plenty of inspiration at 3Doodler to help get your creative ideas flowing!
Creators use colors in unique and exciting ways to draw attention and spark conversation. The Pantone Color Institute announces a color of the year to inspire the design community and open a dialogue about color.
Viva Magenta, the 2023 color of the year, is a dynamic, vibrant hue that exudes joy and optimism. Explore the shade and grab your 3Doodler 3D pen to experiment with a bright, futuristic color palette.
Pantone
Color of the Year
Pantone began featuring the color of the year in 1999. New colors are announced in early December for the subsequent year. In choosing the color of the year, a group of collaborators and designers take input from various sources, including entertainment, fashion, travel destinations, new technologies, social media, and even sporting events that attract worldwide attention.
In addition, the team considered the public appreciation of nature represented by lifestyle trends, such as bringing natural elements into our homes, at work, and creating vital outdoor spaces. The color choice also reflects a celebratory atmosphere and our renewed enjoyment of traveling, sporting events, and other outdoor activities.
According to Pantone, Viva Magenta’s organic origins hail from the cochineal beetle. The insect produces cochineal extract and carmine. For centuries, the substances colored food, textiles, and even cosmetics.
Viva Magenta is a bright, celebratory color that connects us to nature. Colors like this inspire the imagination and help bring ideas to life. The color of the year typically influences fashion, beauty, interior design, and graphic design.
Spark Bright Ideas
Exploring the uses of color and testing new techniques is all part of the design process. This week we’re sharing a gorgeous charm bracelet in bright pink to reflect the color of the year. Make the bracelet and add a selection of charms that reflect your personality.
Charm bracelets have evolved but always stay in style, given their versatility. Test out different colors and make a monochromatic style with all pink, or design the bracelet in one color and charms in other shades to make them pop.
Create one for yourself or gift one to a friend or family member. Follow the tutorial to see how easy it can be to create in 3D!
When it came time for Geert de Coninck and Michelle Mortelmans to choose their wedding rings, they ran into a major problem.
None of the rings they saw were right for them. “We visited some jewelry designers but every visit ended the same,” Geert says. “They all only had standard rings that didn’t reflect our personality.”
As a creative designer, Geert and Michelle wanted their rings to be unique, and to symbolize their passion for creativity. “As creative people, we wanted to have a less conventional ring,” he says. And that’s when inspiration struck.
“I’d started to use the 3Doodler Create pen after getting it as a new year’s gift,” Geert says. “It’s a nice way to play around with shapes. Clients love to see the creations standing on my desk and play with them.”
"As creative people, we wanted to have a less conventional ring." Share
Looking at the creations he had made, Geert had an idea. “Michelle was following a course in jewelry design. I asked her if her course master could help us to translate a 3D-sketched ring into a gold version,” he explains.
The concept was to create their own rings in plastic using the 3Doodler pen, which could then be cast in gold using the lost-wax technique.
“We did not have any guarantee that this would work,” Geert admits, “but we all got excited about this and took the risk of not having the rings finished before the wedding.”
The couple used a cylindrical ring holder to create tests of their rings in the correct size. “We made a lot of prototypes because the idea was to avoid sharp edges and not have double layers to keep the size from getting too thick,” Geert says.
The result was perfectly cast rings that matched the couple’s personality, and were—quite literally—made with love.
“My ring is a little more chaotic and has more ripples,” says Geert. “My wife’s has multiple smaller rings and a more simple and clean look.”
The rings were ready on schedule, and provided the perfect symbol for a union built on creativity.
Passion inspires great artwork, especially in fans. That’s why we let fan creators loose with 3Doodlers for a project of their choosing.
Previously, we recorded Gina B’s initial impressions of the 3Doodler and the early stages of her project. Now, we take a look at the finished product!
Gina B wound up executing her vision of believably organic horns, complete with a headband to make them easily wearable. By mixing two shades of plastic she gave them a natural look and a more pronounced texture. She’s quite pleased with the outcome, but found that her project presented some unique challenges.
“It was more difficult and more easy for a couple different reasons,” Gina says of her project. “Using the device itself was insanely more easy and proves that all the issues I had with the first horn just came from my inexperience. I’d say that if you tinker about with it for a couple of trial pieces then you’ll feel a lot more confident when you venture out and try something on your own.”
In attempting to get the symmetry of the horns just right, Gina found some new wrinkles in horn production. “It was a lot more difficult in one sense because I was trying to replicate the mirror image of a geometric shape. I started out the same way as before, but the shape wasn’t exactly the same although I used the same pattern. I actually found it easier to follow the pattern, but the first horn kind of developed a shape of its own that looked really organic and natural.”
"If you tinker about with the 3Doodler for a couple of trial pieces then you’ll feel a lot more confident when you venture out and try something on your own." Share
That unintentional change in the first horn meant that the better execution the second time was actually a drawback. So Gina got creative.
“First I tried to build it up with extra plastic, to try to alter the shape, but the structure underneath was actually wrong. So I sat down, thought about it, prayed to the crafting gods, and had an epiphany: the whole thing is plastic, so what if I hit it with a low heat setting from my heat gun to make it bend to the shape I want?”
Gina experimented with different heat settings and was able to make the second horn malleable enough in the right sections to give it the same curve as its partner. A hot glue gun and some fabric to increase the surface area allowed her to easily attach the horns to a headband, making for a ready-to wear accessory for a horned character. Making, modifying and attaching the second horn took her two and a half hours, for a total project time of five hours.
After working with the 3Doodler, Gina is convinced that it is able to fill certain niches in cosplay design, with the potential for brand new use cases. “It’s something to explore, all new mediums have unique cases where they fit really well.”
Gina says she enjoyed exploring how to create a 3Dimensional shape that was largely freehand. In the future, she will look into using the 3Doodler in more fine-detailing roles.
Kim Hyun-Kyung wanted to take her makeup artistry to the next level. “Of the various materials used in makeup, I was looking for something that could express a new and creative object.”
Hyun-Kyung, a 24-year-old makeup artist from Seoul, South Korea, turned to the 3Doodler. “I was able to create a three-dimensional design of various feelings through actual Doodling,” she says.
Using a 3D pen allowed Hyun-Kyung to explore more shapes and concepts in combination with visual effects and makeup. “It was interesting to me that I could embody the desired form in three dimensions without going through a complicated process,” she says, “and it was good that I could create a shape or figure imagined in my head as a solid itself.”
"I could embody the desired form in three dimensions without going through a complicated process, and it was good that I could create a shape or figure imagined in my head as a solid itself." Share
But just as with any new medium, Hyun-Kyung’s first attempt with the 3Doodler wasn’t as smooth as her stunning beauty shots make it seem. “I wanted to follow the demonstration video making a 3D square, so I turned on the power and drew a square on the paper,” she remembers. “However, I was so unskilled and had to struggle ten times to get it to look good.”
Now Hyun-kyung has been using the 3Doodler for over a year, and there is no sign of struggle in her creative makeup combinations.
Taking inspiration from costume and runway shows, Hyun-Kyung felt that three-dimensional additions could take the drama of the catwalk to a new level. “I devised a makeup design according to the costume used in fashion shows,” she explains. “After understanding the atmosphere and color of the fashion show first, I chose an outfit that might be the most eye-catching when combined with the 3Doodler, and made the work after drafting a design with illustration.”
A look inspired by Iris van Herpen
Hyun-Kyung was especially inspired by bold designers who freely explore new shapes and dimensions, like Alexander McQueen and Iris van Herpen, a leading designer of 3D-printed fashion design.
"I chose an outfit that might be the most eye-catching when combined with the 3Doodler, and made the work after drafting a design with illustration." Share
Inspired by van Herpen’s 2011 Fall/Winter collections, Hyun-Kyung created her first unique 3D-makeup look. “Looking at the costume reminded me of the feeling of splashing water in the bathtub,” she says. “It took about four hours to make this look, and I captured the outline with clear PLA to show the wavelength of the water.”
It’s one of the pieces Hyun-Kyung is most proud of. “It was a look that many people were interested in, when we were in the studio on the day we shot the 3Doodler makeup.”
For other designs, she found that the FLEXY filaments were the most practical for creating wearable additions to makeup. “It’s comfortable when attached to the face because the FLEXY material is elastic, so it’s possible to form it to fit the facial structure of a person,” she explains. “I like black FLEXY the most. Black is good for expressing a sophisticated, chic, and dramatic feeling.”
A look inspired by the 2016 earthquakes in South Korea
“But not all of my works are inspired by fashion shows,” Hyun-Kyung adds. In 2016, South Korea was rocked by a total of 470 earthquakes and subsequent aftershocks reaching up to 5.8 in magnitude. “Many people were afraid,” says Hyun-Kyung. “These earthquakes occurring one after another were judged to be a warning from nature that we take life for granted.” To reflect the worry and concern of these natural disasters, she created a custom design inspired by the quakes. “It shows the cracks of the earth to raise awareness for the environment,” she explains.
Hyun-Kyung sees 3D printing and 3D pens like the 3Doodler as the way forward for all fashion, whether in makeup, runway shows, costumes, or cosplay. And she wants to help lead the way in the 3D trend. For her next project, she wants to blend the line between fashion, makeup and art. “I want to continue to use the 3Doodler in makeup to express three-dimensional designs which can show a variety of feelings when seen from various angles.”
For some, the adventure doesn’t end when the book closes or the credits roll. Fan Creators take inspiration from their favorite movies, games, comics, and cartoons and make incredible things. To see what that passion can produce, we gave some hardcore fans the latest 3Doodler Create for two weeks.
We talked to well-known crafter and modeler of fictional costumes Gina B as she unboxed the 3Doodler, and then checked back in a week later to see how her project was going.
Few fans are as dedicated as cosplayers. They spend long hours perfecting costumes that can involve incredibly elaborate feats of sewing, sculpting, and design to show off their passion for their favorite media. And Gina B is one of the best.
With more than 37,000 likes on her Facebook page, Gina’s creations are hugely popular. That’s a testament to the care and attention to detail she uses in producing loving recreations of some of the most popular characters from comics, cartoons, and anime. Whether she’s producing an exacting replica of an ancient Korean pole-arm, or she’s putting her own spin on the outfit of a classic character, Gina is always looking for new ways to bring her work to life.
That quest for perfection has given her a wide range of experience with a diverse set of materials. “I have a lot of experience working in fabric, I do a lot of custom body suit work, as well as elaborate armor based outfits. That’s anything from complicated headpieces all the way down to belt buckles and breastplates. In terms of materials, I’ve worked with things such as foam, styrene plastics, as well as fiberglass, and I’ve even tried thermoplastic used in car dashboards.”
Gina B unboxing the 3Doodler for the first time.
As she first sat down with the 3Doodler, she says she thinks that the 3Doodler will offer her an opportunity to do the sort of fine-detail work that often relies on a 3D printing service to accomplish, and is excited by the prospect of accomplishing it with something that costs a fraction of a digital printer.
When Gina holds the unit, she immediately has ideas about what to make with it. “This has a very wide variety of use. It’s great for something small—if you have a detailed item like a belt buckle, it would lend itself really well. For existing armor, I could also do detailed overlay pieces. It would probably be easier than sanding out a product, like I usually do. Instead I could add a layer with this, since it’ll probably adhere to the plastic.”
“Ultimately, I think I’m going to make something that’s in the cosplay department but isn’t super frequently seen, which is a horn item. There are a lot of different styles, whether it’s like a ram horn or a goat horn, or something sanded down like with Hellboy. I think this will work great because what I’m making, it’s really organic and not perfectly smooth.”
A week and an extra package of yellow plastic later, Gina has a horn. It is hollow, and made out of two tones of yellow plastic, one matte, and the other glossy.
The hollow horn took Gina two and a half hours to complete, including some time to learn the ins and outs of using the 3Doodler. She says that compares favorably to the time it takes to produce the item with other methods.
"The 3Doodler has a very wide variety of use. It’s great for something small—if you have a detailed item like a belt buckle, it would lend itself really well. For existing armor, I could also do detailed overlay pieces." Share
To construct it, she used the bottom of a bowl to provide a curved surface. She doodled an internal structure, than stitched the sides together rapidly in what Gina calls a “spider like” fashion to produce a tight chain of strings. Once the initial curved shape was done, she was able to repeat the process, building upon each previously extruded section.
She’s pleased with the results. The horn is immediately identifiable, and has even had passers by asking if it came off of a ram. Making it by hand gave it a natural look Gina’s pleased with. “I think that it has a good organic swoop.”
But her project isn’t over yet. She didn’t make a unicorn horn after all. “The biggest issue now is: can I create a second one?”
Gina B's horn created with the 3Doodler
In addition to crafting a second horn, Gina also plans to use some advanced crafting techniques to enhance the horns. Sanding, priming, and maybe even painting will give them a more advanced and literally polished look. She looks forward to sharing the outcome of her work after she’s brought the horns up to her exacting standards.
Tune in a few weeks from now to see the final outcome!
"And now, I’m just trying to change the world, one sequin at a time."-Lady Gaga Share
Sequins may not be what 3Doodler is all about, but just like Lady Gaga we’re looking to change things – one strand at a time!
Our community has shown us time and again how 3D elements can mix with fashion design to create something new and wonderful for wearable art. And the entries we saw for our 2016 3Doodler Wearable Award presented a runway of fashion-forward Doodles unlike any we had ever seen.
"Playing dress-up begins at age five and never truly ends."-Kate Spade Share
Fashion is a form of creative and personal expression. This is exactly what Carolyn Laing showed us with her incredibly detailed Doodled bra. The hot pink and black color combination, along with the rocker-chic style really shows off the creative personality behind this bra.
"Fashion should be a form of escapism, and not a form of imprisonment."-Alexander McQueen Share
And what better form can escapism take than with masks? These delicately Doodled masks by Heather Baharally showed the many different faces fashion can take. Starting with one basic pattern, Heather showed how creativity and imagination can lead to so much more when you think outside the template. With a designers eye, fashion can be transformative – just like with these masks which transform the wearer into something else completely!
"People will stare. Make it worth their while."-Harry Winston Share
Erica Grey has shown us before how the worlds of fine art and fashion can blend with wearable works of art. For this year’s 3Doodler Awards, she showed us a different side to her Doodled collection. The golden headpiece and matching corset she presented looks fit for a queen, and is part of Erica’s new bridal collection. Wedding fashion is becoming increasingly daring as brides look for styles which reflect their own personalities, and Erica’s pieces show how customized 3D pieces can create the ultimate statement!
"In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different."-Coco Chanel Share
And different is always what we’re looking for. Seeing our creative community break boundaries and Doodle outside the lines is always exciting for us, especially when the results are as stunning as this.
Aikaterini Kedikoglou took inspiration from coral reefs, but the incredible necklace she created not only managed to capture the beauty of nature, but went beyond simple representation with it’s creative form and carefully matched colors. While each individual element may seem simple enough, the piece as a whole showed us a design and form we had never seen before – securing her the win for the Wearable Award.
"Fashion is not necessarily about labels. It’s not about brands. It’s about something else that comes from within you."-Ralph Lauren Share
Creativity and fashion can go hand-in-hand, and while you can always look to the world around you for inspiration, a true unique style can only come from you.
So get creative, and show us what your inner fashionista can do!
Our 3Doodler Community is as diverse as they are creative. This month we’re featuring members who have inspired us with their body of work, incredible projects, or in the way they have brought their imagination to life using the 3Doodler.
Erica Gray’s futuristic creations combine fine art and high fashion into wearable sculptures – each with a focus on 3D technology.
ERICA GRAY
"It has been great to be able to form ideas and play with concepts in a spatial environment." Share
Erica’s artwork refuses to be neatly categorized. “The fusion of technology, fashion, the analogue, the digital combinations as well as a dash of animalistic imagery inspires much of my new work,” she explains.
Each new project Erica embarks on shows a new side of her futuristic creativity. A part-time graphics illustrator and sculptor from Australia, Erica got her first 3Doodler from our first Kickstarter campaign.
“Over time my spatial skills and confidence with the 3Doodler have grown allowing me to explore new structures and formation in my work,” she says. “It has been great to be able to form ideas and play with concepts in a spatial environment, and have it stay in place and be able to analyse it as an object rather than a series of sketches.”
Big Bang (to Being) Bra
Erica’s work often combines 3D printing and design technology with hand-drawn 3D pen additions, as seen in Big Bang (to Being) Bra. This computer drawn and conceived bra combines digitally processed 3D printing with hand-sculpted additions made with the 3Doodler.
“It was a collaboration with my partner Zoran Zivanovic,” Erica explains. “He did all of the 3D printed parts, and I did the freehand Doodles, and we even added lighting to it. It was a fun project to work on.”
While the entire piece is mixed media, Erica says the majority is 3D technology. “And you can reprint it when it wears out,” she adds.
Erica is no stranger to large-scale wearable pieces made with a 3D pen.
“My first 3Doodled piece, Crystal Matrix, is my favorite,” she says. “It was a large piece to start with, and I went through an array of emotions whilst making it – mostly worry that it would never get finished, followed by a tremendous sense of satisfaction that it was indeed complete, and came out how it was designed to look.”
Now Erica is putting the finishing touches on her latest piece, Future Relic, which she will exhibit in a Fashion Technology display at the Telstra Perth Fashion Festival next month. “Over the last few years I have worked very hard establishing my professional art career,” says Erica. “In these last years, I have relied heavily on the 3Doodler to produce my sculptural and wearable works.”
Future Relic
"The 3Doodler is also a great way of prototyping an idea in real-time." Share
For Erica, the combination of structural results with freehand design is what draws her to the 3Doodler. “It’s the combination of great materials and ease of use which has made my 3Doodler one of my favorite go-to art tools,” she says. “It is also a great way of prototyping an idea in real-time – this doesn’t balance right, cut it away. Redo that part, perfect.”
Erica says when it comes to Doodling, go big. “Get totally immersed, and don’t be afraid to start your project at a large scale,” she says. “Working in plastic is very forgiving, and any little imperfections can easily be trimmed out and reworked.”
As a hand-held 3D printer, the 3Doodler opens up a world of possibilities, uses, and applications. This week we look at how the 3Doodler hit the runway with high-fashion wearable forms.
Artist and creator Erica Gray’s Forms Organic demonstrates how free-hand constructions with the 3Doodler can lead to incredible and unique creative fashion.
Forms Organic was made using the 3Doodler and ABS plastic in combination with other materials to create a masked headpiece and torso section. The wearable sculpture is a bespoke one-of-a-kind artwork. The piece is inspired by organic figures and animalistic imagery, expressed using a skeletal structure, tails, teeth and claw-like elements.
“It took a few weeks to produce,” explains Erica. “I had a model booked and a deadline to work towards which helped me really focus.”
Creating a large-scale high-fashion piece was a new step for Erica. “While my work is essentially art based, Forms Organic is also a wearable piece, which meant it took a little longer getting the intricacies of the fit right for a moving subject,” she says.
Every aspect of Forms Organic was constructed by hand. “I pre-selected the elements I wanted to utlize within the piece,” Eric says, “such as the polymer teeth, claws and nylon tail – which I also sculpted from scratch.”
Once the additional pieces were created, Erica then got to work with her 3Doodler. “The main bulk of the piece is then 3Doodled around, through, or within those elements,” she says. “I used roughly sketched stencils for some of the joins, and once those parts were ready I just assembled the form, building up layers of filament over select areas to exaggerate and construct the skeletal ridges.”
"I usually work from sketches, however in this case I just let it evolve." Share
Erica was working only with a loose plan of where to go and how to proceed. “I usually work from sketches, however in this case I just let it evolve,” she explains. It was a process fitting for the nature of this piece and helped inspire the title of Forms Organic. “My sculpted works are often themed on organic forms and animalistic imagery, and this piece captures those fluid forms as well as some more rigid skeletal sections.”
Erica says the process helped inspire her for future works and opens up a new realm of possibilities for wearable, high-fashion projects. “I usually produce wearable pieces that stand as a whole, encompassing any accessories as a part of it’s whole,” she says. “Saying that, while I am not actively pursuing accessories as a direction it does have me intrigued. The idea would be to design individually stylised, fluid plastic pieces for arms, legs, shoes, collars – art as accessories.”
It all started with heart. “My friend Michael Husted sent us a heart made with the 3Doodler and asked me ‘David, do you think this will cast?’ The result of that piece is what launched us into the exploration of using the 3Doodler for designing more jewelry,” says David Cunningham.
David owns New York-based DGC Jewellers, and has had incredible success using the 3Doodler in an unexpected way: casting Doodles and turning them into pieces of fine jewelry.
After experimenting with his friend’s Doodled heart, David found it was not only possible to make casts of Doodles, but the results were organic forms that opened up a new realm of possibilities.
"The challenge wasn’t in how we were going to make it, but rather what we were going to design with it." Share
“There was a relatively short learning curve in learning how to control the pen,” says David. “But the challenge wasn’t in how we were going to make it, but rather what we were going to design with it.”
For his first piece, David decided to try a pendant design. “It was a kind of work in progress,” he says. “I used the triangle tip and printed almost like I was decorating a cake with frosting. This gave me a shape that I really liked, but I didn’t know what to do with it.”
As David experimented with the shapes and forms, the end result began to take shape. “I printed the swirl wire around it and cast it, but it wasn’t until I was looking at the cast piece that I decided to antique the pattern, and set an onyx bead at the bottom that completed the look,” he says.
"We tried to focus on what we could make with the 3Doodler that would be difficult or impossible using traditional methods." Share
Working with brightly colored plastic made it challenging to visualize how the final piece would look once cast with metal. “We were surprised on several occasions how different the pieces looked after they were cast, compared to how they looked in green, yellow, pink, and blue plastic!” David says.
What David was really looking for when using the 3Doodler was innovation. “We really tried to focus on what we could make with the 3Doodler that would be difficult or impossible to make using traditional methods of jewelry manufacturing,” he explains.
Of course creating the actual jewelry relies on traditional methods of casting. “When we have the piece ready for casting we invest it [surround it in plaster], then burn it out overnight, and then cast it the next day,” David says. “So this is a two-day process.”
Investment casting is a process all on its own, and David works with jeweler Rob Oakley to bring it all together. “We attach wax sticks (called sprues) to the pieces and attach the sprue to a large wax base called a button,” David explains. “The button is attached to a rubber base that a steel cylinder (called a flask) will fit into.”
Once everything is set into place, plaster is poured into the flask around the Doodled piece. Then when the plaster is set, it can go into the burnout oven, where it’s heated overnight up to 1550° Fahrenheit.
“When the burnout schedule is complete there is a negative cavity in the plaster in the shape of the Doodled piece, and the flask is held at 1000°F for casting,” says David. A special casting machine is used to inject molten metal into the space left in the plaster mold, taking the form left from the Doodle. “The cast piece then has to have the sprues cut off and cleaned up, sandblasted, tumbled, polished, and stones set if the design requires it.”
How long the finishing touches take depends on the complexity of the piece. “With most of these pieces we cast several of them at once and spent three to four days from start to finish to complete a group of them,” David says.
While David was using a blend of old techniques and new technology, using a new tool meant it was important to find a distinct look that made the pieces unique. “We made a few pieces that we liked, but we decided that they could be easily made with metal wire or wax wire,” says David. “So we went back to the drawing board with them.”
What ended up making distinguishing the Doodled pieces ended up being the flaws in the process. “The organic look and variation of thick and thin, and even some of the little mistakes add to the interest and appeal of what we make with the 3Doodler.”
“I looked and looked for fabrics with repetitive lines, shapes, and unique textures,” says fashion designer Patrick Tai. “I didn’t have much luck, so I decided to improvise and sort of create my own texture.”
The search for something new was what led Patrick to the 3Doodler. A recent Fashion Design graduate from the Art Institute of Charlotte, Patrick was looking for a way to express his unique vision and aesthetic.
“My inspiration comes from geometric shapes, modern architecture, and unique textures,” he explains. “I want the texture of my garments to reflect my inspiration, and that presented a challenge.”
"I want the texture of my garments to reflect my inspiration, and that presented a challenge." Share
When he found the 3Doodler, Patrick knew right away it would be the perfect match for his designs. But it took some trial and error—and a lucky mistake—for him to discover the perfect mix of fashion and Doodling. “I originally started by experimenting with ABS plastic to get familiar with the 3Doodler,” he explains. “I started running out of plastic filaments, so I purchased more. I accidentally purchased the new FLEXY strands, and liked the flexibility of it more.”
As he Doodled more with the FLEXY plastic, Patrick’s design began to take shape, and an entire dress was created using only the 3Doodler. “Most of the dress is made with FLEXY plastic, with some ABS plastic at the edges for support,” he says. “The dress made completely with the 3Doodler took me just under 100 hours, not including the accessories.”
From that first dress, Patrick expanded his line to include more wearable dresses and accessories with Doodled accents and additions. “I’ve been lucky enough to showcase some of my designs in NCFA (North Carolina Fashion Association), along with other Fashion Shows around Charlotte, North Carolina,” says Patrick. “I have also participated in a couple of charity Fashion Shows.”
Wherever his Doodled designs are shown, Patrick says the response is overwhelming. “The reactions that I have received from these 3D fashions have been nothing but positive,” he says. “People have been so supportive and full of compliments, some people couldn’t believe that the pieces were created by a pen.”
For Patrick, the 3Doodler allowed him to take his personal creative vision and make it possible, by creating textures and concepts that hadn’t previously existed.
Patrick’s work with the 3Doodler is crucial to his designs and fashion concepts. “I feel that giving your audience the chance to feel your designs whether it’s being seen in a photo or on a runway is important.”
“I’m always drawn to trying new materials and I love creating tactile surfaces,” says Grace Du Prez. A mixed media designer based in London, England, Grace was drawn to the 3Doodler as an experimental new medium.
Grace is no stranger to using unconventional materials in her design pieces. “My previous work has involved lots of surface design techniques including digital embroidery and fabric manipulation,” she explains, “as well as the use of many unusual materials from leather to human hair, and even Mini Cheddars!”
With the wide range of colors available, and having the ability to control the final texture of the plastic, Grace was immediately drawn to the 3Doodler. “It was really interesting to start working with plastic as a medium and exploring all the different effects you can create,” she says.
"It was really interesting to start working with plastic as a medium and exploring all the different effects you can create." Share
Her very first project—a Peacock Hat for Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot—was certainly a head-turner, and earned her multiple headlines and accolades. “This was the very first time I had used 3Doodler,” Grace says, “so I learnt a lot in a very short amount of time!”
Peacock Hat for Ladies' Day at Royal Ascot
The completed hat took over 60 hours, all Doodled in the span of a week. “There were also a couple of days spent doing the initial designing,” Grace says. “The hat was made up of three different size feathers, all with three colours in them. Each one varied from around 15-30 minutes to make.”
Whether Doodling fanciful hats or fancy jewelry, Grace says it’s not as simple as picking up a 3Doodler and drawing away. “My design process is quite experimental and there is always an element of trial and development,” she explains. “I often start with a mood-board and a brainstorm of ideas.”
Then Grace moves on to drawing out her concepts. “I will draw a few basic sketches of the silhouette and then work out the templates using CAD,” she says. “Designing on the computer works well for me as I can easily make alterations and work out the exact scale. I can also try out different colour options.”
From those plans, Grace then creates a paper model by printing the templates from the computer models. “At this point I can see if it will work logistically,” she says. “For the final part of the planning process, I Doodle a test piece to see how it will look and make adjustments where needed. This step can be repeated several times so that each part works perfectly.”
The results are stunning pieces that reflect her careful planning and meticulous execution.
Sometimes, Grace says, ideas from one project will inspire something completely different. “I’ve just finished a vase that is totally waterproof,” she says. “It’s made of multiple circular layers all joined together—the same principle as a bracelet I previously made.”
After creating the bracelet, Grace says she was inspired by the clear plastic and the circular shapes. “It’s functional and the clear plastic looks really beautiful through the water,” she says. “I applied a layer of clear silicon to the inside surface to make it watertight.”
For Grace, the 3Doodler seems the perfect tool for her artistic and design ideas. “I like that the 3Doodler combines modern technology and yet is still very hands on,” she says. “The making process is integral to me as a designer and I like my work to have a hand made quality.”
And while Grace is now an expert at using the 3Doodler to its highest potential, she says there’s always more to learn. “I’m always getting new ideas for projects,” she says, “and there are still lots of techniques I’d like to try!”
Fashion-forward creatives have been finding new and exciting ways to incorporate 3D aspects into their designs. But Hong Kong fashion art house SHIGO went beyond Doodled additions and constructed an entire dress made entirely with the 3Doodler.
SHIGO love to break from traditional thinking and try new things. Led by two young Hong Kong fashion designers, SHIGO is meant to serve as a platform to express creativity and ideas through fashion. “No one has used the 3Doodler to produce clothing made completely from plastic,” say SHIGO’s co-founders, who set out to do what no one had done before—make Doodled clothing a reality.
The duo began with a concept based from seashells. Taking two types of shell patterns, they wove the spiralling designs together to create an intricate design.
With this textile-like pattern, SHIGO then adapted the design to create a lace-like concept for the dress. The pattern was printed and applied to a base layer of heavy paper to test and fine-tune the form and placement before beginning work with the 3Doodler.
Using Blue Steel PLA and Diamonds & Pearls PLA, the final dress had a subtle shimmer which added elegance, sophistication, and enhanced the impressive 3-dimensional nature of the construction.
The final Doodles were peeled away from the paper base, leaving an intricate lace-like shell made of fine strands of surprisingly sturdy plastic.
The dress was left split down one side, with buckle attachments to make it easier to put on and take off.
The end result was something completely new in both the worlds of fashion and 3D printing. With the free-hand nature of the 3Doodler, SHIGO had created the world’s first entirely Doodled dress.
When it came time for Amanda Sekulow to create a collection for her graduation from O’More College of Design, she knew exactly what she needed. “Every day I prayed that my 3Doodler would arrive,” she says.
Amanda had backed the 3Doodler Kickstarter, and was anxiously awaiting its arrival. But the clock was ticking. “I began in the autumn of 2013 by creating the concept and illustrating the basic garments,” she says. But she didn’t want to start final creation until she had her 3Doodler in hand. “I was determined to wait, as I wanted to use the 3Doodler in my designs.”
As she waited, the Melt into Spring collection took form as a series of white dresses combined with wearable art. The sophisticated dresses would use a variety of woven materials, with 3-dimensional additions created with the 3Doodler.
And soon the wait was over, and the pen arrived. “It showed up, quite literally, just in time,” Amanda says. “I was able to go back to school in January ready to get down to business!”
She spent the next four months creating, embellishing, and perfecting a total of 10 dresses before her final runway show.
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“There is more than 1,000 feet of ABS plastic in these pieces,” Amanda says, “along with 600 Swarovski crystals, and 810 work hours in total.”
"There are some dresses with intricate sculptures on them, others I let the fabric and plastic do their own thing." Share
While they stand together as a collection, Amanda made sure each dress made a statement on its own. “Each piece is so different, and has its own story to tell,” she says. “There are some dresses with intricate sculptures on them, others I let the fabric and plastic do their own thing. Some of the looks are polished and refined where others look messy and organic.”
And while the entire collection was a labor of love, Amanda says one piece stands out above the rest.
“My favorite piece was the finale piece in the show,” she admits. The dress in question has a high neckline with a chest and shoulder piece with attached apron made entirely from Doodled ABS. With 85 Doodled flowers and 119 attached crystals, this dress alone took over 100 hours to complete.
“I made the neck piece and bodice portion of the apron directly on a body form, so that it would fit close to the model’s body,” Amanda says. It was a risk, as the fit of the final piece would depend on the model who would wear it. “It ended up fitting her perfectly.”
Amanda says watching her final piece during the show was her proudest moment. “I have never been more excited to see anything walk down a runway,” she says, “and everyone else seemed to love it just as much as I do.”
Amanda says the final result of Melt into Spring is a culmination of all the work she has put into design and fashion. “The entire collection is a reflection of my feelings, motivation and life experiences in the moments when I created them.”
