Dressmaker Susan Fang, in collaboration with former Dyson engineer Orelio De Jonghe, has created a collection of 3D printed equipment for Apple’s newest gadgets, together with iPhone and iPad covers, Apple Watch bands, AirPod enclosures, and Mac Mini shells.
“We began with the query of ‘how can we make 3D printed equipment really feel alive, with a way of workmanship, virtually really feel like a sort of future craft?’ — this nonetheless requires full handbook management over completely different applications, and might’t be finished with AI, which remains to be imprecise and really random,” defined Fang.
Pushing Digital Design Limits
With De Jonghe’s technical experience, Fang’s group totally leveraged Apple’s M-chip gadgets and Clo3D vogue software program to experiment with advanced simulations and rendering results. The mission is constrained by software program and {hardware} limits: not all results are reproducible exterior high-performance techniques, and exact handbook enter is required for accuracy.
“We began doing extraordinarily advanced results — the sort usually utilized in animated function movies, which normally require large multimachine rendering — a traditional laptop computer would crash, however a MacBook might run it,” Fang mentioned. By emphasizing these boundaries, the group clarifies what 3D printing can and can’t ship in client tech: intricate, tactile designs are potential, however solely inside superior workflows.
However, utilizing the most recent software program choices, Fang and De Jonghe explored naturalistic results, resembling vegetation swaying within the wind, and built-in 3D printed parts seamlessly into clothes and equipment. The ensuing designs mix craftsmanship with expertise, demonstrating how digital fabrication can produce expressive and natural kinds.
The collaboration objects can be found on Fang’s Xiaohongshu platform, from 561 renminbi ($79) for an iPhone cowl to 7,925 renminbi ($1,120) for a Mac Mini shell, displaying how superior 3D workflows translate into tangible, commercially out there merchandise.
3D Printing Brings Personalization and Craft to Shopper Tech Equipment
Fang’s mission illustrates why 3D printing is commercially and technically related for client tech equipment at this time. It demonstrates that digital fabrication could make mass-produced expertise really feel personalised and expressive, however solely beneath particular situations: superior software program information, exact handbook enter, and high-performance {hardware}.
Comparable approaches at the moment are being explored commercially, bringing customization and expressive design to broader client tech equipment. In 2024, Bambu Lab and CMF by Nothing ran a design contest inviting creators to develop customized equipment for the CMF Cellphone 1, offering specs to make sure practical, exact designs. Equally, UNYQ and IKEA collaborated on personalised 3D printed equipment for avid gamers, together with customized controller grips and ornamental parts that combine with present furnishings and setups.
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Featured picture reveals Flower iPhone Case 3D Printed. Picture through SUSAN FANG.