MakerBot wins the Red Dot Award for Industrial Design

Red Dot recognizes outstanding product design; from the iPhone and the Apple Wireless Keyboard – to the BMW i8 and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

By winning the Red Dot Award for product design for the MakerBot Replicator Desktop 3D Printer MakerBot can now also enter this pantheon of product design. An international jury honored the MakerBot Replicator for its clear and functional form, which maximizes user-friendliness and sets it apart from other 3D printers.

“Few companies have applied a proper design process to 3D printers before,” says Mark Palmer, director of industrial design at MakerBot. With most 3D printers, he says, “the work is done with the mechanical and electrical design, they just put a box around the outside.” The goal of industrial design, however, he says, is “to close the gap between the technology and the users.”

The MakerBot Replicator improved on previous 3D printers with a level of sophistication, openness and accessibility not previously seen in the industry. It has an intuitive interface, a 3.5 inch display and a software platform including a mobile app. In addition, the MakerBot Replicator Smart Extruder minimizes downtime by enabling a worn extruder to be replaced within minutes. “It has clear cues in the 3D printer itself that guide you on how to interact with the device,” says Palmer. “The button becomes the point of contact.”

As Palmer and his team think beyond the “fifth generation”, they focus on ease of use and direct access, which should allow professional teams and teachers to develop their ideas faster and easier than ever. “When our team is done, it becomes difficult to distinguish the industrial design qualities of the product from the mechanical and electrical design,” he says. “The experience and application qualities of our products will reach a new level.”

Further press reports on MakerBot winning the Red Dot Award:

Articles from 3Dprint.com (in english)

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