3D DESIGN and PRINT
"What I print should be put to good use"
3D-printable
custom-made design from Ärtrik, Sweden
My name is Katrin Pettersson.
I work to be a link between 3D-printing and businesses that need custom-made parts but are unsure of how to make use of this technology.
I aim to make beneficial designs that can be downloaded by the customer and 3D-printed locally where they are needed.
What I do
I specialize in making designs for 3D-printing and wish to help industries such as the performing arts and health care to take the step towards using this technology in their fields.
I can help companies explore how to use 3D-printing; for easily adjustable prototypes, custom-made objects of complex shape, prints adapted to fit a specific bodypart, etc.
In order to avoid unneccessary production and transportation,
I send the file to the client and the client can choose to manufacture the product where it's beneficial to them, locally 3D-printed.
So even though I do not print objects for customers, my designs can still be of use globally.
I myself use 3D-printing for prototyping to check my designs and for my own projects.
I work in CAD- and 3D-modeling software such as Fusion 360 and Zbrush.
My design and 3D-printing
I used to work in the performing arts and designing sets was mostly a manual process for me. My use of computer softwares was minimal and I made the miniature model by hand.
As a stage technician I also often thought that I would like an easy way to try out the concept before starting the full scale production.
Easily adaptable designs and tangible objects
I chose 3D-printing because I can make easily adaptable designs that can be made into prototypes just as easily. Trying different concepts and making changes to a detailed model is quick and can be done without having to manufacture the whole part, saving on material.
I like having my designs as tangible objects in my hands and the reduced time it takes to go from idea to prototype when using 3D-printing is very helpful to me.
I can spend my time on other work while the printer is creating the prototype.
Practical use
I design primarily for function and practical applications because I value products that fill a need.
Although I wish for the object to be visually pleasing, if its function is inhibited due to aesthetics, I should rethink the design. Looking into design for health care has definitely helped me work on that aspect.
That is why I also have a love for design of indoor and outdoor living spaces. When designing for spaces where people become a part of the composition, the practicality as well as the aesthetics are of great importance.
Ärtrik
My foundation
The village I grew up in, a few houses and old farms in the countryside of Sweden, is called Ärtrik.
This is where I honed my imagination and DIY-thinking.
Although my grandparents no longer kept animals on the farm, I watched them and my parents maintain the property with all that comes with it; painting the house, fixing the sink, chopping wood, growing potatoes, etc.
Some of my strongest memories are from helping (or just watching) my dad make things; build the veranda, digging a cellar, fixing the roof, moving a shed and repurposing it.
I watched my grandpa fix doors or weed the strawberry patch while my grandma minced meat or took out the big baking table for making cinnamon buns (after she got tired of extracting and cursing the dandelions in the lawn). I helped my mom with mowing the grass or painting the front porch, although all that was when I got a bit older.
At a younger age, I think I mostly played with my sister all around the place. Even back then I had a love for designing environments to play in. We could build a fortress using hay bales or shovel a ground plan of a house in the snow. Digging a tunnel through a snow pile is quite a compelling adventure for a kid.
I loved making miniature models even then.
I made apartments using shoeboxes and yes, I played with pine cones and sticks. They made for excellent building material when making a farm around a miniature stream created by the melting snow in springtime.
Sure, I’m painting a rather romantic picture of an environment that, for the grown-ups, required a lot of hard work and grit.
But just watching them deal with frozen water pipes in winter and thunder storm power outages, has served to teach me problem solving and practicality.
At the end of the day, when all work is done, what stays with me the most is the times enjoyed being together; be it building things, grilling hot dogs in the snow, planting produce, drinking wine on the veranda or solving puzzles in front of the fire place.
It's a sense of creating a warm home.
So this is why I thought it suitable to honor that upbringing in my current work.
It has been the single most important building block of my composition. It's a privilege and I couldn’t be more grateful.