FLEET HOWER AND 3D HUBS ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP TO PRODUCE NEW 3D PRINTED PUZZLES

Six Innovative 3D Puzzles Will Be Offered Via Newly Launched E-Commerce Website

NEW YORK – Architect and entrepreneur Fleet Hower and 3D printing pioneers 3D Hubs announce their partnership to release a new line of 3D-printed designer puzzles, Lock-Nesters. The Lock-Nester collection features six three-dimensional jigsaw puzzles in playful forms that range in difficulty from 5 to 185 pieces. Puzzles start at $20 per puzzle.

“The Lock-Nesters are about changing the way we approach the design of objects as our manufacturing capabilities continue to expand,” says Hower. “It’s not enough to use the 3D printer to produce existing objects, we must design differently in accordance to emerging manufacturing techniques. Instead of standardized building blocks, we should think about assemblies that are inextricably linked to the object they create.”

The Lock-Nesters were developed out of Hower’s interest in the complex curvatures achievable by 3D printing.  “I’ve always been fascinated with jigsaw puzzles and the geometries that make up their connections, but wished they could be designed with freedom in three dimensions,” says Hower.  Each piece has its own connection logic determined by the curvature it spans and relationship to its neighbors, the close association between model and piece gives every puzzle a distinct look.

With the Lock-Nesters, Hower and 3D Hubs aim to expand the 3D printing market by demonstrating how 3D printing can be scalable with an eye towards mass production. “We are working towards a future in which distant mass-production is replaced with local communities that digitally design and make the products that they use daily.” says Bram de Zwart, CEO of 3D Hubs.

The partnership with 3D Hubs allows for Lock-Nesters to be distributed globally through 3D Hubs’ expansive worldwide network. Consisting of more than 8,000 3D printing hubs worldwide, 3D Hubs is able to eliminate the expense of international shipping and third-party distributors while being able to supply products in any quantity, on demand.  To ensure quality 3D Hubs has certified a select number of hubs to produce the Lock-Nesters.

Hower is planning to expand upon his current work by offering more customization for the consumer to control. “All of our work is driven by algorithms, so there is a lot of digital modeling and code writing that goes on in the office. We’re hoping to increase the consumer’s ability to act as a client and influence the design of the end product.” Hower says this is achieved by customizing a puzzle’s form or color, or even offering the ability to upload one’s own model and create a personal puzzle, “everyone is important enough to be immortalized by a puzzle bust”.

Lock-Nesters can be ordered from Hower’s website (fleethower.com) or directly through 3D Hubs (3DHubs.com/lock-nesters). The first series is currently available in the US, Canada and Europe.

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Fleet Hower is a designer intent on transforming the way we think about and produce products that shape our lives. He is interested in creating collaborative relationships between digital design and physical production in ways that leverage the rapid changes taking place in manufacturing technology. Fleet’s work is helping to disrupt the traditional workflow of design-to-manufacture by investigating new possibilities of adaptable and intelligent computational design strategies that can interface directly with physical fabrication.  Fleet lives and works in Brooklyn.

Fleet Hower: http://www.fleethower.com

About 3D Hubs:

3D Hubs is the world’s largest and fastest growing network of 3D printers with over 8,000 locations in 140 countries. We are on a mission to make 3D printing accessible to everyone by unlocking the world’s idle 3D printers, facilitating transactions between 3D printer owners (Hubs) and people that want to make 3D prints. 3D Hubs empowers people to create a new type of product which is personalized, on-demand and locally produced. 3D Hubs was founded in April 2013 in Amsterdam by Bram de Zwart and Brian Garret. Currently based in New York and Amsterdam, 3D Hubs is a privately held company backed by Balderton Capital and Dutch investors DOEN and Zeeburg.

3D Hubs: http://www.3dhubs.com