FreeFormFab

Fabbers, dabblers and microstars

We the people, the untrained majority, are the future of design. We have the tools and we will be masters of our personal environments. Home fabbing with 3D printers, Web 2.0, open-source wikidesign, long tail economics - they’ll make it happen. We’re not dumb consumers, we’re creative consumers. Professional-Amateurs. Pro-Ams. We won’t buy anything that isn’t uniquely specified by ourselves. Click-and-print door handles, baby. Democratised design? You betcha!

That’s the vision, isn’t it? The future, both absurd and inevitable, depending on your point of view.
Could design, like journalism or photography, be overrun by user-generated content? The convergence of internet commerce, mass-customisation and 3D printers leads some scientists and designers to predict a utopia of democratised design. Others laugh at the idea, defending the indispensable skills of the profession and predicting a sea of homemade dross that will be compelling to no one except crazed hobbyists.

Source and whole article: Icon Magazine

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