Even though he is my friend and I have followed his personal evolution into the world of 3D design, I cannot possibly write about every single new design that Simone Fontana (AKA FNTSMN) creates for the MyMiniFactory network that he is now stably working with. However I think the time has come for retrospective on what he has achieved so far, especially since I think that he does represent a new generation of people who are getting into design specifically for 3D printing. Secondly because I think his “game-centric approach” is a winner.
By applying a little imagination and basic 3D modeling notions, Simone is able to create objects that people might actually want – if not to buy them – at least to take the time to download and 3D print them. Many of his designs are functional products that bring us back to the fascination of “physical” games and pastimes. They also might be just the beginning of a new generation of custom toys.
Simone began by recreating some classical games such as Master Mind and Connect Four, then he moved on to modifying them, for example by creating a version of Connect Four for the visually impaired. Next up he started creating his now basic games, such as Finger Hockey and Finger Penalty Shootout. These are composed of just a couple of simple geometries and yet they could offer several hours of entertainment with friends.
For one of his most complex and interesting designs to date, Simone combined the European number one sport – football – with his own number one passion (he doubles as a professional pinball player), to build a two-player Football-Pinball system where one person shoots and the other one has to protect the goal.
Simone is not the only interesting designer growing up within the MyMiniFactory academy, both learning and applying what he has learned, showing that iMakr founder Sylvain Preumont had it right. Although he really should brush up on his written English skills, Simone certainly does not lack ideas or passion for 3D printing and I am pretty curious to know what he will come up next, as I’m sure that as his skill progress so will the ideas he will come up with. I probably won’t do an article on it but if you are interested in his work you can simply follow him on MyMiniFactory, and maybe even log in to tip him.
