We’ve covered Pinshape before, this is a company that is making a name for itself with innovative contests that draw designers, makers and consumers to their interactive 3D printing community marketplace.
Recently Pinshape held a contest for students and recent college grads to win $1000 dollars for uploading three models of their own design.
Back in June, they launched a contest for a children’s charity to celebrate the opening of its Amazon store, and back in May, they had a great contest to win a MakerBot and a 3D printed Bill Murray, just for spreading the word about Pinshape on your social media accounts.
This week, Pinshape and Los Angeles based indie band, WALLA have announced a partnership in order to… (that’s right, you guessed it) launch a 3D modeling contest! This time, the challenge is for designers to create 3D printable band merchandise.
Running from October 27, 2014- November 23, 2014, the contest works like this: If you can design 3D printable items, you are eligible. Any design can be submitted, but it is stipulated that they should all have a “focus on the WALLA brand in some way. “
According to Pinshape’s CEO, Lucas Matheson, the contest was designed with guidelines, but they aren’t very strict.
“Part of what makes 3D printing such an exciting industry right now is the innovation behind it, and we’ve seen so much talent and creativity from designers on our site. We don’t want to limit that by telling them to make certain products, we just want give them some inspiration and let them run with it.”
Here’s the innovative fun part: “The winning designs will be given to the band as property to distribute through Pinshape’s online marketplace and professional 3D print service, and the winning designers will receive royalties on the items’ sales. “
Matheson indicated that the main goal of the contest is to help the 3D printing community raise awareness about the potential 3D printed cross-promotional products.
“It’s a totally new way for bands to connect with their listeners at no cost to the bands themselves. Designers can create customized merchandise for the artists they love, and fans can go to Pinshape and actively collaborate on the merch by commenting and liking the designs. Customers have never had this much control over the buying process before.”
Pinshape hopes that this contest will be successful enough to continue forming partnerships with musicians to help create 3D merchandise for their fans.
Matheson says, “As 3D printing becomes more accessible, this type of personalized product will only become more and more common. This is our way of helping to get that ball rolling.”
To enter the contest or read contest details go to Pinshape.com.
