WHY DON’T DESIGNERS CARE ABOUT 3D PRINTING? - Explains why graphic designers adopt 3D printing slowly

Q: Why are many graphic designers slow to adopt 3D printing?

The article argues that designers often do not connect 3D printing to their day-to-day work and therefore delay taking advantage of its opportunities.

Q: How does the article illustrate the practical value of desktop 3D printing?

It uses a near-future “missing bracket” story to show how a consumer desktop printer could quickly produce the missing component and complete a build in time.

Q: What role does Photoshop CC play in enabling 3D printing for designers?

After a Creative Cloud update, Photoshop CC can help designers build, tweak, preview, prepare, and print 3D models directly, including support for fixing and creating watertight printable objects.

Aug 26, 2026

Upload by Đào

Graphic designer Franc Falco discusses why 3D printing, despite its strong creative potential for the design industry, has not been embraced quickly by many designers. The article contrasts familiar flat-pack “missing parts” scenarios with real desktop 3D printing workflows and reveals how tangible, shareable outputs can change perception. It also highlights Adobe Photoshop CC’s built-in 3D printing tools and the way improved modeling, preparation, previewing, and review enable designers to create watertight printable objects faster and more confidently.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryTechnology

FormatPDF

Pages3

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

WHY DON’T DESIGNERSCARE ABOUT 3D PRINTING?

Real-world scenario and designer hesitation

Early personal experience with desktop 3D printing

How Photoshop CC supports 3D printing

N°and issue date:228-01/07/2014Circulation:21209Page:94Frequency:MonthlySize:80.53%ComputerArtsUK_228_94_5.pdf1598 cm2Website:http://www.computerarts.co.uk # WHY DON’T DESIGNERSCARE ABOUT 3D PRINTING? The potential of 3D printing for the creative industries is massive,but graphic designers are unusually slow onthe uptake.Wolff Olins'Franc Falco explains why it's time to take advantage of the opportunities on offer icture this scenario.You've justreturned home after a four-hourround trip anda meatball lunchwith your flat-pack side table in the boot,andyou have a fewhours to constructsaid table before your dinner guestsarrive.No problem,you're a whizz withan Allen key and screwdriver and eventhe most complex construction issimplicity personified thanks to thewordless,line-drawn instructions. minutes,renegotiate the aforementionedring road and complete the table buildbefore your guests arrive.And so,thequestion is,as Keanu said to the baddiein classic film Speed,"What do you do?Well,what do you do?" It's a no-brainer.This is 2016-ish,you only need to fire up your laptop orcornea-implanted interface,get onto theSwedish store's interweb site,navigate tothe missing bitslink window,downloadthe stl file for the missing bracket andprint it out on your MakerBot 7G desktop3D printer.3O minutes later the table iscomplete and the first dinner guests areknocking on your door. Three hours later,after some slightknuckle scraping.the last page of thebuild instructions is almost in sight.Except,iritatingly,the fourth litle whiteplastic bracket thingy that should bein the bag along with the other threelittle white bracket things isn't there.An extensive search under the sofa,inpockets and an accusingeye at the dogonly confirms the suspicion-the fourthbracket wasn't in the bag'obits! That little near-future scenario,orsomething along those lines,is oneloften recite to my designer buddieswho ask me,"What's so special about3D printing?"But it always feels slightlypointless to reference that story because,firstly,it has nothing to connect it withthe industry l workin-graphic design-and secondly,it doesn't really explain 3Dprinting in today's world.The reality of 3Dprinting.especially at a consumer desktop Aglance at your watch only confirmsthe fact that even though the Swedishstore is open until midnight,you just don'thave time to negotiate the city ring road,stand in the 'missing bitsqueue for 30 1/3Copyright (Computer Arts UK)No reproduction without authorisation level,is that it will have a massive amountmore impact than just providing the abilityto print missing brackets for flat-packfurniture(although that will definitelymake the world abetter place). My introduction to the wonders of3D printing came about a couple of yearsago when the company Iwork for,WolffOlins,invested in a desktop 3Dprinter.In the 35years Ive been involved in thegraphic design industryl can honestlysay that my introduction to this new-ishtechnology (it's actually 2Oyears old)andits potential,has been the most excitingdiscovery lhave made since Photoshop 3and transparent layers.It relly changedmy world and blew my mind. My role as a creative specialist meanslam often asked to create'something'-usually a brand visualisation concept thatillilustrate an idea to a client.MostlyPhotoshop visualisation-a storefront,aconcept applied to a piece of packaging.a product design,brand application andso on.Coupled with the amazing ability of3D modelling and rendering software tocomplement Photoshop,that visualisation N°and issue date:228-01/07/2014 Circulation:21209 Frequency:Monthly ComputerArtsUK_228_94_5.pdf Website:http://www.computerarts.co.uk | Wolff Olins'MakerBot
Replicator 2.printing
the studio's self-promo
project Higby
3D PRINTING IN
PHOTOSHOP CC
Adobe has recently built 3D printing
capacity into Photoshop,so there's
really no excuse not to give it atry
Following a major Creative Cloudupdate in <

FAQs

Why are many graphic designers slow to adopt 3D printing?

The article argues that designers often do not connect 3D printing to their day-to-day work and therefore delay taking advantage of its opportunities.

How does the article illustrate the practical value of desktop 3D printing?

It uses a near-future “missing bracket” story to show how a consumer desktop printer could quickly produce the missing component and complete a build in time.

What role does Photoshop CC play in enabling 3D printing for designers?

After a Creative Cloud update, Photoshop CC can help designers build, tweak, preview, prepare, and print 3D models directly, including support for fixing and creating watertight printable objects.

Aug 26, 2026

Upload by Đào