The first thing I created with my three dimensional printer was a simple robot figure key chain.
It was extruded out of black plastic and was fairly rough since I didn’t take the time to properly calibrate the printer heads. Looking back it wouldn’t have even qualified as a simple prototype, but the cool thing was that it no longer existed only as one of the thousands of digital pixels on my screen. When I hit “print,” it became a real, tangible thing.
I carried that little rough robot in my pocket for weeks. It became my little reminder of the change on the horizon for our industry, and so many others.
But the 3D printer is just a spoke in the wheel of what many refer to as our next Industrial Revolution. We have now reached a time where ideas can become tangible, either right at our desk or certainly from our tablets or smartphones. Where you can move an idea from your head to an eager market all from your desktop. Chris Anderson, ex editor of Wired magazine, refers to this in his latest book Makers as, “The democratization of technology, worldwide access to talent, ecommerce, manufacturing and distribution.”
I know it doesn’t sound very revolutionary but believe me, it is. And it’s happening right now.
The challenge previously was that manufacturing was a big financial commitment since you had to manufacture a minimum order that was in the thousands, and certainly the prototyping of that idea wasn’t cheap either. Where would you get the money to get your idea off the ground? The banks? Ah, no. And what about all of the legal? The distribution? Getting your product in stores in Canada, or heck worldwide?
You can see how prohibitive the prospect was and how you can only contemplate how many wonderful ideas never saw the light of day.
Now, this “democratization of technology” has opened the floodgates to a whole new infrastructure that brings ideation, concept development, funding, manufacturing, sales, distribution and of course promotion of their creation, all within reach.
This revolution has been fueled by a number of new entities who’s sole purpose for being is to play a key role in getting your idea out of your head and into the eager hands of a hungry market. So let’s go through some of the key steps that can help you get the ball rolling on your next eureka moment.
Historically, one of the biggest hurdles was coming up with the money to get things underway. Now, popular sites like KickStarter and IndieGogo are there to help crowdsource your backers. These backers are people who believe in your vision and want to help bring it to fruition. Typically they don’t just hand you the money, but will “pledge” some hard-earned cash for everything from a company T-shirt, to the first product to come to market, with pledges ranging from $1 to tens of thousands. And there is no shortage of backers with some projects netting over 7,000% of their original funding amount.
There are also a number of online and offline partners that can help you with everything from prototyping to short-run manufacturing. Websites like Shapeways, a site that “cloud manufacturers” your idea, can take your uploaded digital creation and “print” it out in a number of different materials including acrylic, ceramic, heck even silver.
Offline alternatives (or for those who like to get their hands dirty), TechShop is considered part fabrication and prototyping studio, part hackerspace and part learning centre, and one of an increasing number of bricks and mortar spaces where inventors can do it themselves. Each location has virtually every hardware and software tool available and at your disposal. They also have classes on everything from woodshop and welding to 3D illustration and electronics.
You can also reach across the ocean to get some cost effective offshore support for those larger or more specific manufacturing needs. Online sourcing sites like Alibaba are great for finding the right manufacturer for you. In some cases, detailed ordering metrics can save you a lot of headache by taking a lot of the guesswork out of the equation.
Of course when you get to actually selling your product to the masses, many turn to sites like Etsy, Amazon or even eBay. Shopify, for example, does virtually everything for you from managing the design and set up of your ecommerce site to secure transactions on a global scale. And for those of you who barely have time to get your idea beyond a sketch, sites like Quirky will do all the work for you, from legal and patents, to manufacturing and sales. Done like dinner.
So what does this have to do with advertising and communications?
As both an inventor and advertiser, I liken this to the early ’90s when the new “desktop printer” allowed designers and advertisers alike to experiment more and not rely on external partners or drawn out processes to stifle their creativity. Now, while we may not see ourselves as “3D widget makers,” we can all appreciate how new technologies have had an impact on our industry, forever changing the way we did things and opening up new opportunities to evolve ourselves, and our industry.
Cameron Wykes is the Chief Invention Officer at KBS+
