Figulo ran a GrabCAD challenge to broaden its product line. The prizes were very sweet - $100 or $50 prizes plus a 50% share for 6 months. And man did we see a lot of submissions - 321 in total! But it wasn't all peachy as it seems, and at GrabCAD, we like to run these case studies to look back and see what we, the client and community did right and wrong and what we can do to improve.
Clear Guidelines
A few of the designs didn't meet the design guidelines for Figulo. 3D Printers can make a lot of things, but to a certain limit. Ceramic 3D printing is especially difficult, and we had to reject a number of very beautiful designs because they would be too delicate to glaze and fire, were missing a proper bottom, etc. A lot of submissions were sized improperly. Some were actually BIGGER than Figulo's 3D printers. Looking over the comments its clear that communication between Figulo and the community was there, yet problems still occurred. GrabCAD has a lot of talented designers that don't speak English, soIllustrated guides may become more common. Pictures speak a thousand words, but if I may add, pictures speak in every language.
Medusa Lamp by jonathan Very Cool, but impossible to 3D Print.
Original Content?
One model was submitted by a user whom didn't have the copyrights to it, something we weren't aware at the time of the competition. We depend upon the community to keep us informed that there is a copyrighted item on the library. For design competitions with money involved, its even more important that GrabCAD is contacted about copyright violations. It worked out in the end - but vigilance is key.
Product Guidelines
There were a number of submissions that were sets of pieces, like this design. Not that this was a bad design, but considering the cost of 3D printing them, probably an overpriced product for its inherent value. Design competitions must have a specific goal in mind, lest so the user spends hours and hours designing something that is never given a single thought by jurors.
Ceramic Media Centre by Sonke Dierks Audacious! However it isn't a singular product design(i.e. like a cup) but a part of separate and complex product (a case for a stereo)
Profit-sharing
We think this was a great idea because it gave users a vested interest in working hard. Profit-sharing is one of the reasons why we received so many submissions.
These challenges are great opportunities for everyone involved. We at GrabCAD want to run bigger challenges sponsored by bigger clients and have users submit better submissions. Figulo is still our biggest challenge yet - and in the future there will be BIGGER ones if we learn from what went right and what was unexpected.
