Printable Objects
Who We Are
Based in Tokyo, we are a digital brand offering simple, elegant homewares designed for desktop 3D printing. Our products are the digital files required to 3D print our designs.
Sustainable Production
Desktop 3D printing offers a sustainable alternative to traditional mass production by enabling products to be made locally and on demand: make only what is needed, where it’s needed, and when it’s needed. This minimizes overproduction, manufacturing waste, disposable packaging, discarded excess inventory, and emissions from shipping and warehousing. While 3D printers and printing materials must still be delivered, their compact size and minimal packaging make them far more efficient than shipping the finished products.
Sustainable Materials
PLA, the most widely used 3D printing material, is derived from renewable resources like cornstarch or sugarcane. Its production has a lower carbon footprint than petroleum-based plastics and is recyclable and industrially compostable.
Our Mission
As desktop 3D printers are becoming more reliable and accessible, and the materials they use more advanced, our goal is to promote their adoption as a localized manufacturing solution. This includes advocating for infrastructure development to properly reuse, recycle, or compost 3D printing materials. As designers, we promote the proliferation of 3D printing by creating simple, desirable homewares and furniture that can be easily 3D printed at home or by local 3D printing shops.
The Designer
Giovanni Pellone is a multi-cultural industrial designer and creative director.
His life and career span three continents: He was raised in Rome, where he studied industrial technology and economics; he developed his passion for design in New York, where he studied interior design at Parsons School of Design and industrial design at Pratt Institute; and for the past several years he has been running a Tokyo based design office.
Soon after graduating from Pratt, he established his first design partnership in NYC. In the following years, he designed consumer products, laboratory equipment, trade show displays, advertising, packaging, and visual branding programs. He has been working across design disciplines ever since.
He later was the co-founder of Benza, a Brooklyn-based home accessories brand, of which he became the Creative Director and General Manager for eight years. His total involvement at Benza gave him hands-on experience with manufacturing, marketing, and distribution, but also allowed him to collaborate with many talented designers and to see his work in prestigious retailers worldwide, from the MoMA Design Store in NYC to Harrods in London, and Idee in Tokyo.
His many design projects include accessories for the MoMA Design Store, lighting for Design Within Reach, and packaging for L’Oreal. His work has appeared in design exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Milano Fuorisalone; and has received design awards, including the New York Art Director’s Club Award. His name is listed in The Design Encyclopedia published by MoMA. He has been a visiting lecturer at leading universities in the USA and Japan, including Pratt Institute and Tokyo University.
His current work focuses on the sustainable design of 3D printable furniture, housewares, and home decor.
The sustainable advantages of desktop 3D printing
Main sustainable advantages of desktop FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) 3D printing using PLA compared to traditional mass manufacturing and distribution methods:
Material and Process Efficiency
Reduced Waste:
Desktop FDM 3D printing is additive, meaning material is deposited layer by layer, using only the necessary amount. In contrast, subtractive methods like CNC machining often waste material during cutting and shaping.
Renewable Material:
PLA (Polylactic Acid) is derived from renewable resources such as cornstarch or sugarcane, unlike petroleum-based plastics. It has a lower carbon footprint in its production.
Localized Production:
Products can be made on demand, reducing overproduction and minimizing inventory waste associated with mass manufacturing.
Energy and Emissions
Lower Transportation Emissions:
With desktop 3D printing, objects are produced at or near the point of use, avoiding emissions from shipping and distribution networks associated with centralized mass production.
Energy Efficiency for Small Runs:
For small batch production or custom items, FDM printing often uses less energy than setting up and running large-scale industrial processes, which require significant energy for tooling, molding, and high-volume machinery.
Customization and Durability
Reduced Need for Multiple Tools:
One 3D printer can produce many designs without requiring new molds or tooling, saving energy and resources typically consumed in creating specialized equipment for mass production.
Repair and Replacement Parts:
3D printing enables easy manufacturing of spare parts, extending the lifespan of products and reducing the need to replace entire systems.
Waste Management
Biodegradability of PLA:
Under industrial composting conditions, PLA can biodegrade, offering an advantage over many non-recyclable plastics used in mass production. While it requires specific facilities to break down, it is still a step toward more sustainable material options.
Recycling Possibilities:
Failed or unused PLA prints can often be shredded and recycled into new filament, closing the material loop and further minimizing waste.
Customization and Reduced Overproduction
On-Demand Manufacturing:
Unlike mass manufacturing, where large quantities are produced in anticipation of demand, desktop FDM printing allows for production only when needed, reducing surplus and waste.
Local Innovation:
Designers and makers can create and iterate locally, bypassing the environmental costs of prototyping and tooling typically outsourced to centralized facilities.
Limitations in Sustainability to Consider
While desktop FDM printing with PLA has clear sustainability advantages, it is important to recognize some caveats:
PLA’s biodegradability requires industrial composting and does not decompose quickly in regular landfills. Energy efficiency depends on the scale of production; for very large runs, traditional methods may be more sustainable. Recycling PLA into filament is not yet mainstream and can require specialized equipment. Overall, desktop FDM printing using PLA fosters a more localized, waste-conscious, and flexible approach to manufacturing, making it a compelling option for sustainable production in appropriate contexts.