Bold Design on the Use of Additive Manufacturing in the Creative Field

Today, advances in 3D printing have enabled its implementation in a wide variety of applications and sectors. This is largely due to its flexibility, design freedom, manufacturing speed and cost reduction, among other things. In Europe notably, more and more small and medium-sized businesses are adopting this technology as a production method, either by purchasing a machine or through a 3D printing service. One example, in France, is the Bold Design studio, which was set up with the aim of democratizing 3D printing in all creative fields. These range from craftsmanship to interior decoration and other design sectors. To find out more about the company’s work, we spoke to its founders.

3DN: Could you introduce yourself and your connection with 3D printing?

Hello, we are William Boujon and Julien Benayoun, designers and co-founders of Bold Design. We design objects, furniture, spaces and a variety of products for different companies. Our relationship with 3D printing has developed over the years. We are a research laboratory, constantly questioning the possibilities and limits of these technologies. More and more companies are contacting us to create 3D printed parts and collections that bring a more sensitive side to their products. We also organize numerous workshops on 3D printing and design, and give lectures on the subject.

William Boujon and Julien Benayoun of Bold Design (photo credits: Maia Art / Kataba)

3DN: How did the idea to start Bold Design come about?

In 2014, we asked the French company DOOD to print numerous mock-ups for us as part of the design of a small wearable object for a collaboration with the MIT Media Lab. The following year, we designed an FDM 3D printer for DOOD. The idea was to take their printers out of the makers’ world and turn them into a product with an identity that would suit schools, architecture, design agencies and the like. We set up the first prototype in the agency and started asking ourselves whether it was possible to print a certain shape under certain conditions with this tool. We quickly built up what we called our “3D idea book”. One idea and one experiment led to dozens of others. We had never been trained in 3D printing, and most of our knowledge came from hours of hands-on printing.