2016 – Year of the Fire Monkey: Embrace & Honor the Lunar New Year with a 3D Printed Pin

Mainly for reasons of vanity, I’ve never spent much time exploring the Chinese zodiac, or its calendar; you see, there I am a goat (or sometimes, a sheep). While I think they are as cute as they can be in animal form, and symbolically they are quite dignified from offering independence and exploration to curiosity and ambition, when it comes right down to it, many of us consider the goat to be a little goofy and over consumptive. I generally have a rather old-fashioned vision of them staring blankly ahead and eating the phone book. So, I’ve been more than happy to stick my traditional astrological sign of Leo. This year though? It’s the year of the red fire monkey. Now, that sounds like something I could get behind. And while it may not be my sign, I can still be hip and wear any one of the super stylin’ 3D printed zodiac pins from the Lunar New Year lineup of jewelry over at Treat & Company.

Those born in the year of the monkey (1908, 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016) have a lot of traits to be proud of apparently, and not one thing I’ve researched involves them doing any of the odious and rather surprising things we may have experienced from real monkeys at the local zoo. From a mercurial and lovable spirit to that of a tech-savvy smartie, the fire monkey sign is dynamic and strong. So, if this is your sign, time to announce it and walk tall and proud for this lunar year, which just began on February 8th. Treat & Company, headquartered in Minnesota and with offices in San Francisco, New York, and Chicago, wanted to help all of us celebrate the 2016 the Year of the Fire Monkey, with a host of selections, all in the form of elegant 3D printed pins.

With each piece designed, 3D printed, assembled, and finished and painted at their Minneapolis headquarters, the team was inspired by the Chinese 12-year cycle and the special personality traits attached to each zodiac animal.

“These Lunar Tokens honor your zodiac animal and the unique qualities that you possess,” states the team on their website.

With the red fire monkey being presented as a limited edition, and in vibrant color, you can also order the other Chinese zodiac signs, all 3D printed and hand-painted.

“Treat & Company established a geometric fractal aesthetic for the core Lunar Token collection, and wanted the limited edition to fall in line with them, yet have its own perspective,” the company spokesperson told 3DPrint.com. “They broke from using a full figure animal and focused on the face to separate it and establish a new iconic system for the ‘year of’ pins.'”

“In addition, they used red to identify the year’s element–this year being fire, they gave it a metallic crackled red glaze. Treat & Company is looking forward to extending the limited edition each year, and calling out its unique features. The Fire Monkey is said to bring creativity, mindfulness, ambition, vibrancy and courage.”

According to the team, the pins are locally 3D printed ‘using the latest and greatest’ in 3D printing technology and are made from VisiJet material, famous for its strength and manufactured by 3D Systems. While the red limited edition monkey retails for $16.99, the other eleven zodiac animals are priced at $12.99, with shipping included, making for a very affordable endeavor to wear a token honoring your zodiac animal—or, any of your choosing! The design team sees these versatile pieces as a great gift not only to yourself in celebrating the Lunar New Year, but also to commemorate major life events like weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, and new babies.

And not just on a mission to celebrate the Lunar New Year, those at Treat & Company also have quite the mission statement in that they find themselves responsible for ‘eliminating ugly, cleaning up messy, and making complicated feel easy.’ Many of us would probably find this attractive for application in numerous parts of our lives, and with the luck of the fire monkey on our lapels this year, who knows what successes we will find going forward. Here’s wishing you many! Discuss this new technology in the 3D Printed Chinese Zodiac Pins forum over at 3DPB.com.