i.materialise Chooses Surrealist Danny van Ryswyk as 3D Printing Designer of the Year 2014

The i.materialise jury has spoken. And they have made their decision on the first choice for the i.materialise Designer of the Year 2014 award. Leaning toward the bold, dark, and modern, the jury chose surrealist Danny van Ryswyk of Amsterdam as their number one for designer in 3D print.

While his work is truly inimitable and darkly wondrous, centering around a childhood experience with a UFO sighting, I was immediately sensing the ghosts of Magritte, Dalí, and Diane Arbus lurking in delight at the nudes embellished with snakes, horns, and antlers, perched atop skulls and wearing bunny masks. While I don’t think I want to gaze at these creatures from my night-table as I fall asleep, hoping to visit a different and pleasant ‘otherworld,’ van Ryswyk is obviously an artist of substance whose work you can’t take your eyes off of—there is simply too much to take in and ponder, as you wonder why did he do this and why that?

As Designer of the Year 2014, Danny is gifted with:

• €200 i.materialise voucher
• One-year Instructables Pro account
• Autodesk 123D premium membership
• T-shirt from the Autodesk shop

The i.materialise jury chose his work because of the strong style and use of 3D printing and sculpture that provides “smooth surfaces, dark colors, and fine level of details.” With his UFO experience driving the style, one can almost sense the terrified child expressing both fear and fascination in the brooding fantasy world, mashed up with a Victorian style for an extra dose of terror.

A digital artist and sculptor, van Ryswyk states that his work “hovers along the lines of beauty and the absurdity, and effectively utilises the examination of a reality that exist outside the range of science’s ability to explain or measure.”

In good company, the other two nominees produced work that is certainly nothing to sniff at, and we also look forward to seeing what they do in the future. Both receiving vouchers from i.materialise, Adrian Gögl of the Oak & Dust 3D printed eyewear line and Canadian jewelry designer Negar Jazbi were the other two nominees, who are responsible for producing unique and wondrous 3D printed works of their own.

We’ve reported on Adrian Gögl and Oak & Dust in the past, intrigued by this unique concept in industrial design. Featuring 3D printing and cork in his eyewear designs, Gögl’s work reflects his background in parametric design and generative manufacturing. With a strong intuition regarding marketing, the classic lines of his glasses combined with a modern style give his work a striking aesthetic, and it should be interesting to see how they catch on in the marketplace.

Negar Jazbi, based out of Canada, is a young jewelry designer—and a triple threat—with degrees in architecture, mathematics, and environmental design. Her education and interests are highly reflected in her artwork, particularly a passion for puzzles and patterns. While mixing up art and mathematics, Jazbi enjoys the detail and precision that 3D printing brings to her artwork. Her collection of rings is also extremely appealing and relevant to the styles of today, making it highly marketable—and probably one of the reasons her elegant 3D printed work put her in the running.

How does Danny van Ryswyk’s 3D printed work strike you? What do you think of the work of the other two designers who were nominated, and do you consider their work to be more marketable? Tell us your thoughts in the i.materialise 3D Printing Designer of the Year 2014 forum over at 3DPB.com.