What 3D Printing Can Offer Your Brand

If there’s one thing that can cramp an eyewear designer’s style, it’s design limitations imposed by manufacturing techniques or budgets.  

Compared to traditional methods like injection molding, 3D printing offers the ultimate in design freedom. From pared-down minimalism to stunningly distinctive designs, you can create shapes, patterns, textures, and interplays of materials that are otherwise impossible to produce or just too expensive.  

But more than just aesthetic appeal, 3D printing offers the opportunity to focus on functionality that will delight your customers. Create modular designs with interchangeable components, offer a choice of features to enhance individual comfort and fit, or explore the growing market for smart eyewear with integrated technology.

They say change is the only constant, and when it comes to fashion, change typically rhymes with stock risk — around the world, 45% of eyewear frames produced are never sold.  

With 3D printing, stock risk and playing catch-up can be a thing of the past. Moving to on-demand manufacturing with 3D printing lets you respond to market shifts faster, with more confidence, and with less financial risk. If a new collection is a roaring success, you can scale up production; if it’s not, you can explore other directions. 

The technology also lets you put your customers at the very center of your brand, exploring how to craft unique, personalized experiences that can drive loyalty and community and help you stand out in a competitive marketplace.

Heightened global awareness around our collective environmental impact means that consumer goods no longer need to just look good; they need to be good. And eyewear is no exception. 

3D printing offers a wealth of advantages when it comes to manufacturing eyewear more sustainably, whatever your focus. Access sublime, sustainably sourced materials like PA 11, made from castor beans. Reduce waste by optimizing material usage in the 3D printing process and eliminating stock waste. Cut your carbon footprint by printing locally and reducing shipping and warehousing needs. 

These benefits, and more, add up to helping you build a sustainable business that aligns people, the planet, and profit.

Every customer is unique, and offering them a frame as unique as they are is a sure way to turn a customer into an ambassador for your brand.  

Exactly how far you go is up to you. From optional accessories or a modular system with pre-defined elements to a fully customizable frame based on a face scan, 3D printing lets you find the right customization coupling point for your brand. And Materialise has unparalleled experience in designing and implementing end-to-end digital supply chains for our partners. 

Providing the highly personalized service customers crave becomes not only economically feasible but also scalable, giving you the freedom and confidence to expand your offering.