Hi class! I’m Madeline Lager and I am looking forward to making things with you all this semester! I feel as if I have already learned so much about the digital making world and what it all has to offer. I’m excited to discuss our thoughts together on this forum and explore what each other has learned throughout the course.

First, I will discuss what I took away from the different articles we read before class last week. What I had not realized before was just how personal digital making is. It may not reach the ideal economies of scale by producing more products, but the things can be made for a more focused and smaller target market. As I was thinking of things I could make in this class, I was going in the wrong direction trying to think of things I could make for hundreds or even thousands of people. However, this is not necessary and I can make a smaller group of people happy with a product I create in this class.

Additionally, I liked how one of the articles discussed sending data across the world and how we are able to print something that was sent to us from thousands of miles away. This was fun to investigate further in class when we explored the different websites that share products to 3D print. Specifically, I browsed pinshape.com and grabcad.com. Both of these websites offered different products that I would enjoy printing and can see myself using in day to day activites. It was exciting to see all the possibilities that are available through 3D printing.

One thing I was excited to see on pinshape was a cable guard for your phone charger. As my team was brainstorming ideas this is actually something I had thought that I wanted to print. It prevents your phone cord from fraying and becoming useless which has been a recurring problem for me and my phone chargers. To make it more suitable, I would change the guard to be able to fit any size and shape of phone charger.

Another item I saw on pinshape was straw cups. These reminded me of cups I used to have in my childhood and would love to recreate them in this class! I would maybe make them look a little less childish to make them more usable for my age.

Next, the glasses holder is a product I would love to print and use for myself. I often find myself just throwing my glasses on my desk which can cause them to scratch and break. I loved this product when I saw it on the website and thought it was a great idea. I would make the product more feminine perhaps to make it look cuter if it is sitting on my desk all the time.

Lastly, the iPhone shelf holder is another product I can see myself using. I think it would be fun to make different sizes so I could even use it for my laptop and other devices that require charging.

Overall, I am very optimistic about this semester. I can’t wait to see all of the exciting things our class makes throughout the course!