14 DAY TRIAL // Pretty much everyone who uses some sort of social media has used emoticons at least once, so it's easy to forget that all these emoticons have evolved from emojis, the ideograms or smileys used in Japanese electronic messages and webpages.
The English word would be “pictograph” but there's just something lacking about it, especially when you're supposed to use it to refer to 3D printed balls of feeling.
Because that's what the folks at Good Custom Goods have created: 3D printed emojis. Quite a side-quest compared to their usual products, like phone cases.
Then again, the people at Good Custom Goods have shown a pretty strong leaning towards 3D printing. And since they were already 3D printing iPhone 5s cases with New York City neighborhoods based on them, it wasn't hard to branch out.
You only need to feed a 3D printer a different digital model after all, and you get something completely different.
The 3D printed smileys
The small laughing, crying, or otherwise expressive faces have a coarse texture but a delicate finish and come in a variety of colors. They don't even need to be spherical. You can get loads of other shapes as well.
Buying one will set you back $19.99 / €15.51, but a set of sixteen will cost $300 / €232. Presumably, the set will cover all the emotions you could probably feel at any given time.
You'll have to find other uses for them than expressing emotion though. Emoticons are useful over the web, when you can't actually see the other's face, and your own can't be seen in turn. During a face-to-face conversation, you can, presumably, use your own face to express emotions.
Giving them as toys to your kids or younger siblings is one option. They could also make for really amusing gifts if the one you're visiting already owns everything else you could think of getting.
You don't actually need to buy the things though
New York City’s Good Custom Goods would, of course, love to take your order. That's what they have all their 3D printing and laser cutting digital fabrication techniques.
Still, in the end, this is just another application of 3D printing technology. So you can, of course, just make your own if you have a 3D printer or access to a 3D printing service. See the video below for instructions.
The quality might not be as great, especially if you lack the means to polish the prints.
