The 3D Design Award, which exemplifies the Scholastic Award's "Future New" category, inspires students to use 3D design and printing tools to create innovative art. The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are the nation's longest-running and most prestigious award and recognition program for creative students in grades 7-12, and this year received more then 255,000 submissions for the program's 28 categories, which include everything from Future New, comic art, video game design and flash fiction to the more traditional mediums of poetry and sculpture.
The "Future New" category evaluates the originality, technical skill, and the emergence of personal vision or voice through the 3D printed designs. The winners are offered a choice between a $1,000 scholarship or their own Cube home 3D printer.
The winners of the 2014 Future New 3D Design Award are:
TJ Gascho, 10th Grade, California. TJ Gascho submitted "Egg-scape" using the 3D animation program Blender. Egg-scape portrays an egg yolk as a creature trying to escape from the egg whites representing a "human, born into this word in a bad environment, and though it tries to escape, it never can..."
Eric Voorhis, 12th Grade, Florida. Eric Voorhis created "Visual Representations of Audio Files" by various musical artists using 3D printing software. He converted mp3 music into a visual 2D plane, presenting a final image containing millions of pixels composed into static white noise. His three 3D static blocks represent the complexity of sound as an image.
Elbert Han, 12th Grade, Michigan. Elbert Han designed "Metamorphosis," a multipurpose accessory that converts from a set of two cufflinks to a cuff bracelet via a system of hinging magnets. The goal of this piece is to create a versatile accessory that could transition from a formal to casual setting, giving the wearer the freedom to sport this accessory regardless of the situation in which they find themselves.
"This year's award winners are a testament to the art of the possible, with 3D design and printing tools. Together with the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers we are nurturing a new kind of digital literacy with real world implications," said Leanne Gluck, Director of Social Impact, 3DS. "Scholastic Art & Writing Award winners give teachers, students and parents reason to be optimistic that these skills are relatively quick to learn and even quicker to implement."
3DS has partnered with the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the nonprofit presenter of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, since 2012 with a joint mission to provide 21st century tools of expression and to challenge today's students and tomorrow's artists, designers, entrepreneurs and leaders to think and create in new, bold directions. 3DS provides free access to its consumer design tools for students to create their work in 3D.
"The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards were created with a mission to recognize creative teens and show their work to the world, proving they are sophisticated young artists in their own right," noted Virginia McEnerney, Executive Director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. "The works that students share with us in the Future New category that are designed with free resources provided by 3D Systems are wonderful examples of the innovative thinking that our country needs in future leaders of all industries."