​Dyvsign: Jewelry With A Story And A 3D Printer Behind It

The Netherlands might be the place where 3D printing could feel like at home, yeah, we told you that already. It seems that a colossal amount of 3D printing enthusiasts have started business in this country. We want to tell you a different story - we want to tell you how 3D printing changed the life of a person whose work was not related to it.

Yvonne van Zummeren is a Dutch jewelry designer who creates accessories which are based on the artworks of historically famous artists. A few years had passed since the day when she heard about 3D printing for the first time. It would be not enough to say that a lot have changed during that time. She has an online 3D printed jewelry label for almost two years now.

“Artistic jewelry from a 3D printer” - this is the heading of Dyvsign. It is the first thing which you see when you visit this website. We are going to tell you about all the way how this concept was born. We have talked with Yvonne and asked her to tell the story how art met 3D printing and become united forever. Here it is.

When was the first time when you heard about 3D printing?

It was in 2010, I was at a graduation party of my former roommate, in Eindhoven. Another former roommate of mine asked me what am I doing these days. I told him that I have this web shop, where I sell imported bracelets. I told that I combine them with a piece of art, so that it would make a nice story. Then he said to me: “You shouldn’t import them, you should 3D print them yourself”. At that moment I was actually thinking that he is trying to fool me and that he is just making that up, because I had no technical background at all and I couldn’t imagine that an object can come out of a printer.

How did things go on from that point?

I never forgot about it. Well, maybe I forgot a little about it, but every two months there was something in the news about 3D printing, like the collection of Iris van Herpen. Every two months or so, I heard something about 3D printing. At one point, I just thought that I have to do something with this, so I could be one of the first and that it would make my jewelry unique. That was about a year after my friend told me about 3D printing when I googled more about it and said to myself: “Let’s just try this and let’s see how far we can get”.

What was your first experience with 3D printing?

There is an app on Shapeways where you enter a word and it shapes into a napkin holder. That was the first thing which I experimented with. I think, it was September, 2011. Then I realized that if I am going to do this, obviously, I need someone who can make 3D printable drawings for me. I live in Delft, we have a university of technology here. So, I just started emailing a teacher who works there, like “Hey, I don’t know nothing about 3D printing, could you tell me something about it?”. This guy was very enthusiastic and excited that I want to use it practical for jewelry. I went to visit him and he gave me a little tour with 3D printers and pointed me to other guys in Delft who could do CAD drawings for me. Then we were set.

Tell us more about the start of Dyvsign.

Everything was based on art in my former shop. I said those guys that the designs which I was going to 3D print should be about art as well. I made some sketches on paper, went to them and they explained about the materials used and what can be or not can be done. They made an initial drawing and we had it printed. It was just an instant goal.

The first collection went on my website on May, 2012. It took about six months to finish the collection, mainly, because the issues with the coloring. I did it in Shapeways colors but I wanted to have my own colors, like green and yellow. I tried to experiment and dye them myself. It was horrible. Then I found a Dutch company 3D Worknet, they have almost any color you could imagine. That was nice; I could finally have my perfect colors. I print most of the items there, but those which are made from steel still come from Shapeways.

You said that you wanted to try 3D printing to make your jewelry unique. Do you think that your jewelry is more special because it is 3D printed?

At first, I wanted to make a 3D printed items line as a marketing thing, so I could use it in public relations, to be one of the first in the Netherlands to have 3D printed jewelry. And, that was what I was thinking about. With my former shop, I could only reach the news if I had something new. 3D printing definitely was something new. So, I thought, that this is the way to get more publicity for my shop.

I got a lot of press attention with my first 3D printed collection. I knew that it was much more successful than the collection of regular bracelets. Then I decided to come up with a new brand name for my 3D printed jewelry. That was Dyvsign. My former web shop was called Bracelet Boutique.

Just a couple of months after my first collection were shown, I’ve changed that its name to my brand name Dyvsign. In the end Dyvsign become so successful that I quit my former web shop, I couldn’t run two web shops at the same time. At that point I realized that 3D printing was no longer a marketing technique.

3D was more frequently on the news, but it was mostly negative or futuristic. It was about 3D printed gun, about 3D printing on the moon or 3D printing human organs. For most people it was a bit scary and unrealistic or too complicated. With Dyvsign jewelry I wanted to tell women all over the world that 3D printing doesn’t need to be scary, to tell that they can wear it and that it can be very beautiful.

That’s why 3D printing had become a part of the story of combining the traditional artworks from traditional artists and combining it with such a modern technology. Most of the modern artists were really progressive and invented new art styles. I think that most of the artists that my jewelry is inspired by would really love this technique.

You told that someone else is doing CAD drawings for you. So, tell how does the whole process of creating a 3D printable item look like?

I have a new technician who draws for me. I found this girl, Laura Klauss, by accident . She is amazing and has very good CAD drawing skills.

So, we work at home. I look through my art books and I try to come up with some sort of theme and find artworks that really appeal to me and are pretty for me. They should be a little bit commercial; I shouldn’t pick artwork which is too weird. Then I make sketches on a piece of paper. When we make an appointment with Laura, I tell her my ideas and show her the sketches. Then she does the drawing on computer.

You said that you want to encourage women all over the world to wear 3D printable items. However, 3D printing is still kind of geeky technology and it must be hard to engage a wider audience of people who are not so much into technology. Who are your customers?

It is geeky and most of the 3D printed jewelry is very geometric while most of my jewelry has more natural round shapes. That makes it less geeky. I focus on being on regular Dutch magazines for women a lot. That is working out good, luckily. So, they are being more in touch with 3D printing.

I would say that women who buy my jewelry are something from 23 to 55. Usually they are a little bit into art, so they can relate themselves to the story. However, my jewelry is also being bought by men who are a bit geeky and who want to convince their girlfriends or wives that geeky can still be pretty.

My main focus is the shops. I have 40 points of sale in 5 different countries. I focus more on retail than on my web shop. A person needs to take a little bit of time to understand the process of 3D printing and to understand the concept of Dyvsign, to understand that it is jewelry based upon works of art.

A salesperson in a gift shop can tell a lot about my jewelry. So, that is how a connection between a person and my jewelry is being brought to life. Also, those retail shops already have their client basis while my web shop is still trying to be top-ranked at Google.

Your jewelry is based on artworks made by traditional artists. One of the collections you made is called Russia collection and a couple of items of it are based on Jack of Diamonds - a group of avant-garde artists formed in Moscow in 1910. Do you consider yourself as an avant-garde artist? Furthermore, does the fact that your jewelry is 3D printed make you an avant-garde artist?

Absolutely not. I’ve been called an artist many times on 3D printing blogs or whenever I gave lectures somewhere. However, having studied art history makes it feel weird to be called an artist. I think, I am a bit too commercial to be called an artist. I am not an artist, I am a jewelry designer.

I think, people are being called artists too quickly. It was always a tough question - when is someone an artist. Designing jewelry is just a small part. I think, I am more an entrepreneur than an artist. But, you know, time will tell - if everybody keep call me an artist, maybe I’ll become one of them.

Is there any so-called copycats who try to imitate your concept - 3D printed jewelry based on artworks?

I have not seen them yet, luckily. Of course, there are many other 3D printed jewelry designers. There were a few before me and many after me. Of course, every one of them is trying to find its own niche. That is very important, because if you don’t have a niche, then you can’t distinguish yourself from the others.

Due to the fact that I was one of the first and I have had the focus on the art from the beginning, I think that it would be very obvious to everyone if someone else will say that they are going to make jewelry based on art. Everyone will say: “No, you can’t do that, because Dyvsign already does that”. That is the advantage to be one of the first.

What is the potential of 3D printing being incorporated with art? Does it have a bright future or is it just a hype?

I am experiencing that it is a little bit of hype. Whenever I am showing my jewelry somewhere on a fair a lot of people say: “Yeah yeah, I’ve seen that”. However, what they are not realizing, that what they saw are mostly small/hobby printers. I try to explain them every time that those hobby 3D printers are completely different than the professional 3D printers. Prints made with the professional ones are more flexible, more durable and don’t have that cheap plastic feeling. I am selling real luxury jewelry.

I get the feeling from people that they are a little bit fed up with 3D printing, because they hear about it all the time nowadays, but I think that media is spreading a lot of false information. It mostly shows the small printers and say: “Oh, you can print everything with it!”. And we know that it’s not true. I think, media is playing a big part in creating the hype in both - good and bad ways. From jewelry designer perspective I am really excited about a lot of new material that are being created; for example, printable leather or real gold. I am really looking forward to use that.

3D printing will stay, definitely. But I think that a lot of jewelers right now are also looking down upon 3D printed jewelry a bit. They say that everyone can do this now. With 3D printing everyone can become a designer - everyone can find their way to create a company of 3D printed jewelry. However, the most important part is to have your own niche, to be creative. Designs should be considered pretty by your target group. So, first of all, you need to be creative and know what could be liked by your target group.