It happens to the best of us. You think you’ve done everything right with setting up your print bed, your file resolution, the amount of available filament, alignments, etc. However you walk in to your office the next morning with so much anticipation for the perfect 3D print and yet—it looks as though Godzilla had a dance party on your print bed overnight. You are not alone. The Art of 3D Print Failure is the open-source 3D print fail blog that not only highlights the beauty and ‘art’ of 3D printing failure, but also serves as one of the best resources for 3D print troubleshooting.

Art of 3D Printing Failure

While 3D printing is farther along than it ever has been, it is not without to it’s fair share of fails. Magazines and blogs like to paint a pretty picture of how perfect the technology is, but for those operating 3D printers behind the scenes, there is an often-overlooked craft of actually getting the intended result the first time. Or the second. Or the third.

Since the ‘art of making mistakes’ is the only way one can truly get better at something, the next best thing is to learn from other people’s mistakes. Whether it’s extruder glitches, temperature settings, bad CAD files, or just a simple alignment issue, the Art of 3D Printing is the best place to turn when you find yourself pulling unintended ‘jellyfish prints’ off of your print bed. Here’s some of our favorites that while accidental, are beautiful in their own right:

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(Images via Art of 3D Printing)

Author

Simon is a Brooklyn-based industrial designer and Managing Editor of EVD Media. When he finds the time to design, his focus is on helping startups develop branding and design solutions to realize their product design vision. In addition to his work at Nike and various other clients, he is the main reason anything gets done at EvD Media. He once wrestled an Alaskan alligator buzzard to the ground with his bare hands… to rescue Josh.