Made to order: OTHR, a new design brand championing 3D printed wares

Three years ago, OTHR founder Joe Doucet, an award-winning New York-based industrial designer, ordered a 3D printed fork for $250. ‘The quality was terrible, but it was a fork, a finished product,’ he says. Doucet did some quick math and according to Moore’s law, the magic year that 3D printing would be at its optimal point of viability to launch a company was 2016. In 2014, Doucet became serious about the idea, acquired some capital and built a small team with Dean DiSimone, founder of Tender Creative, Evan Clabots of Fab, and David Parnes as OTHR's chief operating officer.
He then started carefully recruiting a dream team of designers, such as Philippe Malouin, Brad Ascalon, Fort Standard, Claesson Koivisto Rune and Sebastian Bergne. ‘I wanted to set the tone for what people could expect from OTHR,’ Doucet says. ‘If Alessi calls and asks you to design a tea kettle, you know what an Alessi tea kettle should look like. It’s harder when you are a new company and don’t have that specific language.’
Doucet first created his bronze 'Cru' cake spatula and knife set to show both designers and investors alike the potential of 3D printing and to demonstrate his goal to create products that are highly refined, useful and unique. The results, from Ascalon’s modular 'Univers Series' organisational systems and Everything Elevated’s handheld juicer, to Bergne’s black steel 'Minimumi' candleholder, toe the line between utilitarian and luxe. Items are made to order and printed locally in Long Island, with plans to expand to Europe.
‘The production time is shortened from over a year to two months and nothing exists until you buy it – there is no waste,’ says Doucet. ‘We’ll be releasing new products every two weeks, from the world’s best designers.’
Pictured: 'Kyou' sugar pot, creamer jar and spoon, by Todd Bracher
OTHR's team includes Dean DiSimone, founder of Tender Creative, Evan Clabots of Fab, and David Parnes as COO.
Pictured: 'Double Vessels', by Jonah Takagi
OTHR's products have been designed by a dream team of names such as Philippe Malouin, Fort Standard, Claesson Koivisto Rune and Sebastian Bergne.
Pictured: 'Connection' vessel, by Philippe Malouin
‘I wanted to set the tone for what people could expect from OTHR,’ Doucet says of this approach.
Pictured: 'EE Juicer', by Everything Elevated
Doucet's goal is to create products that are highly refined, useful and unique.
Pictured: 'Ico Bottle Opener', by Fort Standard
‘The production time is shortened from over a year to two months and nothing exists until you buy it – there is no waste,’ says Doucet.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Enchanting culinary entertainment awaits at this fine dining restaurant in Santa Monica
Chef Dave Beran returns to his fine dining origins with Seline on Main Street, not far from his French-themed Pasjoli
By Carole Dixon Published
-
Exclusive: Augustinus Bader and La Bonne Brosse have designed an electric blue hairbrush
Augustinus Bader and La Bonne Brosse have joined forces on a limited-edition hairbrush to use alongside Professor Bader’s bespoke haircare regimen, Wallpaper* exclusively reveals
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
Ceramics brand Mutina stages a poetic tribute to everyday objects
Design meets art as a new Mutina exhibition in Italy reframes the beauty of domestic stillness, juxtaposing ceramics, sculpture, paintings and photography
By Laura May Todd Published
-
Designer Danny Kaplan’s Manhattan showroom is also his apartment: the live-work space reimagined
Danny Kaplan’s Manhattan apartment is an extension of his new showroom, itself laid out like a home; he invites us in, including a first look at his private quarters
By Diana Budds Published
-
New Superhouse show captures the rebellious spirit of Dan Friedman’s Manhattan apartment
In the late 1970s, graphic designer and artist Dan Friedman transformed his apartment into a Day-Glo laboratory of ideas. Now, a new exhibition at Superhouse in New York revisits his vibrant, rebellious world
By Ali Morris Published
-
From migrating elephants to a divisive Jaguar, was this the best Design Miami yet?
Here's our Design Miami 2024 review – discover the best of everything that happened at the fair as it took over the city this December
By Henrietta Thompson Published
-
Design practice Astraeus Clarke is inspired by cinema to tell a story and evoke an emotion
In a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. Here we speak to Chelsie and Jacob Starley the creative duo behind Astraeus Clarke
By Hugo Macdonald Published
-
California cool: Studio Shamshiri debuts handmade door handles and pulls
Los Angeles interior design firm Studio Shamshiri channels the spirit of the Californian landscape into its handcrafted hardware collections. Founder Pamela Shamshiri shares the inspiration behind the designs
By Ali Morris Published
-
Is Emeco's 'No Foam KNIT' a sustainable answer to synthetic upholstery textiles?
'Make more with less' is Emeco's guiding light. Now, the US furniture maker's new mono-material textile, the 'No Foam KNIT', may offer a sustainable solution to upholstery materials
By Ali Morris Published
-
Smooth operator: Willett debuts new furniture at Design Miami 2024, with a playful touch of retro allure
LA furniture designer Willett turned heads in the design world with the launch of his eponymous brand earlier this year. Ahead of his Design Miami debut, he told us what’s in store for 2025
By Ali Morris Published
-
Hella Jongerius’ ‘Angry Animals’ take a humorous and poignant bite out of the climate crisis
At Salon 94 Design in New York, Hella Jongerius presents animal ceramics, ‘Bead Tables’ and experimental ‘Textile Studies’ – three series that challenge traditional ideas about function, craft, and narrative
By Ali Morris Published