Designer Spotlight: Esther Yam (cyanidesugar)
Looking for unique 3D prints? Check out our Designer Spotlight profile on Esther Yam (a.k.a. cyanidesugar) and find what you're after!
Among the great designers we’ve come across for our Designer Spotlight series, Esther Yam (a.k.a. cyanidesugar) stands out as a HueForge expert. There’s a reason her Millennium Falcon’s among our top picks of HueForge prints.
With designs that defy dimensions, creations that would get Taylor Swift’s approval, and stunning visuals, it was only logical that we’d reach out to her and ask her a bit more about herself, her process, and her models.
And Esther isn’t just about the designs; two of her Patreon memberships include two physical prints shipped to her supporters – how cool is that?
Q&A
All3DP: Tell us a little about yourself – what’s your background?
Esther: I’m an accountant by profession, and have been tinkering 3D printers since 2020 (yay, Covid-related boredom!). I started with a Voxelab Aquila X2, which is basically an Ender 3 clone, and had to learn really quickly how 3D printers work, from the ground up. When Bambu Lab released their “one-click printing” printers, it was like my entire world changed! I can now focus on printing instead of trying to get the printer to work! I had no 3D modeling experience at all, no CAD software experience, but now that I don’t have to spend so much time fixing the printer, I can instead focus on the more creative side of 3D printing, which has been so great.
How do you get the ideas for your designs?
My specialty, or rather, focus at the moment are HueForge prints, which turn 2D art into 3D textured filament paintings. Initially I started by turning covers of books I love into 3D prints, and then slowly graduated into creating what I call HueForge Hybrid prints, like the “Junk in Space” Millennium Falcon print that went a bit viral a while back. Honestly, it was a matter of, “Can I do this? Let’s try!” and that’s where a lot of my ideas come from!
Recently, the HueForge filament paintings have caught the attention of book publishers, so I’ve been collaborating with them and the idea swapping through that process has been an absolute delight!
How much does the technical side of 3D printing (e.g. supports, a design that requires assembly or one that’s printable in one piece) come into play when you’re designing? Or is your designing entirely independent from 3D printing and you later figure out how they work together best?
Luckily for me, HueForge prints don’t require a lot of supports. However, the HueForge Hybrid prints, like the Oversized Pokémon cards for example, are very tricky to design. These hybrid models print without supports and are essentially print-in-place, so when I’m working on these Pokémon cards, a lot of thought goes into how I align the 3D print onto the HueForge section of the print. I think about how the end result should look and then have to think about how it’s sliced, so that as an end user, it’s basically zero effort to actually print it. There have been multiple occasions where I’ve had to edit and edit and edit the model to ensure that it didn’t require supports. It takes hours sometimes, but when a user downloads the print and leaves a 5-star rating or tells me how glad they were that they didn’t have to use glue or remove supports – that really makes it all worthwhile!
Of all the things you’ve created, which are you most fond of and why?
The Junk in Space print is one of my favourites, because I’m a Star Wars girl at heart and it just prints so well. It’s eye-pleasing and always a conversation starter!
If you could step back in time and give yourself some advice from the beginning, what would it be?
Stock up on filament, whenever there are sales!
Rapid Fire
- Favorite CAD software? Nomad Sculpt
- Favorite slicer? Orca Slicer
- Favorite 3D printer? Bambu Lab P1P (look, the P1S is great, but I don’t need those walls!)
- Favorite filament material to print with? PLA most of the time, but recently have really loved Bambu Lab’s PETG HF
- Favorite filament brand? Kingroon is great, and so is Sunlu! We don’t get a lot of affordable filament here in Australia, so most of the time it’s really just what’s cheapest at the moment; there’s a local seller here, Siddament, which is amazing too but runs out of stock pretty quickly!
Find Her On
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License: The text of "Designer Spotlight: Esther Yam (cyanidesugar)" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.