Today’s Designer Spotlight focuses on model Lucas Goossens, fresh off the Fashion Week circuit and his feature in the New York Times, he also finds time to indulge his passion for positivity with his jewelry collection.

Tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? Where are you located?
Well, my name’s Lucas, and I come from a small historical town called Jacksonville, Oregon.  I’m 22, and I moved to New York about 2 years ago because of a modeling opportunity, and here I am now: modeling and designing 3D printed jewelry!

What’s the story behind your designs? What inspires you? 
The story starts about 4 years ago when I made a New Year’s resolution of being nicer to the people around me.  It changed my life and my friends and family noticed the positive change as well.  Then, almost 2 years ago, I bought a ring to represent how far I’d come, and before I knew it I wanted another.  I knew I wanted my next ring to be EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED, so I came up with a few sketches, a 3D file, and 3 weeks later my Plus Ring in Sterling Silver came to my door!  Obviously, the Plus symbol drives my current designs, but I find my inspiration from other top jewelers like Cartier, Tiffany’s, and YSL.

What brought you to 3D printing with Shapeways?
My best friend from Oregon who ended up going to university to study industrial design (whereas I did a year abroad in Belgium, returned for college, and started modeling soon after) told me about Shapeways when he started working with 3D printers in class.  When I wanted to make my own ring, I didn’t know how to make jewelry by hand, nor did I have access to a workshop, but I DID know how to design on Google Sketchup, and Shapeways seemed like the most logical solution to my dilemma.

How did you learn how to design in 3D?
In high school I took CAD classes with my aforementioned best friend.  We’d come home from school and have competitions of who could design the best this, and who could design the best that.  When it came time for me to use those skills again to design jewelry, I jumped to the occasion and I’ve been teaching myself new tips and tricks with Youtube tutorials ever since.

How do you promote your work?
Frankly, modeling has been the perfect opportunity to showcase my designs to the world.  I mostly use Instagram to post pictures of my modeling work and my jewelry, and then I link that to my Facebook and Twitter.  However, I tend to wear as much of my own jewelry as possible for the chance of getting it noticed by the people I work with in the New York fashion industry.

Who are your favorite designers or artists?
My all-time favorite designer is Tom Ford, but I do admire any designer on Shapeways.  I love seeing what other designers have been able to produce on Shapeways to make their jewelry designs a reality, like Summerized.  The more designers, the merrier!

If you weren’t limited by current technologies, what would you want to make using 3D printing?
I’d like to see a 3D printer that can print out of ANY material, like directly printing with gold and silver, kind of like how the plastic materials work now. That, and printing food, clothing, buildings, and the rest of the endless possibilities!

Anything else you want to share?
As a human being, it’s an amazing thing to be able to choose your thoughts and feelings, so choosing to be happy and smile is what I want people to remember when wearing LucasPlus Jewelry.

Get inspired with positivity with Lucas’s sparkling collection in his Shapeways Shop, or, like us, follow his adventures on his Instagram. Like what you see? Discover more talented Shapeways Designers on our blog, or submit one of your own by emailing aimee@shapeways.com.