I had written that the judges hoped to see entries that were less than ordinary and that really showcased that they were made with 3D printers and laser cutters, but the entries that we have seen have blown all my expectations out of the water! Here are some of my thoughts after completing the judging.

1. The allure of Fab is that it brings difference things together and mixes them or throws them together, and through the medium of Fab unexpected things (things that you usually wouldn’t see together or complete opposites or contradictory objects) are brought together and that is what makes it interesting. We have wrestled with the contradictions and channeled them into another dimension, almost like a holistic power of parts, and I think it is that leap of expression where we find the spotlight on creativity.

2. With Fab, in order to create new expressions, we should not [MS1] separate the actual practice of design from the technology R&D side of things, and because of this I believe that small design engineering firms that employ an array of professionals in varying fields will play a greater role in the Fab process moving forward. I think that the future of Fab lies in the creativity of small team, and not in the hands of large firms or individual creators. Incidentally, I think that [MS2] FabLabs or other Fab facilities no longer represent a place to use fab machines, but are a place to search for team members to work with.

3. The starting line for Fab is often an experiment. And for the project to take off, there needs to be some kind of poeticism or storytelling behind it. This is not the kind of fictitious story concocted by advertising agencies, but a story that spontaneously develops as the project unfolds or that flows out from within the project itself. I believe that these original and true-life stories (the behind the scenes stories) are what lie at the core of Fab. The work we are doing over at http://fabble.cc/ also is driven by a similar interest.

The above-mentioned points deeply reflect my take on Fab, but I also think these points demonstrate how Fab is different from the way we have created in general and produced works of art to date. I hope that we can continue to move beyond the desire to just make something or to just use digital fabrication tools to pursue Fab that delves deeply into the meaning and significance of things like we have seen here.

I have had the honor of being a judge for YouFab for the last two years and I have been noticing this year that so many things have[MS3] changed in the field of Fab. I think last year we saw the emergence of new components and materials being used in novel ways to make innovative new artworks and products. In 2015, we are seeing these new method of creating taken to a new level when people think about how to use objects effectively or how they can incorporate things into their daily lives, and it is not just about being new. I also see people thinking about how they can make new things using one method from the various Fab technologies available. I think we can see these trends in our entries this year. I can feel the energy and potential that is being created from people spending many hours focusing on one method alone and really getting to know every in and out of it. This year I was a judge again, but I would once again like to return to my roots as an individual creator and try my hand at making something with everyone around the world.

Is this the year that 3D-printed fashion has finally arrived? Judging by the number of submissions received in this year's YouFab competition that would be a resounding yes. From automated textile machines to custom jewellery and hacked accessories, there was no shortage of new ideas that fused design, technology and fashion in imaginative and creative ways. Rather than trying to re-invent the wheel however, the highest quality projects stood out with their levels of sophistication and refinement. Perhaps this is inevitable as the technologies and tools themselves are now maturing. But it also makes a strong case to look more into fashion, visual arts, architecture and related design fields, where the use of incremental innovation and iterative processes are still being used to achieve thought-provoking, highly usable and ultimately remarkable results.