There now seems to be yet another take on 3D printer filament colors.
It all started with the announcement of a new filament color by Polar Filaments of Michigan. They announced a “Retro” filament: a filament that has the same color as the original cases on now-ancient Mac desktop computers. With this filament it would be possible to print replica takes on the classic computer.
That’s all fun, but I considered what this means, and it could be important for filament producers.
Over the past 15 years I’ve seen dozens of attempts at selling 3D printer filament by countless providers. The problem is that, at the heart of the matter, PLA is PLA. It’s a commodity material and there is very little to differentiate one product from another.
Early on there were issues with filament quality, particularly the consistency of roundness and diameter, but that’s now solved across all vendors. That’s no longer a differentiating factor.
For a time there was a bit of craze where unusual materials were mixed in with the polymer to produce viral-worthy filaments, such as coffee, bamboo, stone dust and more. One was algae-based filament, which I tested and found that it emitted the most foul odor ever encountered in the industry.
Recently the main differentiating factor has been colors. With dramatic names, some providers have issued standard colors for consistency, others have attempted to have the broadest possible spectrum of colors available. It’s a war of colors.
But the Polar Filaments move introduces a new angle on filament battles: retro colors.
They’ve chosen a good one: the classic Mac color is no doubt a color that would be used by many to produce retro cases for computers.
I wondered if this is a new category of filament color? Could there be other examples of well-known colors from the past that would make for an interesting 3D printer filament?
I think there are many. Some ideas:
- IBM Beige
- iMac G3 “Bondi Blue”
- Soviet Spacecraft Green
- Pac-Man Yellow
- Ancient Egyptian Blue
- NES Console Grey & Black
- Ancient Roman Red (Pompeii Red)
- Bauhaus Primary Palette
- Chevrolet Bel Air Teal & White
- British Racing Green
- Sony Walkman Orange
- John Deere Green
- Bakelite Brown/Maroon
You get the idea: there are quite a few of these, and my list is only a few. There are probably hundreds of these. The only question is to figure out which ones would be most popular.
Would you consider these or other retro filament colors? Would their availability cause you to start a project based on the color alone?
I think this might work.
Via Polar Filaments
