The creative industries are directly interfacing with 3D printing technology and how it is changing the practices of many artists and designers across the globe. However for the creative community it is not possible to take on a new manufacturing technology without an inherent understanding of materials. All too often with the adoption of new technology, in whatever discipline, one can instantly tell a work that has been dictated and created by the simple constraints of a new process. It will not possess any of the inherent material or aesthetic qualities that are obvious in a piece that is made so skillfully that it transcends the process. Therefore the adoption of 3D printing technology is not simply a matter of detailing scientific or engineering advances to a new process. A selection of case studies of leading designer makers who demonstrate both skill and technical expertise will be presented to reveal the spread and problems of the technology over a number of diverse disciplines.