This is an FDM 3D printing design-and-build project that I worked on, for joining the competition held by Bambu Lab and EcoFlow. The theme was to focus on creativity and power, we're asked to design an accessory for an upcoming EcoFlow power bank. Through this article, I want to share more about how I analyzed the brief, developed the concept, and carried out the project to achieve a winning result. Hopefully this will be useful for everyone that considering joining design competitions on MakerWorld.
First lets take a look at the contest theme:
Before anything, it’s important to read the rules of each contest. They usually explain very clearly what the brief is and what the requirements are. From there, you can understand direction of the contest and start forming a rough idea of what you’ll design. In this case, the brief asked participants to design accessories that could be paired with a power bank. It could be anything — as long as it's creative, functional, and practical for reasonable criteria. Besides, they also provided a 3D printable reference file of the device, so participants could download it and use it as a base model, without needing to purchase to get measurements. Since it hasn't been released yet, also a bit out of budget hihi!
Next is checking the rules. Usually, MakerWorld contests share pretty much the same guidelines, so you just need to read through them to make sure not breaking any rules. Things like not reusing old designs, not copying others, and avoiding sensitive topics. Nothing too complicated.
Moving on to the prize section. This part helps you understand how many prizes there are and what each prize includes. In this particular contest, there was no first, second, or third place. The winners selected based on different themes defined by the brief. In this case, there were three winning categories:
- Functional (designs that pair with the power bank and add useful, practical functionality)
- Best - Looking (designs that stand out visually, with an appealing and interesting look)
- Unexpected (designs that people wouldn’t normally expect, pushing beyond common assumptions and expectations)
After reviewing these three categories, I decided to go for something that most people would not think of. If you want to design a functional accessory that attaches directly to the power bank, you're gonna need the actual device to use it, understand it, and figure out what it really needs. But since this was a product I didn’t own, hadn’t used, and hadn’t even seen in real life yet, I didn’t have enough hands-on experience to design that kind of accessory.
Looking at this power bank made me right away think of a spaceship. It has high power output, lots of energy, and a very futuristic design — you can easily imagine as some kind of energy core for a sci-fi or space-themed object. So I decided to design a spaceship, the one shown in the image. Since I’d never worked on this kind of theme before, I didn’t have much experience on researching online, gathering visual references, sketching ideas by hand, creating concept illustrations, and refining everything in Shapr3D on the iPad like I usually do.
The interior of the spaceship was designed as a compartment to hold the power bank while it’s charging. The idea was to simulate a spacecraft powered by this EcoFlow power bank — while charging, the power bank sits inside, and the lights can be turned on. Not just a decorative piece, but also a charging dock, or even a fun desk lamp.
I also designed it with standard 1/4 and 3/8 threaded mounts, so it can be clamped or mounted on a wall using traditional arms commonly used in the photography industry. Anyone who works with cameras or photography gear will be familiar with these standard arms and accessories.
Inside, there was a compartment just for the EcoFlow power bank. I 3D printed it and created a mock-up for testing, and once I receive the actual unit as a prize, I would finalize this part. The idea was that when the power bank plugged in, it would supply power to all the lights on the spaceship while charging at the same time.
For the spark elements, I used magnetic electrical connectors that both hold the parts together and transfer power at the same time, fun and easy to assemble or disassemble. The enjoyment of an object comes from how it’s assembled, and I always treat that as an important part of the design.
After that, as usual, we prepare the print files, write the project description, and put together the images for submission. Once everything is ready, it’s uploaded to MakerWorld and officially enters the contest. And after a few days, my project became one of the most downloaded and most liked designs, consistently appearing in trending tab, downloads, likes sections. It was a very positive and encouraging signal, it felt like the ideas and all preparation that I put into this contest were heading in the right direction.
At the end of the contest, what was meant to happen eventually happened. My design won the Unexpected category in this competition. The prize included $300 in cash plus an EcoFlow DELTA Pro X power station valued at $300. I was truly happy with this result, as someone who loves power bank, as well as design and 3D printing. Below are a few tips from from the contests I’ve participated in and two wins that I’d like to share with you:
- Read the brief carefully, choose a theme that plays to your strengths but still fully complying with the rules.
- Well-prepared presentation materials: Images, assembly videos, photos, and captions for writing. You might have a great idea and a well-finished product, but visuals and storytelling are what help your works reach more people. These are skills you should equip yourself with.
- Don’t get stuck in the mindset “what if someone steals my idea?” As long as you hold onto that, it’s hard to move forward. If you can create one good design, you’ll be able to create many more — don't worry.
- Lots of testing, finalize your design files, actual printing. Avoid submitting projects that only exist as 3D renders without any physical testing.
I always hope that more of you can join MakerWorld, give a try, aim for prizes. The rewards may not be huge, but the experience, skills, and confidence you gain are incredibly valuable. Wishing you all success!
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- Design entry link: Bambu Lab x Ecoflow
- Another previous winning project that I gained: Bambu Lab x Outin