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By Simon Young, October 1, 2007 @ 8:23 pm

A Wellington-based startup is making product design and production as easy as pressing ‘print’. Ponoko—a variation on an early name for Wellington—lets people design physical objects in any 2D drawing program. They can then send the design through to Ponoko’s network of laser cutters and 3D printers.

The system is still in beta testing and 19 eager amateur designers from Wellington have already crafted 27 products between them, cut from wood, plastic and metal. They range from a wine rack to a rocking horse.

Ponoko founders Derek Elley and David ten Have reckon there are plenty of creative people who want to cross the gulf between virtual ideas and physical objects. Elley comes from a programming background, which enabled him to create all manner of virtual objects, but he lacked the skills to craft physical objects. Frustration turned into opportunity as the idea for Ponoko grew into reality.

And ideas, once turned into reality, can be turned into income. Not long after the July launch of products designed by beta testers, some products started selling in New Zealand and the US. “Our model is now completely proven one end to the next,” says Elley.