Valentine Cosmetic

Bringing My 3D Printer Back to Life: A Valentine’s-Inspired Product Photography Concept

It had been almost a year since I last touched my 3D printer, and I felt it was time to put it to good use again. The last time I used it, I was laser-cutting designs for Korean alcohol packaging and creating 3D podium molds. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I started brainstorming ideas for a new project.

While scrolling through Instagram, I came across Lauren Bamford’s Hermès shoot, featuring a heart-shaped arrow. That instantly sparked an idea—why not create something inspired by Cupid’s arrow? At the time, I had Summer Fridays lip balm, which felt like the perfect product to incorporate. I also had a Laneige Sleeping Lip Mask, with its red and white swirl design that reminded me of a candy cane.

Rather than going for a cliché Cupid’s arrow look, I wanted to give the setup a luxurious and romantic feel. Product photography in the cosmetics industry has been leaning towards raw, soft-edged aesthetics, so I decided to embrace that trend. To complement the concept, I used rich red fabric textures and carefully designed the arrows to match the aesthetic.

Preparing the 3D Model

To bring my vision to life, I used Autodesk Fusion 360 to create a 3D model of the heart and arrows, then sliced the model using Cura for printing. I downloaded a heart outline and used circular geometries to achieve a clean, symmetrical design. Thankfully, the process was fairly simple, even with minimal experience using the software.

Moodboard & Images:

Behind the Scenes:

Reflecting on the Final Images: Balancing Composition and 3D Elements
Looking at the final images and overall execution, I’m happy with how cohesive they turned out—they stayed true to my original concept. It was a lot of fun experimenting with the 3D-printed arrows and heart, bringing a unique, custom element to the shoot.

One of the biggest challenges was finding the right scale for the 3D prints in relation to the products. I had to reprint the arrows multiple times in different sizes, especially when working with a wide-angle macro lens for the group shot. The perspective distortion made it tricky to get the proportions just right, but in the end, the extra effort paid off.

Charlie Sin