SideBox Studios

The story
behind SideBox.

SideBox Studios is an independent studio near Seattle, Washington, that designs and 3D prints custom trail maps, relief maps and ski resort maps based on real places.

Close view of a white 3D-printed ski mountain relief, its peaks traced with raised black run lines and red lift lines, on a wooden table.

How it started

The founder of SideBox Studios, seen from behind in a blue T-shirt and cap, working at a 3D printer with its filament unit on top and small white prints on the cabinet beside it.

SideBox Studios began during a medical leave, as a project to stay busy. It brings together a background in IT and a creative side, starting with software that turns real terrain into 3D models.

The idea behind the studio is that life is valuable, and the places that shape it are worth keeping close. Each piece turns a real place into something you can hang on a wall and see every day, like this pair of relief maps joining Brazil and the USA.

Two black-framed grey relief maps of the USA and Brazil leaning on a wall above a walnut dresser, with Seattle and São Paulo outlined in red and joined by a red heart line.

SideBox Studios grew from that idea. Today the studio designs and 3D prints trail maps, relief maps and ski resort maps for the places people want to remember.

Made by hand, one piece at a time

  • A white ski mountain relief part-way through printing, with black run lines and red lift lines rising out of the printed infill.

    Hours on the printer

    Every ridge rises one fine layer at a time.

  • White run-line inlays printing as separate pieces on a blue build plate, one trail standing tall in the foreground.

    Every run its own piece

    Each trail is printed separately, so it stands proud of the terrain.

  • A black Alpental relief with raised white runs and red lift lines fitted into their channels across layered terrain.

    Set by hand

    Each run and lift is fitted into its channel, one at a time.

  • Hands pressing a grey printed Brazil relief onto the map sheet inside a white frame.

    Made once, for one place

    Pressed, framed and finished in our studio.

How pieces are made

Every piece starts with a conversation about the place and why it matters. We design the model, print it layer by layer and finish it in our studio. Up close you can see the fine layer lines, which give the surface its texture.

Have a place in mind?

Tell us which place matters to you. We can talk through an idea before any order is placed.

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