About Designer Bee
What is Designer Bee?
Designer Bee is a set of free, browser-based tools and projects built for first-time makers. Pick a project, design it your way, and have a build-ready file (SVG for laser cutting or STL for 3D printing) in minutes, with no design experience and no software to install. In one sentence: the projects where beginners finish the design, and the map that helps them finish the build.
It's built with librarians, teachers, and makerspace coordinators especially in mind: the people who help everyone else make things. If that's you, start at For Libraries & Schools.
Who made this?
Designer Bee was created by Ebrahim Montazeri, an MLIS and makerspace educator. It was born at Nova Labs, the community makerspace in Fairfax, Virginia, where he is a member and where the first Designer Bee projects came off the shop's laser cutters and 3D printers. He teaches first-time makers in makerspaces, and brings over 20 years in technology to building tools that help everyday people (parents, teachers, students, and hobbyists) create things they didn't think they could. The tools are shaped by what actually works in his classes, so they drop cleanly into library workshops and classroom maker programs. Outside Designer Bee, he runs MontazeriAI, helping small businesses in Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland put AI to work.
Mission & Vision
Mission: Make creating accessible to everyone.
Vision: A better world, built by hand.
Tools
Clock Face Generator
Custom clock faces for laser cutting - SVG export
Clock Hands Generator
Matching hour, minute, and second hands - SVG or STL export
Box Generator
Parametric boxes for 3D printing - STL export
Lithophane Generator
Turn any photo into a 3D lithophane - STL export
Laser Keychain Generator
Personalized name tag with engraved symbol - laser-ready SVG
3D Keychain Generator
Keychains with raised or carved text, inline symbols, and an optional charm - STL for any 3D printer
Text Flip Generator
Two names in one 3D print, read each from its own angle - STL export
Spirograph Set Designer
A toothed ring and wheels that draw patterns with any pen - STL or SVG export
Sign Generator
Address plaques, family signs, garden markers - laser-ready SVG
Jigsaw Puzzle Generator
Upload a photo, pick a piece count - laser-ready SVG with engrave + cut
Finger-Joint Box Generator
Flat-pack box panels with finger joints - single laser-ready SVG
Bird House Generator
Nest boxes to NestWatch/Audubon specs for 16 bird species - laser-ready SVG with finger joints
Agamograph Generator
Three pictures in one engraving that change as you walk past - laser-ready SVG with engrave + cut
Paper Agamograph
Two pictures on one printed page, fan-folded by hand - printable PDF, no laser needed
Our 3D printing tools are also listed on SkipTheCAD, a free directory of 3D print generators for people who don't do CAD.
More than tools
Find a Makerspace
A free map and directory of US public-library makerspaces, so you can build your design even without your own laser or printer.
For Libraries & Schools
How librarians, teachers, and makerspace coordinators run maker programs with Designer Bee.
Storybook: DeeBee and Milo Climb the Hill
A picture book about kindness for families and classrooms. Read it online or print the PDF.
Makerspace research
Monthly reports on what US library makerspaces say on their own pages, starting with how old you have to be.
Machines at library makerspaces
Which 3D printers, laser cutters and cutting machines libraries have, model by model, and what their pages say about using them.
Project guides
Step-by-step guides for the projects you can make here.
Why free?
Everything runs in your browser. No account is needed, nothing personal is ever collected, and photos or files you use never leave your device. Designer Bee keeps only anonymous usage stats, like which tools get used, to keep improving them. Designer Bee exists because the hardest part of making shouldn't be finding the right software. It should be deciding what to make next.
Get in touch
Got an overall question, an idea, or just want to say hi? Send a message and it comes straight to Ebrahim. Using a specific tool? Every tool has a 馃挰 Feedback button in its top bar. Tell me if it broke, if you loved it, if you hit a snag building it, or how to make it better.
Prefer email? hello@designerbee.build