Liam Cloete.
Student No. 242018Scale — NTSStellenbosch, South Africa
Industrial product designer · 3D fabrication

LiamCloete.

I design objects and then make them. Third-year industrial design at Open Window, Stellenbosch. I sketch it, model it in SolidWorks, then cut, bend, print or code it.

Seven projects, seven materials

Hover a material to open itSwipe · tap to open

Macro render of verdigris patina and hour marks on the copper rim 01 Patinated copper Where TomorrowOne-hand heirloom wall clock The stand folded flat, legs stacked on one pivot 02 Surgical stainless Argo MultistandCanister stand for Dead Reckon Top-down render of the frame with the paddles fanned out beneath it 03 PMMA acrylic Colour CreatureSTEM toy for ages 3–6 D5 render of the Tornica pavilion, a porous concrete shell planted with moss, on a forested ridge 04 Bioreceptive concrete TornicaPavilion that weathers into the forest Detail of the friction-fit slots where the shelves meet the side panel 05 Baltic birch ply Flatpack Vinyl HolderTool-free record furniture Render of the orange SphericonRoller tipped on its edge against green 06 LLDPE SphericonRollerRotomoulded play equipment, ages 3–5 Render of three modules stacked, the triangular laser-cut pattern catching light 07 2 mm mild steel GardenTowerHanging garden for small rooms
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Selected work

2025–2026, newest first. Photos where it's built, renders where it's still on the drawing board.

KeyShot render of the Where Tomorrow clock: a patinated copper face behind a frosted glass veil with a clear wedge, on a dark drumRender

ID300 · Heirloom project · 2026In development

Where Tomorrow

A hand you can't see moves a hand you can. A magnet behind a copper face drags one steel ball round the hour; a frosted veil shows only the present.
The three laser-cut stainless legs opened out on a white backgroundPhoto

ID300 · 5K project · 2026

Argo Multistand

A flat-packing stand that clips under a gas canister so a hiker's stove stays upright on rough ground. Laser-cut stainless, no coating.
Render of the Colour Creature frame head-on, cyan, magenta and yellow acrylic paddles crossing in its windowRender

ID300 · STEM toy project · 2026

Colour Creature

Children slide cyan, magenta and yellow acrylic paddles over a drawing and watch hidden pictures appear and disappear. Subtractive colour, learnt by hand.
D5 render of the Tornica pavilion, a porous concrete shell planted with moss, on a forested ridgeRender

ID300 · Spatial design · 2026

Tornica

A terraced pavilion on Tor Doone above Hogsback, under a porous concrete shell designed for moss and lichen to grow on.
The flatpack vinyl unit in a lounge with a turntable on top and records in the side baysPhoto

ID200 · Flatpack furniture · 2025

Flatpack Vinyl Holder

A CNC-routed unit for records, turntable and amplifier that assembles by friction fit alone: no glue, no fasteners.
Render of the blue SphericonRoller on a sunlit timber floorRender

ID200 · Rotational moulding · ARMSA 2025 · 2025

SphericonRoller

A rotomoulded LLDPE sphericon that turns a straight push into a wobbling, multi-axis roll, for balance and gross-motor play.
Render of a GardenTower module in a green room by the window, a fern on its shelfRender

ID200 · Sheet metal · 2025

GardenTower

Stacking sheet-steel modules that hang from the ceiling and grow plants in the space student rooms never use.
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Also built

Electronics, props and pitches from creative computing and studio briefs.

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About

I'm a third-year industrial design student at Open Window, based between Cape Town and Stellenbosch. The course is half product design and half creative computing, so most of what I make has a mechanism, a circuit or both.

I like projects that force a decision: a material specced, a tolerance held, a circuit that either works or doesn't. Outside the studio I run a one-person print shop for other students, review films (600+ on Letterboxd) and listen to far too much music.

Experience

  • 2023 – now

    Prototype fabrication consultant

    Freelance · Open Window

    Fabricating 3D-printed prototypes for 2nd and 3rd-year design students: print settings, materials, tolerances and fixing SolidWorks and Fusion models so they print first time.

  • 2025 – now

    Campus Pulse coordinator

    Student Council · Open Window

    Running campus surveys and turning the results into reports and infographics for council planning.

  • 2026

    Media team coordinator

    Brand Stellies

    Producing visual material for brand interviews and activations.

Education

  • 2024 – now

    BA Industrial Design

    Open Window Institute, Stellenbosch

  • 2023

    Higher Certificate in Design Thinking, with distinction

    Greenside Design Center

  • 2022

    National Senior Certificate

    Selborne College

CAD & visual

  • SolidWorks (advanced)
  • Fusion 360
  • Revit + Dynamo
  • KeyShot · D5 · Visualize
  • Engineering drawings
  • Photoshop · Illustrator

Making

  • FDM printing (expert)
  • CNC routing
  • Laser cutting
  • Sheet metal: cut, bend, weld
  • Wood & MDF workshop
  • Moulding & casting

Electronics

  • C++ / Arduino · ESP32
  • Sensors (IMU, FSR, RTC)
  • WS2812 LED systems
  • Steppers & drivers
  • ESP-NOW links
  • Circuit debugging