Tutorial

Phone Stand Design: Step-by-Step

8 min read · Beginner

A phone stand is the perfect beginner project. It's useful, quick to print, and teaches you the core prompting techniques without getting overwhelmed. Let's build one from scratch.

What We're Designing

A simple angled desk stand for a phone in portrait orientation:

First Prompt: The Basic Shape

"A phone stand with a triangular side profile. Base is 80mm long and 60mm wide. The back wall rises 90mm tall and leans backward at 70 degrees from the base. The wall is 4mm thick. At the bottom of the angled face, add a horizontal lip 10mm deep and 4mm tall to hold the phone. Center a 10mm wide by 5mm tall rectangular slot in the base for a charging cable."

Submit this and inspect the result. Phone stands have an angled geometry that sometimes requires a couple of iterations to get right.

Common Refinements

The angle is wrong

If the stand is too upright or too flat: "The back wall is currently at 90 degrees: I need it to lean backward to 70 degrees from the horizontal base."

The lip is missing or too small

"Add a 10mm deep ledge at the bottom of the angled face. The ledge should be horizontal (parallel to the base) and 4mm thick."

The cable slot is in the wrong place

"Move the cable slot to be centered in the base, aligned directly below where the phone would sit on the lip."

Adding Stability: Widening the Base

A narrow base can tip over. Add this to your next revision:

"Extend the base to 100mm wide at the front, but keep the back at 80mm: making it slightly trapezoidal for better stability."

Using the Improve Further Feature

Once you have a model that's roughly right, try clicking Improve further. The AI analyzes renders of your model from 4 angles and suggests aesthetic improvements: adding chamfers, rounding edges, or refining proportions.

Print Settings

Variations to Try

Once you've mastered the basic stand, try these variations: