Unveiled at this year’s SXSW festival, Easel is a cloud-based web app that makes it easy to design and manufacture tangible objects straight onto your desktop (we’re talking physical desktops here).

Although it sounds a bit like 3D printing, Easel is not designed for that technology and is seen by its developers as a compatible, multi-material alternative. Users develop their designs in 2D, whilst previewing them in realtime in 3D and eventually constructing them in wood, plastic and soft metals, using a CNC milling machine. Inventables, the company behind the software, liken this product’s release to that of desktop publishing developments (like the personal inkjet printer) in the 1980s and ‘90s. With its simple interface and affordable price tag, Easel has the potential to put desktop manufacturing in the hands of the everyman.