Nokia has deservedly received a lot of attention for making the templates for the Lumia 820 back cover available to the 3D printing community, but it's a technology that is open to all, something that is amply demonstrated by Kevin Miller, who has been investigating making custom 3D printed cases for a number of Windows Phone devices, and is making them available through a print-on-demand service.
The cases take the form of pop-on back pieces, with differing skeletal grid structures. The Gibbage cases look great and should provide reasonable protection against falls and bumps, but, as with all cases on this type, will not be as effective as a full-cover case. Aside from the cool factor of owning a printed 3D case, the real benefit of the Gibbage Case is that you'll be getting what is essentially a very limited edition case.
There are currently four cases available for the HTC 8X (8x Theme, Spider Theme, Stick Theme, and Windows 8 Theme), a case for the Lumia 920 is under development, and support for more models is promised for the future. The HTC 8X cases can currently be purchased through Shapeways for around €20 each.
The cases are made of laser sintered nylon plastic (layers of nylon dust "stuck" together by a laser), which has good durability and strength and should stand up well to day-to-day usage. The Gibbage Case site notes that the material is very porous and will take paint well, which means it's possible to further customise your case by painting it.
