A GUIDE TO Making Things

Keep it simple, do it wellThere’s nothing more satisfying than making something well, and in a world filling up with stuff, attention to detail matters more than ever. By keeping it simple we can make room to breathe, step back, and focus on the quality of the things we produce.

Be better, not biggerThere’s an incredible breadth and depth of value in the things that people do, immea-surable in terms of money, attention, likes or followers. This is why we love what we do. Focus on being better, and work with people who value their craft.

Always be tinkeringBe interested in the way things work, intrigued by the world around us, and unafraid to play with new technologies. Tin-kering seeds new ideas and inspires exciting projects. Make something. Anything. Or take something apart to find out what’s inside.

Be adventurousSpend your time making stuff, which gives the same thrill we had as children, cutting things out, sticking things together, and making circuit boards with switches and lightbulbs. Part of that feeling comes from learning new things and experimenting. Let’s keep pushing.

Be open, share ideas & resourcesBuild communities of makers for greater impact. Share ideas, contribute resources, publish our learnings, have conversations and inspire others. There’s a lot of making to be done. Support our fellow makers.

Make friends & collaborateTwo brains are better than one. Three brains are better still. We make better things by working with talented people who reinter-pret our ideas in ways we could never have imagined. Make some new friends, or look up some old ones, and dream up a collab-orative project.

IterateNothing is perfect, so let’s accept that and make version one. And then version two. Each iteration is an experiment — prod, poke, and learn. Start at the beginning, not at the end.

Make stuff to change the world (even just a little bit)Imagine if every child finished school inspired to go out into the world and make something to improve our situation. It doesn’t have to be big, just moving a tiny part of the world a tiny part of the way is enough, if we’re all inspired to do it. This starts with us. Let’s get to work. Let’s excite and inspiand inspire.

Keep the ideas&Make things you love