I’ve handed in my book‘s manuscript to my editor so I’m having a bit of a mental clear-out. A year ago, when I started writing, I would write down in my Moleskines the unopened tabs on my phone to ‘come back to them later’. Pah! One of my favorite places on the internet is the… Continue reading Sunday Scraps #1
Category: Making
Tiny Useful Things: Welcome booklet
Around 2011, I published a few quick projects called ‘Tiny Useful Things’ and on this unseasonally warm Friday night I wanted to add to that list. This is prompted by travelling a lot and staying in many Airbnbs. It’s also prompted because I like having people over. I am lucky enough to have a spare… Continue reading Tiny Useful Things: Welcome booklet
Making & the corporate office
(This was originally written for and published in last month’s in Andrew Sleigh’s beautiful zine Hot Glue) I’ve worked for all sorts of businesses: large, medium and small and they all share a common aspiration: to be more like start-ups. You can’t swing a cat without taking part in a meeting where organisations wonder how… Continue reading Making & the corporate office
The cost and time to make things
So last week I launched sales for a limited edition of the Good Night Lamp. This is both an exercise in pig-headedness and a suicidal financial exercise. What prompted this? Next year will mark the 10th anniversary of this idea. There’s only so much time you can spend trying to turn lights on and off, but… Continue reading The cost and time to make things
A map of UK maker spaces
As part of my work with the Connected Digital Economy Catapult, I’ve been putting together a map of hacker / maker spaces in the UK. These spaces are really important in linking a person with a project idea to a community with resources. Maker spaces are also more than physical resources, they can be a… Continue reading A map of UK maker spaces
To make & to make better.
In the little insular community that is the building I work in, you acquire habits. Surrounded by talented peers, constantly admiring others and wanting to do work that is as good, as challenging, as great, your expectations of others start to change. I’ve found myself asking “so what do you do” instead of “how do… Continue reading To make & to make better.
Know your food
After Open Sauces in November, I got interested in food again, especially the way food is presented and communicated in the context of supermarkets. There’s something deeply depressing about the presentation of fruits and veg in the UK and there is also something cultural about that presentation. When I lived in Italy, access to certain… Continue reading Know your food
Open Sauces toast
I had the extreme pleasure of attending Open Sauces in Bruxelles yesterday which was organised by the great people at fo.am. I was invited to give a toast and did so on a course that was served with a plate from the Topoware collection. I thought I’d archive what I said. Before I take a… Continue reading Open Sauces toast