The Maker Movement Manifesto: Rules for Innovation in the New World of Crafters, Hackers, and Tinker

Back in the mid to late ‘90’s, when eBay first came on the scene, I was right there with it. It was an amazing platform to hawk my creations to a willing audience. I promptly put up a store front, Retro Rita, extended my vintage clothes haunts to include the then hip LA streets of LaBrea and Melrose, during a time before the invasion of hipster—(which, in my book, is different than hip). I would find funky things, attach tule and fringe and I had perfect ensembles for my niche crowd, The Burners; those wild folk and freaks that spend a week every year in the desert smoking peyote and engaging in tribal dance, only to burn it all at weeks end. It was my tribe and I dug it. It was also the pattern of my employment. As I near the half century mark, I have had only one ‘real job’; the rest of my time, I have been creating and entrprenueing, which I’m pretty sure is not a word, but, you get my drift. For me, crafting, tinkering and making have been a lifelong lifestyle. For many, it has not. In today’s economy, we find people desiring or needing to change careers, seeking fulfillment outside the confines of a 9 to 5 work a day or work a space. This desire has led to a Renaissance in making. To understand, explore and ultimately create, The Maker Movement, by Mark Hatch, is a fantastic book to begin—(or continue) the journey.

A word about Mark Hatch: he is CEO of TechShop, which is a member based, do-it-yourself ‘makerspace’ TechShop works kind of like a health club. You pay a nominal monthly fee, get to take classes to learn and eventually operate crazy, cool machines—like laser cutters, 3D printers, CNC milling machines, commercial grade sewing machines and much more. They have a ‘dream team’; a group of dedicated individuals who help bring your idea from concept to fruition. Mark himself is a well accomplished business man and ex Green Beret to boot. There are TechShops all over, including right here in my City by the Bay.

The book, which takes you inside TechShop and shares tons of great invention stories, also acknowledges, celebrates and inspires the spirit that it takes to be a maker and part of the economic wave, that is the maker movement. For me, this book is preaching to the choir, explaining how a handmade gift is more meaningful than most store bought ones or how expensive and inaccessible the tools to bring your idea to life have been, until now.

Whereas some might feel the book is a sales pitch for TechShop—(and it might be)—I felt inspired to go visit TechShop, which turned out to be like a huge candy store for makers. I visited with very specific issues and questions, regarding handbags that I make out of vintage, vinyl records. After a couple of trips, the manufacture of my bags has become more efficient and the quality has increased. I feel that I am moving from craft to product, and it feels good. Although my story is nowhere near as inspiring as the folks who created incubators for premature babies in rural areas or made a robot; the book—(as simple as it may be), inspired me to take my Rock Art for the Hip at Heart, one step further, stimulating the creativity juices in my head and moving forward in making a craft into a business.

#books