What are the things we really love? The things we cherish and enjoy? If you think about it, they’re generally not new. At least they aren’t for me.
While studying for my MA in Product Design (read ‘playing and experimenting with materials’) at the RCA in London a few years back, I had a moment of clarity that was pretty fundamental to what I was doing. I realized that I didn’t actually really like new things—a bit of a bummer considering that’s what design is all about.
What are the things we really love? The things we cherish and enjoy? If you think about it, they’re generally not new. At least they aren’t for me. What if it was normal to fix and improve things instead of buying new all the time?
That turning point, along with some happy experiments and years of research and collaboration with material scientists and chemists led me to invent sugru—what I hope is one of the easiest and most versatile fixing products around now. It’s still early days but, in a short time, I’m really proud that we’ve grown to a global online brand with hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts and users excited about our mission of helping the world to get fixing again.
The thing is, the reason I’ve done all this is because I believe fixing is the unsung hero of creativity. And it really shouldn’t be. It’s the most common, humble and beautiful form of creativity there is. Let’s wear that belief proudly! Let’s notice and celebrate these little everyday triumphs, and help others see their value whenever we can. To fuel the conversation about why a culture of fixing is so important, we made this—The Fixer’s Manifesto.
If you like it—evolve it, improve it.
We spent ages on it, arguing over what was important and what wasn’t - crafting, editing and tweaking. But fixing is something people feel strongly about, so we’re pretty sure you won’t agree with all of it, and you'll want to fix it.
This is version 1.0. There’s a plaintext copy on Github, where you can contribute improvements, fork it, and make stuff with it. If you’re not into Github and you want to contribute, leave us a comment here or head on over to facebook or twitter and tell us what you think.
Letterpress prints, with a pink pen for editing.
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We made letterpress prints of the manifesto, even though you can download it for free. Each one ships with a pink pen for editing. They’re actually pretty awesome.
The Fixer's Manifesto exists to fuel the conversation about why a culture of fixing is important. Share it, and your improvements. Most of our friends and families don't have the confidence to even try to fix things. Let's change that.
Images (cc) sugru
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