If you can’t open it, you don’t own it. Mister Jalopy proposed an Owner’s Bill of Rights, a maker’s memorandum requesting repairability for the products around us. It became a manifesto for the maker community, a modus operandi for open sourcers and forward-thinking manufacturers.

Make Magazine Vol 20.

Way back in 2005, Mister Jalopy proposed an Owner’s Bill of Rights, a maker’s memorandum requesting repairability for the products around us. It became a manifesto for the maker community, a modus operandi for open sourcers and forward-thinking manufacturers.

I’m not the most capable maker – maybe only a tinkerer. But if something breaks I jump at the chance to take it apart, see how it works and try my best to repair it (what’s the worst that can happen?). If the repair is a success, I’ve saved the world from having to produce another widget.

Repairability equals sustainability. That’s what I like about this manifesto. And that’s why I’ve illustrated it.

Update: The illustrated Maker’s Bill of Rights appears in volume 20, the current issue of Make: Magazine. In stores now!

Maker Faire was a blast! Lots of amazing things to see and do. I saw some great presentations, inventions, projects and kits and even did some tinkering of my own. When I got back, I was inspired to do a DIY spot illustration series to capture the energy and creativity of everything I saw.

This weekend I’m headed to San Francisco for Maker Faire, the world’s largest DIY arts & technology festival. Looking forward to seeing Bre Pettis & MakerBot and Jared Boone & the Make:TV crew and their Episode Dispensor, both projects I helped out with some design & illustration work.

Hope to meet a lot of people, learn a thing or two, and get my hands dirty!

After seeing my Cult of Done Poster, compulsive Maker extraordinaire Bre Pettis asked me to collaborate on MakerBot, a low-cost, modular, open-source 3D rapid prototyping printer kit. The build-it-yourself robot prints physical objects designed in 3D software using extruded molten plastic. Builders are encouraged to share the objects they design via Thingiverse and even contribute to the development and improvement of MakerBot itself! My contribution to the project was of course the visuals. Together we developed an identity and imagery for MakerBot – a bold, playful retro-futuristic reality where a lunar office worker can email his son at home on Earth a toy he designed, and his son can remix and share it with friends. To learn more, check out MakerBot Industries.