A few pointers to keep us focussed on making Fieldwork into what we want it to be.
- Keep it simple, do it well
- Be better, not bigger
- Have a sense of adventure
- Make friends and collaborate
- Be open, share ideas and resources
- Make stuff to change the world (even just a little bit)
- Always be tinkering
- Iterate
There’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.
We’re lucky. We spend our time making stuff, which gives us 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.
There’s an incredible breadth and depth of value in the things that people do, immeasurable 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.
Two brains are better than one. Three brains are better still. We make better things by working with talented people who reinterpret our ideas in ways we could never have imagined. Make some new friends, or look up some old ones, and dream up a collaborative project.
Build 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.
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 inspire.
Be interested in the way things work, intrigued by the world around us, and unafraid to play with new technologies. Tinkering seeds new ideas and inspires exciting projects. Make something. Anything. Or take something apart to find out what’s inside.
Nothing 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.