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About

A loose confederation
of makers,
thinkers, and tinkerers.

§ 01

Who we are

Makerlab is a full-stack interactive design and build collective run by Paige Saez and Anselm Hook. We started it in 2006 as an excuse for two curious people to make things together, and we've been doing it ever since — mostly for the love of it, sometimes for hire.

§ 02

Twenty years

Two decades in, the list of things we've made is a little absurd. Art installations and mapping platforms, indie mobile apps and rapid hardware, educational simulations and experimental social software, and more than a few things that went nowhere but taught us something. The constant has been the collaboration itself, and a stubborn belief that curiosity is its own justification.

§ 03

Full stack

We do product design and user experience — paper prototypes, wireframes, interaction design, user research, usability, and ideation. Mobile, web, and server-side backend development. Rapid prototyping with small electronics, defining your BOM, and shepherding production from factory to customer.

§ 04

Open

We believe in open data, open code, and open participation. Federate data and push it to the edges. Leverage open source wherever possible and contribute back. Foster ecosystems where users become partners — not passive consumers.

§ 05

Process focused

Brainstorming, sketching, and iterative concept development. Ideation, risk-taking, small steps taken often. Playing games, making meals together, pulling people from wildly different disciplines into the same room. The process of the work matters as much as the outcome.

§ 06

Gray area

Respect the nuanced space between private and public. Give people room to be private. Always allow participants to participate anonymously when they need to.

§ 07

Conversational

Real-time discourse, open-ended collaboration, humane tools. Multi-modal, multi-gateway, multilingual, multi-faceted.

§ 08

Velocity

Agile practices. Ship early and often. Be your own most loyal user. Build feedback loops for the team and stakeholders from day one. Iterate quickly — take feedback and turn good projects into great ones.

§ 09

Community

Care for the communities we're already part of before growing outward. Appreciate the people around you. Validate and encourage the work of those around you.

§ 10

Around Makerlab

Makerlab isn't just the studio — it's a small constellation of places where we think out loud.