We are excited to announce the launch of Makeshift: A Journal of Hidden Creativity, a quarterly magazine and multimedia website highlighting creativity and invention in resource-constrained areas around the world.
As populations explode and resources dwindle, the ability to innovate under constraints has become a more pressing competency for individuals, companies, and governments. To document resourceful production Makeshift looks to the grassroots: to the garage tinkerers and under-the-radar businesses that make up the global informal economy. This sector of primarily unprotected and unregistered businesses accounts for over three quarters of employment across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In different cultures it goes by different names: DIY in the US, jugaad in India, jua kali in East Africa, and gambiarra in Brazil. These maker-entrepreneurs are resilient, flexible, and immensely creative.
Makeshift seeks to unify these cultures into a global identity.
The inaugural issue of Makeshift, released September 30, will be themed "Re-culture: Reuse, repair, and recycle at the grassroots," featuring stories such as everyday product hacks in Kenya, industrial fabric recycling in India, improvised tools in Myanmar, recycled art in Colombia, and adaptive reuse of industrial sites in the United States.
The core team is based in New York, Mexico City, Singapore, and Madrid. Contributors to the inaugral issue include Global REculture's Lynnette Chan (Shanghai, China), Muchiri Nyaggah (Nairobi, Kenya) Zach Hyman (Yangon, Myanmar) and of course, Steve Daniels (New York, USA).
Each quarterly issue of Makeshift will form an engaging and in-depth snapshot on a particular branch of informal creativity. The website will feature complementary media, including videos and blogs. It's a hi-fi representation of a lo-fi movement.
Kickstart the magazine
Makeshift will be running a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter beginning September 7, through which readers can pre-order the magazine or subscriptions.
The magazine will launch September 30 in Providence, RI at A Better World by Design, an annual three-day social innovation conference at Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design. At the conference Makeshift will host a launch party Friday night at Anchor, a new office building converted from an industrial site, as well as an exhibition of makeshift objects from around the world and a panel on makeshift design.
About the Team
Steve Daniels, Editor-in-Chief of Makeshift, is the author of Making Do: Innovation in Kenya's Informal Economy and founder of the Better World by Design conference. He currently works for IBM Research in the field of ICT for development as a designer, developer, and social scientist. He has several years of publishing experience having self-published his book and founded the successful satirical newspaper The Brown Noser. Steve studied Technology for Emerging Markets at Brown University.
Myles Estey, Senior Editor and Photo Editor of Makeshift, is a writer, photographer, and producer researching the global informal economy. Previously based in Liberia, he now operates from Mexico City and searches for stories of how people get by at the base of the pyramid throughout Central America.
Media Contacts
Steve Daniels, Editor-in-Chief
steve@mkshft.org
More Information
Press Kit: mkshft.org/media
Website: mkshft.org
Kickstarter: kck.st/n5NJvI
Twitter: twitter.com/mkshftmag
Facebook: facebook.com/mkshftmag