How does a creative, admittedly non-business person with a green sensibility and a progressive social vision build a successful commercial business that sells stuff—without adding to all the stuff that is already in the world?
It’s a tall order, but when Australian designer Paul Justin left a corporate position in 2007 to go out on his own, he knew that whatever he did next had to fall within those parameters. Paul built a design studio in his Melbourne backyard, which gave him the opportunity to observe his children and their non-linear, open-ended and fearless approach to play.
An idea began to take shape and Makedo (wwww.mymakedo.com) – guided by the principals of clean, simple design, green sensibility and creative play – was born.
Dubbed by some as the ‘Lego for the next generation,’ the multi award-winning Makedo transforms everyday or reclaimed materials – such as cardboard boxes – into fantastic play objects, like a car, robot or plane. Makedo supplies a safe-saw, re-clips and lock-hinges – the child’s creativity and instinct for building things then takes over from there.
Recognizing that kids learn best when given the tools to find the answer – rather than the answer itself – Paul’s toys celebrate open-ended creativity at its purest and most fun. Makedo is meant to inspire a child to find his own muse – wherever that may lead. And it’s inspiring tomorrow’s creative thinkers.
Tell us about your interest in the environment, and how that led to creating your company Makedo.
Having trained as a product designer, I have always been challenged by the environmental responsibility of my profession.
Our world is filled with a great many objects and creating a new consumer good is not something to be taken lightly, for in most cases the materials from which it is composed will far outlive the end user.
A strong influence in creating Makedo was a visit to Salone Internazionale Del Mobile, the furniture fair held in Milan in each. The sheer number and variety of things overwhelmed me, and more so by the temporary nature of significant objects. To think that a piece like a couch should not last a lifetime because it is out of fashion is disturbing.
At this time, I started to form a brief that did not define Makedo so much as the parameters that anything I created would need to conform to. Things like embedded possibility, not shipping bulk across oceans, system not object and playful and creative were floating in my head.
What inspired you to want to make creative toys that use recycled material?
My background is in toy design and with a young family of my own, developing a toy concept was a natural direction.
Watching them play allowed me to understand what pure creative spirits they are. Kids are constantly creating imagined worlds from what is around them. It is as though they have glasses on which turn everyday objects into fantasy – a bucket is a treasure chest, a broom is a horse or a box is a car.
However sometimes the things at hand don’t fulfill the imagination of a child, and a process of problem solving leading to a creative outcome takes place.
My kids often drew me into this process but I found that the more I helped, the more I made things according to my minds eye and not their vision. Makedo was an attempt to give my kids the tools they needed to create directly from their imagination. And at the same time, broaden the library of materials and objects they could make use of.
What impact do you think your toys have on children’s creativity and environmental awareness?
The bulk of toys available today take a very closed-ended approach to play. What you see is what you get. So it is no surprise that to hear that so many kids spend more time playing with the box the toy came in than the toy itself. Makedo has been described as an anti-toy. In truth, we do not provide a toy at all but rather a playful framework for creative problem solving that has the potential to produce a toy, amongst many other things.
The impact we hope to have is two-fold. Firstly there is the development of creative thinking skills. Through Makedo play, kids develop these essential skills, which will better prepare them for the future.
Secondly there is an ingrained appreciation for the value of materials. We have seen how kids who play with Makedo view materials for what they can be – so rather than the adult view of it being an empty cereal box, the Makedo child sees the body of a robot. This mode of thinking embeds a reasonable assumption that no thing should ever we considered waste, but rather something to be adapted into something else.
Today we have architects groomed on Lego designing skyscrapers. I would hope that Makedo set tomorrow’s engineers, who address the legacy of waste left for them, on their path.
Do parents ever ask you why a child would want to play with a handful of clips and hinges?
We get a lot of funny questions from parents. Some are quite intent on not engaging with their own children and are merely looking for a baby-sitter. Some are reluctant to buy Makedo for their kids because they are scared of their own creative abilities. But mostly we are met with impassioned delight. “Where was this when I was a kid?” ”Does this mean I don’t have to go through rolls of sticky-tape anymore?” ”Can I play too?”
Absolutely! My kids are very involved. I have 4 children spread evenly between the ages of 2 and 10, so I often come home with rapid prototypes of new parts and get a quick read on age suitability. My son Ezra once asked how much he would have to pay to work at Makedo. When the time comes, I would love to see my kids get involved, and reveal how they can get paid to play.