Do you want to find a place that allows you to develop multidisciplinary creative skills, while making friends and learning from others? Then you need to find your local makerspace!

As someone who started his career working in Makerspaces, I can tell you first hand how great they are for developing multidisciplinary design skills! If you want to get better at different types of design, a makerspace is a public studio that allows you to do that.

Check out our Multidisciplinary Design posts: What is Multidisciplinary Design? and Why we Need Multidisciplinary Designers.

At Nollie we want to show you the best ways to become multidisciplinary by demonstrating the 12 different principles of multidisciplinary design. You can practise these skills at your local makerspace as you begin your multidisciplinary journey.

What is a Makerspace?

A makerspace is a public community hub with access to different types of design equipment. The clue is in the name, a makerspace is a place to make things!

This can range from access to Adobe Creative Cloud and CAD software, to rapid prototyping technology like 3D printers and laser cutters. You can also find sewing machines and hand tools to help you.

Even if you have some of these tools at home, like a 3D printer, then you can still learn so much from these great teams! The staff at these locations do this day-in-day-out so if you have any technical advice, help on a project or want to try something new these guys are here to help you.

If you want to buy your own desktop 3D printer we recommend the Snapmaker 3-in-1 for multidisciplinary design, as it has different modules that allows for 3D Printing, Lasercutting and CNC milling at home. 

In these spaces you’ll meet a wide range of people from creative backgrounds like Fashion, Engineering, Coding and Product Designers. It’s the perfect place to introduce yourself to other creatives in your area and build a network of people around you.

The Largest network of makerspaces, is the The FabLab Network. I previously worked within the Fablab network so we’ll start there. There is such an extensive network of Makerspaces that you’re bound to find one near you.

The Fablab Network

“Our Mission is to provide access to tools, the knowledge and the financial means to educate, innovate, and invent using technology and digital fabrication to allow anyone to make (almost) anything. We create opportunity.”

The Fablab Network has over 1750 Fablab’s across 100 different countries! Their goal is to make technical tools easily accessible to the public.

The Fablab Network and the Fab Foundation  was started by MIT Professor Neil Gershenfeld within the MIT Media Lab, a multidisciplinary design department within MIT that was previously run by Neri Oxman who’s featured on Netflix’s Abstract, and our list of 10 Multidisciplinary Designers You Should Know.

Who Goes to Makerspaces?

I can say with experience that the people who come in Makerspaces help make the studio what it is. Often there’s a community in these spaces, with people meeting eachother and building collaborative projects together.

As Makerspaces are public facing you meet many people from all walks of life. You meet entrepreneurs building prototypes for their product ideas, you meet designers who want to experiment with different tools, and people with no creative background whatsoever finding the time to enjoy their hobbies. 

My three years in a makerspace I seen so many different people come in to use the space for different reasons. That’s what made the space such a great place to work. Just quickly here are some of my favourite projects:

• A graphic designer who turned character art into jewelry to sell online.
• An engineer who sold his prototype to a large corporation for BIG MONEY.
• International Artists experimenting with the way the approach their work.
• A dollhouse for a turtle. You read that correctly.

With people from different backgrounds and abilities, there becomes a community of different ideas who all get to enjoy the space. People begin to know eachother and talk about their projects and share ideas.

I can honestly say that the community that came when I worked in a Makerspace was one of the best things about the job (after playing with all the cool equipment!)

Where is Your Nearest Makerspace?

The best way to find your nearest Makerspace is by checking on the Fablab Network. There are over 1750 Fablabs around the world so you’re bound to find one near you!

Click here to get access to the full map of Fablabs in your Area.

6 Reasons Why Multidisciplinary Designers Should Go to a Makerspace

Makerspaces are great places where you get access to state of the art fabrication technology without breaking the bank. You can develop multidisciplinary design skills and find a community of like minded creatives.

1. Makerspaces Provide Cheap Access to Advanced Tools and Equipment 

Even if you have your own equipment, a Makerspace has access to advanced 3D printers, Lasercutters, CNC Machines, Jewelry Milling, and much more. 

Many makerspaces have large laser cutters, CNC machines and 3D printers than you can’t afford at home. At a Fablab in Barcelona, I seen a 3D Printer that was being tested with concrete to create 3D printed housing!

These tools give you access to equipment that would be too costly to have on your own. These tools open the doors for what you can prototype and the ideas you can develop within their space.

Even if you have equipment that can do much of this at home, like with the Snapmaker 3-in-1, you’re still limited by sizes and the capabilities.

Also if you don’t have access to software like Adobe Creative Cloud for designing, or SOLIDWORKS for 3D CAD you find them in these spaces, and get direct access to the software.

You can find out why we recommend Adobe Creative Cloud in our Best Software For Multidisciplinary Designers post.

2. Makerspaces offer Multidisciplinary Skills Development and Learning Opportunities

Many Fablabs offer workshops and classes on various topics, from woodworking to electronics to digital fabrication. These are great for developing multidisciplinary skills and opening the opportunities available to you.

The FabLab Network has the Fab Academy which is a learning resource used across the network. The Fab Academy introduces designers to rapid prototyping technology with weekly projects which builds up a portfolio of technical skills. The goal of their course is to teach you how to make (almost) anything.

If you’re more Fashion orientated, the Fablab Network also run Fabricademy which is a “6-month intensive program at the intersection of digital fabrication, textiles and biology.”

Even if you don’t enroll in their courses, the staff in these spaces are trained to help you on whatever project you want. That’s their job!

Also within the space there’s the option to learn from designers with different backgrounds, who’ll introduce you to different ways of working and creative problem solving.

3. Makerspaces offer Practical Experience

Let’s not forget one of the best things about Makerspaces… It’s FUN having a go on different equipment! You get to see your ideas come to life, and there is no better feeling in the world. You get to try different tools like 3D Printers, Lasercutters, CNC machinery and more.

These tools have real world applications and can allow you to build practical experience that will directly link to your professional design work.

4. Enhance Your Portfolio At Your Local Makerspace

The variety of projects you can work on in your local makerspace means you can build a more diverse and impressive portfolio. 

You can make high quality prototypes and physical models that you can use in your portfolio, showing off your practical skills.

Check out our Portfolio Tips for Multidisciplinary Designers.

5. Find Your Creative Community 

While makerspaces provide access to technical equipment, what really makes a Makerspace is the community. If you are struggling to find your network, or even people who like design as much as you, then you should visit your local makerspace.

You’ll learn what events are happening near you, who the key players are in your area, and help build a network for creative collaboration.

You’ll meet designers of different levels of ability, so you may even be able to help someone in their project with your expertise. Which is just as rewarding as it sounds.

6. Develop Your Entrepreneurial Skills

I’ve seen firsthand the entrepreneurial opportunities that come from within Makerspaces. As I mentioned earlier, I met one engineer in particular who used all of our equipment, create a patent, then sell his idea to a large corporation and live on the licensing of his work.

There are so many possibilities for developing entrepreneurial skills in Makerspaces. From creating prototypes, to jewelry, to fashion and textiles. The list is endless. Rather than paying expensive manufacturing costs, you can test your ideas cheaply and with the guidance of the studio’s team and community.

Many makerspaces will provide resources to help you develop your idea, and may even 

direct you in the direction of business advisors and funding opportunities.  

This means you can design whats important to you and begin creating opportunities for yourself.

Conclusion

I’m obviously biased towards Makerspaces! I’ve seen first hand what they do for local communities and the possibilities of the things people can make.

While we teach you about Multidisciplinary Design, the best place to go and practice those skills is in your local Makerspace. You’ll learn so much from the team, the community and from having a go on the equipment for yourself.

If you want to develop multidisciplinary Design Skills check out our 12 Principles of Multidisciplinary Design.