a manifesto.

a manifesto called fred is a philosophy, a process and a commitment.

Return to the joy of discovering the solution. Return to the tousled hair of a job done well. Return to skinned knees from wanting it so bad. Return to play as problem solving. Return to rope swings, tin can robots and castles made of chairs. Return to x-ray glasses. Return to taking it apart and putting it back together again to see how it works. Return to simple. Return to unexpected and unexplainable. Return to wonder.

Observe the world. Interact with it. Feel it between your toes. At the tips of your fingers. On your cheeks. Breathe it in. Can you smell that? Rattle it around behind your eyes and between your ears. See how the problem affects the observer. Now design a solution. Make it beautiful if you must but make it serve the message first. Make it have meaning.

Design is not always about looking forward to something new or shiny, sometimes it is about looking to that which already exists and using it in new ways. The things that have been designed in the past that occupy a piece of our collective conscience work for a reason and to defy their meaning and function would dilute their message.

Like all children fred is a work in process.