Hello, hello. It’s July – which for some of us means the midst of wintery rain and for others, the heat of summer. I hope you’re comfortable wherever you may be.

It’s not uncommon to feel like an imposter. While I was enrolled in an industrial design course, having never really made anything, imposter syndrome was my close friend.

Fast forward a couple of months and I was stuck into learning about participatory design – reading Liz Sanders and starting to think about how ‘making stuff’ can create conversation, catalyse ideas, and bring people together. I became fascinated by the process of getting ideas out of our heads and into the world, less so because of the thing that would come out of it, and more so for the conversation it might create.

Feeling something, putting it into the world, letting others see it, hold it in their hands, add to it. Talking about a thing. Sitting with a thing. Wondering about a thing.

Maybe you’re also missing this aspect of design? It’s hard to evoke through our screens, isn’t it? This issue looks at the idea of making as a process, and the “things” that make design come alive.

I wrote my dissertation about this sort of stuff, if you’re curious. Anyways, take care of yourselves and each other. I’ll see you back here soon!