''Make'' (stylized as ''Make:'' or ''MAKE:'') is an American

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

published since February 2005 which focuses on

do it yourself "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, wikt:modification, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals ...

(DIY) projects for individuals and groups, involving

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

metalworking Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals in order to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term, it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on e ...

robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

ics,

woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked b ...

and other disciplines. The magazine is marketed to people who enjoyed making things and features complex projects which can often be completed with cheap materials, including household items. ''Make'' has been described as "a central organ of the maker movement". In June 2019, ''Make'' magazine's parent company, Maker Media, abruptly shut down the bimonthly magazine due to lack of financial resources. It was subsequently reorganized and began publishing quarterly issues, starting with volume 70 in October 2019. Make Magazine is currently published by Make Community LLC.

History and profile

The magazine's first issue was released in February 2005 and then published as a quarterly in the months of February, May, August, and November; as of Fall 2023, 86 issues have been published. It is also available in a digital edition. The magazine has features and rotating columns, but the emphasis is on step-by-step projects. Each issue also features a Toolbox section with reviews of books and tools. Most volumes had a theme to which the articles in the special section are usually related. Columnists have included

Cory Doctorow Cory Efram Doctorow (; born 17 July 1971) is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog ''Boing Boing''. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of th ...

, Lee D. Zlotoff, Mister Jalopy, and

Bruce Sterling Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author known for his novels and short fiction and editorship of the ''Mirrorshades'' anthology. In particular, he is linked to the cyberpunk subgenre. Sterling's first ...

. The cartoonist Roy Doty has also contributed to many issues of the magazine. ''Makes founder and publisher is O'Reilly co-founder

Dale Dougherty Dale Dougherty (born 1956) is a co-founder of O'Reilly Media, along with Tim O'Reilly and helped develop O'Reilly's publishing business. He is the author of the O'Reilly book ''sed & awk''. Biography Dougherty was the founder, in 1993, and publi ...

along with Sherry Huss. The founding editor-in-chief was

Mark Frauenfelder Mark Frauenfelder (born November 22, 1960) is an American blogger, illustrator, and journalist. He was editor-in-chief of the magazine '' MAKE'' and is co-owner of the collaborative weblog ''Boing Boing''. Along with his wife, Carla Sinclair, he ...

. The current editor-in-chief is Keith Hammond. In

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, the Heise Zeitschriften Verlag was under license to publish a German-language edition of ''Make'' independently of the English-language one. Maker Media GmbH produced and published the magazine every other month.

Maker Faire

The magazine launched a public annual event to "celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset." Called Maker Faire, the first was held April 22–23, 2006, at the San Mateo Fairgrounds. It included six exposition and workshop pavilions, a outdoor midway, over 100 exhibiting makers, hands-on workshops, demonstrations, and DIY competitions. In 2007, Maker Faire was held in the San Francisco Bay Area on May 3–4, and

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, on October 20–21. The 2008 Maker Faires occurred May 3–4 at the San Mateo Fairgrounds in San Mateo, California, and October 18–19 at the Travis County Expo Center in Austin, Texas. The 2009 Maker Faire Bay Area was held on May 30–31. In 2010, there were three Maker Faires: Bay Area on May 22–23, Detroit on July 31 and August 1, and New York on September 25–26. By 2013, there were 100 Maker Faires across the globe, including in China, Japan, Israel, Australia, Spain, the UK, Italy, Ireland, Scotland, Chile, France, Norway, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands, as well as numerous cities in the United States. A total of 93 of these Faires were "Mini" Maker Faires — smaller scale, independently produced, local events. In 2014, a Maker Faire was hosted by the White House. In 2017, more than 240 Maker Faires were planned.

''Makers''

''Makers'' (subtitled "All Kinds of People Making Amazing Things in Backyards, Garages, and Basements") is a spin-off hardback book. Based on the magazine section of the same name, it covers DIY projects and profiles their creators.Parks, Bob. ''Makers: All Kinds of People Making Amazing Things in Garages, Basements, and Backyards''. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media, 2006.

''Craft''

In October 2006, a spin-off magazine, ''Craft'', was created for art and craft activities, allowing ''Make'' to concentrate exclusively on technology and DIY projects. In February 2009, e-mails were sent to ''Craft:'' subscribers announcing that due to rising production costs and shrinking ad markets, the print version of ''Craft:'' would be discontinued but would remain as an online presence. All further printed content would be incorporated into ''Make''.

''Make television''

''Make television'' was a television show produced by

Twin Cities Public Television Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. (abbreviated TPT, trade name, doing business as Twin Cities PBS) is a nonprofit organization based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that operates the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities' two PBS membe ...

and hosted by John Edgar Park which premiered in January 2009 on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

stations. Ten episodes of the show were produced, featuring projects and informational guides as well as user-produced videos which were submitted online.

Make Controller Kit

The Make Controller Kit was an

open-source hardware Open-source hardware (OSH, OSHW) consists of physical artifact (software development), artifacts of technology designed and offered by the open-design movement. Both free and open-source software (FOSS) and open-source hardware are created by th ...

solution for hobbyists and professionals to create interactive applications. It supported desktop interfaces via a variety of languages such as Max/MSP, Flash, Processing,

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

, Python,

Ruby Ruby is a pinkish-red-to-blood-red-colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapph ...

, or anything that supports OpenSound Control.

References

External links

''Make'' magazine

''Make'' digital edition

Maker Faire

''Ars Technica'' review of first issue, by Matt Woodward

''Slate'' article from March 2005

Make television
a weekly TV show done in partnership with

MakingThings official forum
{{Independent production Quarterly magazines published in the United States Hobby magazines published in the United States American educational websites How-to websites Open hardware organizations and companies O'Reilly Media Magazines established in 2005 Magazines published in California Robotics magazines Articles containing video clips Companies based in Santa Rosa, California 2005 establishments in California American companies established in 2005 Mass media in Sonoma County, California