Co-oproduct Research

................................................................................> Make-It-Yourself (MIY), Creative Reuse & Open Product Design

From Recycling to ReUsing	From Repurposing to Remaking	From Redundant to Resource	From Inconvenience to Innovation

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Co-oproduct is focused on the research and practice of Creative ReUse.

Here at Co-oproduct the term ReUse is defined as ...the (Re)Use of packaging and everyday waste materials to design/make/manufacture new desirable products.

We believe that the activity of ReUse has great potential and, until now, it's practice (both as a design tool and as a source of raw material) is relatively unexplored. We also believe that ReUse should be a creative activity, involving a fresh, forward thinking and innovative approach.

At Co-oproduct Creative ReUse is more than a term, it is an approach, a way of life. It is something that has the potential to challenge the way we perceive post-consumer waste and change attitudes towards everyday packaging and other household materials. It is also something that needs the correct tools, mechanisms and infrastructures to support and encourage it's activity - both in the home and beyond.

Co-oproduct looks to push the boundaries of using everyday packaging as a source of raw material for the designing, making and manufacturing of new products. Our products, practices and research activity aim to explore and celebrate the innate aesthetic and practical qualities and possibilities of everyday packaging and household waste, so that we can begin to see these materials in a new light - as opportunities rather than an inconvenience.

Research Projects

Co-oproduct is engaged in a number of research and development projects relating to the business of MIY, ReUse and 'Open' Product Design.

One of the main aims of the organisation is to develop links, build relationships and open up a healthy dialogue with major packaging brands and producers. We make every effort to ensure that our research and practice feeds back and has a positive effect on packaging design practice and it's ReUse potential.

Co-oproduct also has a strong interest in the research and development of new products and systems which motivate and support packaging ReUse. New, innnovative products and systems which challenge existing models of waste management and encourage and facilitate a more creative, resourceful lifestyle.

We have a vision for Co-oproduct that extends well beyond the current methods of ReUsing existing household waste and creating desirable objects. As new technologies evolve, the future will reveal new types of manufacturing norms and even more 'open' access to innovation.

...This new waste, whatever it may be, will be our future sustainable playground for more open innovation...

Co-oproduct... a revolution in the making

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Recent Research Articles

'Open Design: Driving Product Design Innovation through New Collaborative Working Practices and Professional Models', (2011) by Billing and Cordingley in Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal, Vol 5, Issue 5, pp.299-312 

'Open Beyond Software', (2005) by Shah in Open Sources 2.0: The Continuing Evolution, pp.339-360. Edited by Cooper, DiBona and Stone, O'Reilly Media: Sebastopol CA.

'3D Piracy; How can Product Design profit from domestic 3D printing?', (2013) by Charles Gale, Co-oproduct CIC, UK.