Update 019.
My Biggest Failure.
This is a bittersweet update. As 2024 draws to a close, no doubt we will see our feeds fill with people telling us about their successes and whilst it’s great to celebrate our successes, this can all mesh together to give an unrealistic gloss to reality. Instead, I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on something I have poured my energy into over the last (nearly) 5 years. Something that ultimately ended in failure - that I am immensely proud of.
Origin was a company I co-founded with a colleague and very good friend to establish a design centred alternative to addressing the issues around plastic waste. Above is a pop up we opened for a few months that put everything we had been working towards into practice - in the public eye. Read on to find out more about Origin and why it ultimately failed.
We should celebrate failure more openly. We all need the freedom to fail.
Set yourself up for 2025
As we close off 2024, why not kickstart 2025 with intention. Start as you mean to go on, invest in your rituals and empower yourself to take more breaks next year.
As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (20% off).
Last months most clicked link: Casio Ring
My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:
1.
Precious Plastic in Trouble. There have been a lot of small scale plastics recycling companies going out of business over the last year. The landscape has shifted significantly and seeing this update from Dave Hakkens was sad to see but also reflective of the times.
2.
Magsafe docks… the reality. I need your help with this one. I’m looking to gather as much feedback as I can about iPhone users experiences with magsafe docks. I am looking to launch mine officially in 2025 and want to make sure it’s the best of the best.
3.
Why I disappeared. I have enjoyed Matt D’avella’s content for a long time - particularly his storytelling and videography. Having had his first child, his content began to slow down and this is his first video in 8 months or so. I always appreciate is honesty. It’s ok not be ok.
4.
Billy & Molly. I love a National Geographic documentary. The epic documentary tells the tale of a Scottish man that saves an Otter out in Shetland. Beautiful story, beautiful Scotland.
5.
The last Great Tea Race. I have been diving into the records and learning LOTS about Aberdeen’s epic history in Shipbuilding as a result of a project I am involved in (more on that next month possibly..). Genuinely amazed to learn about the tea race and the history of the clipper (the fastest of which was made in Aberdeen).
This months edition is a little different. Nearly 5 years ago in February 2019 I co-founded a company called Origin with dreams of positively impacting on plastic waste. A 2018 IPCC report stunned the world into action stating we had 12 years to reverse climate change. It was a tipping point for the planet and I felt empowered to do my bit to effect change.
As a product designer, we set out to effect people’s lives positively with the products we put out into the world (like the photo above of our first product: a small planter with a porcelain drip tray, seed paper and bespoke plastic free packaging). We also understand the reality that our products will likely end up in landfill and it has always been a paradox that has plagued me. For as much as I might try to propose more sustainable options to clients, the reality was that I was not the decision maker. The only way to effect change was to become the decision maker.
As designers, we also understand the nuances in the conversation around plastics - it’s not as straight forward as the black and white image portrayed by the media. Plastics are the most versatile material we have developed and it saves lives daily - whether it’s a fireman bursting into a burning building, or an incubator keeping a newborn baby alive. The sad reality is that of the 9+ billion tonnes of plastic waste created, 6+ billion tonnes is already considered waste. Only 9% of this waste has been recycled and a large proportion of this was used for less than 15 minutes. Single use plastics are the issue.
At the time, a lot of emphasis was being placed on new bio-plastics that were only compostable industrially. We didn’t think this was longterm solution and found it hard to simply brush the 6+ billion tonnes of plastic waste under the carpet. Why can’t we do something with this?
This, alongside our background in developing products for injection moulding and additive manufacturing set us up to believe it was possible to recycle plastic at source - something we called micro-circularity. Even when plastics are recycled, circular economies operate on such large scales that require the waste to travel around the world to be processed, recycled, re-manufactured, warehoused and then distributed to an end consumer. What about the carbon involved in that supply chain?
We secured a place in an accelerator program and various rounds of funding which enabled us to build the equipment we needed (borrowing initially from the awesome work of Precious Plastic), design, tool and produce 4 products, selling thousands of units and hiring 4 recent graduates over our 4+ years in business. We attended and gave talks nationally and internationally, spreading the word about Origin as well as educating the public about plastic and waste.
Failure in design is important. I learned quickly after graduating, working in the real world that inaction had a cost. It was critically important to move fast and make decisions - you can fix mistakes. It can be much more expensive to pay for time lost through inaction.
We failed a lot along the way with origin, learning as we went and pivoting constantly to maximise the resources we had available to have maximum impact. From the outset our goal was to establish the first micro hub, collecting, recycling and selling products under one roof - in full view for the public to see and trust in.
Over the years, we applied for multiples rounds of funding that would enable us to realise this goal - getting incredibly close at times. Managing a startup with ambitions as high as Origin alongside a full time job and a family was a challenge for both of us. When we began to get offered opportunities that would help to scale Origin that we couldn't act on fast enough, we realised it was time to close Origin.
I am immensely proud of what we achieved with Origin. Whilst ultimately Origin could be considered a failure, there were a huge amount of small successes along the way and I have grown massively as a result.
As a mission driven designer (and admirer of Apple), I have always bought into Woz’s description of how he built the first Apple computer.
All of our experiences add up. They lay there dormant, ready to be activated and connect with other experiences to create something that has never existed before. This has been my definition of creativity since reading Woz’s book back during my undergraduate and is why I will always prize being a lifelong learner and celebrating the journey (no matter how many failures) over the destination.
Wishing you every success in 2025 - pursue your passions and thank you for joining me on this journey.