Thingking is a designer-maker consultancy based in Woodstock, Cape Town. It is run by Lyall Sprong and Marc Nicolson who balance client projects with concept and socially responsive work that expresses ideas and, increasingly, reflects a deeper sense of place and understanding.

The Maker Library evolved into a mobile unit, a camper van retrofitted to house a makespace, gallery and library. This enables Thingking not only to share making skills but also to learn from communities of makers across South Africa, especially those in places away from urban centres. In taking the Maker Library Network out on the road, it’s made the team re-imagine the potential and functions of library spaces. The Maker Library both disseminates knowledge and gathers it, too.

Thingking is also keen to explore ways in which the mobile can be used as a self-contained manufacturing unit in its own right, for example: by polishing stones while driving or using the heat generated on the move to fuel some other making process.

Who's Involved? 

Marc Nicolson and Lyall Sprong are the Maker Librarians at Thingking. In addition to their business partnership, they share similar value systems and want to contribute ideas and objects that have a meaningful impact on their lives and the lives of people around them. They share aspirations for community and a simplified, organic way of living.

Involved in the Maker Library Network since the very beginning, their participation has enabled collaboration projects with makers across the world and has influenced the ways in which they communicate and share their design ideas, while keeping their making practice grounded and relevant in the local South African context.