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Just three simple steps: 

1. Build a functional prototype

• Trikka requires a functional prototype of your design. You don’t need to have an aesthetic or manufacturing prototype done. But make sure your design/concept works as intended. The product should be a bit different from those already in the catalog. Very small iterations won’t do. You can make another chair and even use parts from chairs that are already in the catalog. Just make sure you made a substantial creative step. If in doubt reach out. 

2. with mostly existing Trikka parts

• Use parts from the Trikka parts catalog. They are all open and free to use. You can add also new parts. But this is limited to one new part per product. Fasteners like nuts and bolts are excluded from this count (because they are proven to be universal parts) you can add as many as you like. If you want to add more parts at once reach out. Especially in this early stage and with a still small parts catalog exceptions should be possible. We are inventing the catalog together. A simple trick to add more parts at once is to add several products at the same time that already share these parts. Felix the stool and the sock dispenser were added together – the parts they share were excluded from the count. Just make sure these products are all different from each other. 

Trikka searches for universal parts.

3. and publish it. 

• Publish your design on the web. Pick a place on the web you like for example your own page. Trikka is not a platform but a link collection. It is our goal to guide visitors and attention to your page. Include all required info into your publication. And then send us the link for review. The board will reach out to you (see below “what get’s in).  

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That’s all.

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If you want to add a part to the parts catalog this is what Trikka asks you for. 

• You add a part when you add a product. Parts are not included without use case.
• Design your part. Try to consider the Trikka part design suggestions in the process. They are suggestions not rules. You can disregard them if you think that helps in your case the invention of a useful universal part. We invent this together. Your opinion counts.
• Publish your part on the web on a website of your choice and send us the link. Make sure to include all required information. We will copy some of this information to the catalog and link for the rest to your publication. 

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Does Trikka take any of your intellectual property rights for your product? No! None. You keep full control. You can do everything you would usually do for example register design rights and monopolise your design to build a business around it.

All parts in the catalog are open and free to use for you. You can use them to make closed and exclusive product designs. But if you add a new part to the catalog you’ll need to open it for others as well – as they did for you. But this does not necessarily effect your product. To get the full picture please read here: ▷ How intellectual property works in Trikka.

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Why should you contribute to Trikka professionally? Here are three ways to earn an income from this.

1. Manufacturing deal

• Trikkas goal is to make manufacturers and design brands interested in manufacturing and selling Trikka products. Your design will be on display here. If there is a demand these companies might reach out to you and you come to an individual deal. Trikka will advertise your design and the product based on it once it is on the shelve. 

2. “Donations” for local makes

• Trikka enables distributed manufacturing. Unless you disable this customers can approach local craftsmen and ask them to make your design individually for them. If that business transaction happens the local craftsmen will transfer some of the money made to you as a “donation”. You as the designer can set up a channel for this e.g. paypal.me.

3. Commissioned work

• Trikka is basically a marketing channel for you. The whole site is designed to draw attention to you as a designer. You’ll become visible as a contributor to innovative and fun sustainable design. This might lead to opportunities for you. For example if your local museum want’s to build their next exhibition using sustainable Trikka solutions. You are the local expert for that system and they hire you. This and much more is thinkable. Let’s build this brand together and benefit from it.

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Who decides if a contribution to the catalog is accepted?

This decision is currently made by a “board of stewards”. The board consists of designers that have successfully contributed a design. They will peer review your addition with the goal to help you getting it into the catalog. 

Decisions and suggestions will be made based on this design brief and the Trikka design suggestions. Stewards might suggest or ask for tweaks. 

Why stewards? A system like Trikka can’t be designed as a fixed set of rules on paper. It will always need people who drive and design it while it goes. So let it be designed by people that have a stake in it – hopefully with the best intentions. Stewards are elected. Once you have contributed a design to the catalogue you can also elect stewards and be elected as a steward yourself.

Here is the current board.

This whole ecosystem brief is subject to change. Changes can be made by the board of stewards always in consultation with the stakeholders of the Trikka project. °

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Found something interesting in the catalog? In each post you’ll find the link to the original post by the designers. There you’ll find more information about the designer and an address to get in touch for individual negotiations.

All possible property rights belong to the designer. Agreements are made between you and the designer. Trikka doesn’t play a role in that.

But if you end up manufacturing and selling the product let us know. We will link to all selling shops and advertise your product on our channels. Free advertisement and support. (Provided of course that the design of the finished product is still Trikka compatible.)

You will also be able to use the Trikka brand to advertise your product if desired.

To understand more about this make sure to read how intellectual property works with Trikka. “Parts are open, products can be closed.”

Feel free to reach out to discuss this in more detail.

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If you run a small business and want to make a Trikka design, e.g. because a customer has asked you for it or because you think one of your customers might be interested in it – you can do that. We call this a “local make”.

Study the design and all its parts. Check if the designer allows “local makes”. If so you can create a quote for your customer. If you end up making the product and getting paid for it please donate the requested amount to the designer. You can find the channel for the donation on the original post of the design you made.

When you have made something feel free to let us know. We might post about you and highlight you and your work.

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The donation system of local makes is trust based. Let’s build a community of trust.

If you increase the number of makes (more than 10 in 3 months) you should reach out to the designer and see if a different deal can be arranged.

Do you have questions? Reach out to us.°

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Trikka designs are intentionally designed to make it possible to make them quickly and cheaply in small local workshops. So open your yellow pages and contact a local handyman (for example a carpenter). Show the design you want alongside the instructions for local craftsmen and ask for a quote. Go ahead. It is fun. You’ll learn something, get something circular and help to spread the word about an inspiring idea for a sustainable design revolution. (Btw. this is called “distributed manufacturing”. Be a part of it.)

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Some Trikka designs are even so simple that you can make them yourself without any skills. For some you just have to collect or shop for the parts and take up some scissors. Go ahead. Become a maker in the community.

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If you are excited about Trikka and want to see more products in the world that follow our approach to sustainable design – campaign with us. Let’s push Trikka ideas closer to the mainstream.

• Send a link to the product you like to a major brand or manufacturer you would like to buy it from. Tell them that you would like to have such a design with these possibilities. And that you would like to buy it from them. Get them on board for sustainable change.

At the current stage Trikka is pretty experimental. And just perfect for a design class at a university. A semester project. We did this already (Lars) with great results. Feel free to reach out to us before you do this. We are happy to give an introduction and also feedback during the semester.