City Neon Sign Co

General information

What are we doing?

We are:

Building the Make Works Birmingham Directory - a free, online directory of manufacturers, material suppliers and fabricators in and around Birmingham. We are working in partnership with Make Works who have spent the last few years finding factories and building an amazing online resource for designers and makers in Scotland. We are the first Make Works region and we hope we will soon be joined by others from across the UK and beyond.

You can check it out at https://make.works/birmingham/about/

We are developing a pilot programme of affordable workshops, factory tours and demonstrations for designers, makers and artists, delivered by manufacturers, material suppliers and fabricators in the region.

Birmingham Production Space

Since 2014 we have been working to develop workshops and making space to support artists, designers and other makers producing creative work in and around Birmingham. Our initial proposal was published in 2015 and set out an ambitious plan for a new public building with workshops and space for making. You can read it on our website.

These ideas were informed by a series of research visits to workshops, studio complexes and makerspaces across the UK which specialize in support for artists, designers and craftspeople as well as ‘focus groups’ with local practitioners and feedback from online surveys and public discussions.

We are currently working with Birmingham City University and Eastside Projects to move these proposals forward as part of the STEAMHouse project.