Organization 101: shackspace Color-Coded Labels

At shackspace we’re employing several labeling systems to identify ownership and/or access policies. One system we’ve rolled out not too long ago and that’s been working very well so far is a five-stage access policy marker with color-coded stickers.

Each sticker comes with a short explanation of the policy, a unique color scheme, and enough space to write your name.

Red: Owner Only

Gear labeled with this sticker is only to be used by the owner. We mostly use this for a few expensive and member-owned machines as well as private project storage boxes.

Red/Yellow: Instructed

You can use items labeled so once the owner showed you how to properly use them. This is used on items that are not really cheap but generally useful to your fellow hackers (e.g. the big drill press and the stereo microscope).

Yellow: Documented

This is Red/Yellow’s smaller sibling. It’s enough to actually read the documentation before starting to hack away at it.

Green: Public

This is something everyone can use without explicitly asking. As always the general rule “you break it, you buy it” applies.

White/Green: Give Away

Yes, there are a few items at the space that somehow ended up here and are free for the taking ;)