People enjoy making things, as the recently burgeoning “maker movement” shows. While often seen as a vehicle to engage young people in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), the maker movement presents far wider opportunities to engage people in design and creativity. The new machinery for making things—laser cutters, 3D printers and more—cry out for better tools and technologies for design, and practice making things invites people to become more creative. Some of the most exciting opportunities and powerful insights belong to polymaths who can defy conventional disciplinary boundaries and learn to apply expertise developed in one discipline to others.