danish crafts design and making
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DESIGN&
MAKING
A project by
A series of essays
exploring the importance
of craft and design today
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Introduction by Birgitte Jahn 04
Design & Making short film 06
A Design Heritage by Lesley Jackson 08
The Rise of Craftsmanshipby Grant Gibson 18
Thinking Through Makingby Daniel Charny 28
Producing Design by Paul de Zwart 38
Communicating Design by Max Fraser 40
Exhibiting Design by William Knight 42
Selling Design by Magnus Englund 44
Collecting Design by Libby Sellers 46
Credits 48
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he field of craft and design finds itself in a remarkable
period right now. In current years, there has been agrowing international focus on the values inherent in
the hand-made, the everyday relations and the story-telling
qualities that craft represents. There is a strong demand for
products imbued with relevant and authentic stories that hold
special meaning for consumers and offer the individual a sense
of identity.
At the same time, there is a widespread focus on innovationin society and on the potential of design to meet the challenges
that society is currently facing.This occurs along with an interest
in developing design capable of solving specific everyday
problems. Naturally, these are essential areas to promote and
develop, particularly in light of the global challenges of today.
Craft and the new challenges in the field of design are
often discussed as if they occupied two different spheres. Andindeed, in some respects these two professional practices
are very different. But its far more interesting to examine
how the two areas supplement each other, to explore the
valuable resources inherent in craft, and to embrace another
view of design and making. This is especially true in a Danish
context, where craft has historically been such an integrated
part of industrial production. Here, the two areas have always
been closely linked, and they make up a key component of the
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DNA and the strength of Danish design.
Making is the most powerful way we solve problems,express ideas and shape our world. [] making and, in
particular, thinking through making holds social, economical
and cultural values that are particularly suited to our times and
to shaping the future, Daniel Charny argues in his essay in
this publication.
I think that the qualities of craft have a crucial impact
on the conception and development of new products today.
Craftspeople represent the powerful creative driving force that
forms the basis for any product.
Danish Crafts finds it important to enhance awareness of
the importance of the field and to create the right conditions
for strengthening the unique qualities inherent in craft. In
cooperation with the London-based design writer, publisher
and curator Max Fraser we have therefore invited a number
of professionals from the British design industry to discuss
the role and importance of craft in society today. Designers,
retailers, promoters and commentators, each with in-depth
insight into the areas they write about.
Danish Crafts would like to thank everyone who has
contributed to the discussion of the importance of craft
and design in todays society with very engaged and
personal opinions.
Birgitte Jahn
CEO Danish Crafts
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In this short film, a number of British
designers, retailers, promoters and
commentators discuss the role and
importance of design and craft today.
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A
DESIGN
HERITAGE
Lesley Jackson
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Have nothing in your house that you do not know
to be useful or believe to be beautiful, said WilliamMorris, the idealistic British designer, socialreformer and founding father of the Arts and Craftsmovement. It was the thrill of decorating his ownhome that prompted Morris to become a designer
and set up his own practice, Morris, Marshall,Faulkner & Company (later Morris & Co), in 1861.Morris was a polymath; his projects ran the gamutof applied arts: textiles, wallpaper, furniture, stained
glass, tiles. He was, undoubtedly, a creative genius.
Yet his interests went beyond aesthetics; he wantedto improve society by reforming the way domestic
products were made.
Morriss great bugbear was the industrial revolution. Factory-based, mechanised mass-production transformed Britishmanufacturing after the late-18th century, yet in his view
it had a disastrous effect on design standards and spawnedmany social evils. Dividing a manufacturing process intosegregated tasks and replacing hand-craftsmanship withmechanics increased production, but it turned artisans intoslaves to machineshence the dubious term operative.In Morriss view, this was inhuman, and the failings ofthe system were all too evident in the deficiencies of the
final products.Morris was proud to call himself an artist-craftsman.
Enthusiastically hands-on, he dipped his arms in vats ofdye or busied them on hand looms. By fostering a return tohand-craftsmanship, he sought to save the soul of Britishproduction. His ideas spread internationally in the decadesfollowing his death in 1896.
Why am I telling you about William Morris? Well, if Iapply his dictum to the objects in my own homefurnishedlargely with Scandinavian modern design by Hans Wegner,Holmegaard and Le Klintit seems clear that the country
0810Lesley Jackson is a writer,
curator and design historian
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In the late-1940s andearly-1950s, Denmark,
Sweden and Finland
emerged as design
superpowers. Each
had its own strengthsand distinctive
national traits but
together their unique
selling point was the
way they absorbedcraft values, materials
and aesthetics in
their design.
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that upheld Morriss ideals most faithfully in the last centurywas Denmark, certainly during the postwar period. In fact,if Morris had lived in the 1950s, I think he would have feltvery much at home in Denmark. As a design historian, Ivespent a lot of time scrutinising the years between 1945 and1970, in my view one of the most dynamic periods in thehistory of design. What makes it so compelling, partly, is therelease of pent-up creative energy after the war. But therewas also a dramatic shift in the balance of power, with OldEurope in the guise of Germany and France supplanted by
new European powers like Italy, Scandinavia and the NewWorld of the United States.
In the late-1940s and early-1950s, Denmark, Sweden andFinland emerged as design superpowers. Each had its ownstrengths and distinctive national traits but together theirunique selling point was the way they absorbed craft values,materials and aesthetics in their design. One reason seems
to be because Scandinavia, unlike Britain and Germany, wasonly partially industrialised when its creative surge began, so
living craft techniques (as opposed to revived forgottenskills) were effortlessly absorbed into production. Writingin 1960, the commentator Arne Karlsen characterisedDanish design as multifarious and yet homogenous fullof contrasts and yet characterised by common features. To
Karlsen, the essential character of the Danish approach wasquality, the specific gravity of the things, the harmony,the balance between the various elements: form (utility),material, means of production, price. One distinctive feature of postwar Scandinavian design,and Danish design in particular, is its understated aesthetic.
The Danes are not given to dramatic effects, [yet] nor is
our work in any way drab, said Karlsen. Danish designis informal but not without a certain grandeur. He alsoused the word sober to characterise the Danish approach.This sobriety reflects an important aspect of the Danishnational character at that time, and suggests an acceptanceof the social function of design, closely allied to prevailingideas about social welfare and democracy. A recognition,
among Danish designers and manufacturers, of the needto act responsibly for the greater good was a central tenetof Danish postwar design philosophy: To us, Karlsen said,
quality is not inextricably bound up with luxury.
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Karlsens commentary is taken from a book calledContemporary Danish Design, published by the DanishSociety of Arts and Crafts and Industrial Design in 1960
to promote Danish design abroad. The link between thisorganisation and the Arts and Crafts Movement in Britainis evident in its name, although it is significant that, inDenmark, arts and crafts and industrial design wereregarded as complementary aspects of a unified whole. Thispoint is reiterated by Karlsen: In our country the artistdirects his energy equally to the creation of ordinary useful
wares and unique objects. It is often the same artists wholeave their mark in both. Contemporary Danish Design is a modest publicationillustrated in black and white, yet it provides a testamentto the achievements of Danish designers in the 15 yearsfollowing the Second World War. It is an impressive catalogue,with names like Hans Wegner, Brge Mogensen, Finn Juhl,
Arne Jacobsen and Poul Kjaerholm in furniture; Kaare Klintand Poul Henningsen in lighting; Henning Koppel and JensQuistgaard in metalwork; Axel Salto in ceramics; and PerLtken in glass. As in Britain during the late-19th century,postwar Denmark witnessed a flowering of creativity acrossthe applied arts.
The worldwide triumph of Danish furniture in the 1950s
and 1960s is particularly illuminating. With its emphasison high-quality design and fine craftsmanship, temperedby down-to-earth functionalism, the Danish furnitureindustry was exemplary. Hans Wegner, who collaboratedwith several companies, fused new ideas with traditionalelements in a thoroughly appealing way. Similar ideas borefruit, not only for one or two isolated firms but across the
industry. Combining technical efficiency with artistic flair,the Danes developed a highly successful export industrywhile satisfying the needs of consumers at home. By theearly-1950s their furniture was not only penetrating foreignmarkets but influencing their competitors abroad. Britishfirms such as Ercol and G-Plan, for example, were indebtedto Danish design.
Two other leading Danish manufacturers, Holmegaardand Royal Copenhagen, illustrate the enviable craftprinciples underlying Danish postwar industrial design.The mouth-blown and hand-shaped glass vessels developed
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by Per Ltken for Holmegaard in the 1950s, with theirseductive organic forms and subtle colours, display anenviable creative freedom moderated by restraint. Produced
in large enough quantities to make them affordable, theywere imported to Britain by the wholesalers Bowmans andsold through retailers like Heals. Holmegaard exerted asignificant influence on the postwar designs of WhitefriarsGlass, a leading Arts and Crafts firm that had producedglassware for William Morris. The Danish firm also playedrole model to several new companies set up in the UK during
the 1960s, including Caithness Glass, Kings Lynn Glass andDartington, all of which adopted similar aesthetics andproduction models. For its part, Royal Copenhagen fostered studio-basedcraft experimentation alongside its main production ranges.From 1933 onwards the virtuoso ceramicist Axel Saltoamaverick genius but something of a non-conformist
worked for the company producing a series of extraordinarysculptural vessels with treacly glazes, operating effectively asa studio potter within the factory system. Interestingly, KateMalone, one of the UKs most exciting contemporary potters,cites Axel Salto as an inspiration. His weird, wonderful formsand adventurous glazes show clear parallels with Malonespots, which recall seed pods and fruit. So although Salto died
50 years ago, his creative legacy lives on. Malones work is just one example of how Danish designfrom the mid-20th century can stimulate contemporary craftin a wholly positive way. Im not advocating pastiche orasis so popular today in the years since the birth of Droogironic sampling of historical imagery; in my opinion its allbecome somewhat formulaic of late. But I believe theres
a lot to be said for todays designers and makers engagingwith the golden days of Danish design. Cross fertilisationby time travel, you might call it. The Danes have rich,postwar resources to draw on. There may also be lessonsto be learnt by todays promotional organisations from theactivities of their predecessors at the Danish Society of Artsand Crafts and Industrial Design, and also from wholesale
companies, such as Danasco and Finmar, which successfullyimported Scandinavian design into Britain during the 1950s.Both of those firms were, unsurprisingly, spearheaded byentrepreneurial Danes.
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tuation
ign, there has beenn to experimentation
and thinking by making.
Royal College of Art
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THE RISE OF
CRAFTS-
MANSHIP
Grant Gibson
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Never has industrial design been so far removedfrom manufacturing. Objects are often created on
a computer in a fashionable part of a European citybefore being shipped out to a factory in China or
India. This fracture has collided with our increasingconcern about ecology, our current desire to startcurbing our culture of consumption and our post-Naomi Klein suspicion of big brands.
All of which has persuaded a certain type of (generallywealthy and middle class) consumer to think aboutprovenance. The most obvious area this has manifested itself
is in food. High-profile campaigns by TV chefs like JamieOliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have resulted inshoppers taking more care over what they buy and inspireda raft of specialty lines from the major supermarkets.
You know a bandwagon is rolling when theadvertising agencies jump aboard. In recent years Levislaunched its Craftworkers campaign, which makes
associations between the old denim brand and a group ofup-and-coming young creatives (some of whom could onlyvery loosely be described as craftsmen). Camper, the Spanishshoemaker, started using the tagline Extraordinary Craftsin its campaigns.
This renewed interest in provenance has played a keyrole in motivating designers to join schemes like 2010s
Bodging Milano. Under the aegis of furniture-makerGudrun Leitz, the programme invited a group of the UKstop designers to spend six days in Herefordshire, where theylearned the traditional wood-turning technique bodging,
0820Grant Gibson is a freelance
journalist and editor of
Craftsmagazine
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Indeed the rise of
hand-making at what
remains the worldsmost important
design fair [Salone
del Mobile, Milan]
has been noticeable
for some time.
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most commonly associated with Windsor chairs. The resultsof their efforts went on display at the Milan Furniture Fair. This was furniture-making at its most elemental. No
electricity was used creating the chairs; instead, the designerslearned how to cleave a log with an axe and mallet, use a bowsaw, operate a pole lathe and wield a range of draw knivesfor shaping timber. It proved to be cathartic for many of thedesigners. As one participating designer Amos Marchanttold me: Theres a rich history of furniture-making which,partly, weve turned our backs on. Using classic companies
Ercol and Thonet as examples, he added: In contemporarydesign there is obviously a desire to move away from that kindof aesthetic and get into more novel materials and processes.But then you look at what Thonet was doing 150 years agoand a lot of that furniture is still about. Its a sustainablemethod of making. And from a making point of view youhave to try and embrace some of that methodology.
Bodging Milano has been part of a wider movement.Last years Salone del Mobile was teeming with turned-wood furnishings. Indeed the rise of hand-making at whatremains the worlds most important design fair has beennoticeable for some time. In 2009, one of the most talked-about installations was Craft Punk, which asked a group ofyoung designersRaw-Edges and Glithero among them
to create new products from the manufacturers offcuts infront of a live audience.
In 2010 the National Taiwan Craft Research Institutelaunched the Yiiproject with Dutch designer Gijs Bakker,which teamed some of the nations top young designerswith traditional craftsmen to make new objects. MeanwhileWallpaper* magazine has joined forces with Brioni to
exhibit handmade products. For the past four years theMindcraft installation at Danish Crafts has featured workat the intersection of craft and design by the likes of BenteSkjttgaard, Louise Hindsgavl and Mathias Bengtsson.
The Bodging project has also spawned industriallymanufactured furniture. The Sunray chair, designed byWilliam Warren, was picked up by UKs Case Furniture and
is being manufactured in northern Chinathe only way tomeet an affordable price point. While Cases case suggests thelikely future for British manufacturing is in high end, nichemarkets (its unlikely well be able to compete on volume in
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the foreseeable future), it also shows how craft can be usedto influence industrial design.
Another reason designers are taking an interest in hand-making is necessity. After leaving college they simply cantfind anyone willing to manufacture their ideas, so theyre
making products themselves or finding craftsmen who cando the job. RCA grad Simon Hasan, for instance, works withboiled leather because the material allows him to controlthe processsomething that wouldnt be possible were heworking in aluminium, for example. The strapline on hiswebsite, collectiveness & craft in industrial design, seems
apposite. Indeed at this years RCA graduate show it wasfascinating to see so many students finding new ways ofworking with industrial materials. Erik de Laurens madea small milking stool out of plastic derived from milk. Hebelieves local dairies could start manufacturing the material,turning a substance associated with petro-chemical giantsinto a cottage industry.
While some designers have rediscovered their roots, ahandful has investigated the technological possibilitiesusing 3D printers and laser-cutters as tools, for instance.Jewellers Nora Fok and Ted Noten have put out collectionsusing rapid prototyping, as has ceramicist Michael Eden.Silversmith Drummond Masterton has experimented withCNC milling. Gareth Neal is following in the footsteps ofhis mentor, Fred Baier, combining a craft sensibility andtechnique with contemporary technology.
The sector has received an intellectual shot in thearm from a handful of books. The Hare with the Amber
Eyesby potter Edmund de Waal, the story of a collectionof netsuke sculptures his family collected, was one of the
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surprise literary hits of last year. And The Craftsman bysociologist Richard Sennett illustrates how craft thinkingcould be applied to the contemporary workplace. The Case
for Working with Your Hands: or Why Office Work is Badfor Us and Fixing Things Feels Goodby professor-turned-
motorcycle mechanic Matthew Crawford has, arguably, hadthe most impact, acting as a set text for members of BritainsCoalition government.
Want proof? Well, in a recent budget Chancellor GeorgeOsbourne said: We want the words made in Britain,created in Britain, designed in Britain, invented in Britainto drive our nation forward. A Britain carried aloft by themarch of the makers. And in a lecture delivered at theRoyal Society of Arts, Education Minister John Hayes calledfor the creation of a new Arts and Crafts movement andpromised the number of apprentices will rise by 75,000 inthe course of this Parliament. Ours will bemust betheage of the craftsman, he concluded.
Theres little point pretending craft enjoys the samelevel of glamour as fine art and design yet the boundariesbetween disciplines are mutating beyond recognition. Showslike the Crafts Councils Collect, held at Londons SaatchiGallery, drift into fine art, while major design exhibitionslike the Milan Furniture Fair are full of the handmade.This is a moment when craftspeople can assert themselvesand their values, safe in the knowledge that theyll receivean audience.
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People have really started
to care about how thingswith what mate
and whe
Faye Toogood, designer
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re made,ials
ther they are made locally.
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THINKING
THROUGH
MAKING
Daniel Charny
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Making is the most powerful way that we solveproblems, express ideas and shape our world.
What and how we make defines who we are andcommunicates who we want to be.
For many people, making is critical to survival.For others, it is a chosen vocation: a way of thinking,inventing and innovating. And for some it is simply
a delight to be able to shape a material and say I
made that. The power of making is that it fulfillseach of these human needs and desires.
Those whose craft and ingenuity reach thevery highest levels can create amazing things. But
making is something almost everyone can do. Theknowledge of how to makeboth everyday objectsand highly skilled creationsis one of humanitysmost precious resources.This is my introduction toPower of Making, an exhibitioncommissioned in 2010 by the V&A museum in London andthe UKs Crafts Council. Power of Making is on route to
becoming the V&As most popular free exhibition in recordedtime. In its first three months it drew in more than 250,000people, updating their understanding of craft and inspiringthem with the works on show. Its interesting to consider thisoverwhelming reaction: could it be attributed solely to thepower of the exhibited works, or does the exhibition reflecta resurging interest in the subject matter? And why now?
Would it have had the same response, say, 15 years ago? The exhibition sets out to present the breadth of craftspresence in modern life, highlighting skills and equipmentfrom traditional masonry to modern machinery. It ultimatelypositions craft as a resource through which we solve problemsand express ourselves and asks the question: is it under realthreat? Well, if it is, what, if anything, are we are going todo about it? Does it really matter? Does anyone care?
If the incredible public response is any indication, theanswer is yes. We could speculate that the dramatic changesin manufacturing in recent times have driven people to
0830Daniel Charny is a designer,
senior tutor at Royal College
of Art and curator of
Power of Makingexhibition
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making and, inparticular, thinking
through making
holds social,economical and
cultural values thatare particularly suited
to our times and to
shaping our future.
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reconsider and even embrace making as one response tohelp deal with change and shape the future. So now thequestion becomes: does the current interest in craft signal
a requiem or a renaissance? Most makers would answer that making is a continuumand will always be a part of peoples lives. Certainly, wellmade or finely crafted objects will always draw a particularaudience. Yet these do not have the power to boost or renewawareness in any significant way. In fact few people wouldprefer making or fixing to buying new. Meanwhile skills
are deteriorating rapidly; people are losing their grip onknowledge and, more critically, the memory of the ability.
Its hard to counter the evidence of all the low-gradestuff that is continually and increasingly being producedand consumed and ends up complicating our lives; theacceptance of disposable and short-life products is wellestablished. Though we mustnt discount the immeasurable
value that industrial-scale production brings in the form ofmedicine, food and other products that elevate the qualityof life of millions, the cycle of low-quality productsbreeds lower standards. Acceptance of poor materials, badengineering, crude craft and thoughtless design is part ofthe package.
Some would say its inconceivable that our physical and
intellectual distance from creation and knowhow could everreverse itself, that making and makers could ever again besignificant enough in our lives to shape our wider future.Perhaps no exhibit, no matter how inspiring or creative,can fix the ultimate impact of the industrial revolution.In this light, Power of Makingmay be merely nostalgicentertainment, an entertaining requiem.
It may be naive to go so far as to suggest that this set ofcircumstances could be flipped, or that the volume balancebetween mass production and self-production will ever becomparable. But one could make the case that makingand, in particular, thinking through makingholds social,economical and cultural values that are particularly suitedto our times and to shaping our future. The more peopleI talk to the clearer it becomes that, as far as technologyis concerned, we are at a significant turning point. Wheretechnology was seen as a barrier, it now accelerates accessto information and communities. Where technology was
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associated with mass production and corporate brands it isnow emerging as a tool for individuality and independence.One of the most significant shifts is in the way that youngerusers are consulting with one another, learning from peoplerather than reference books; they are listening and being
heard and forming relationships.This ties in with the changes Ive noticed in the 15 yearssince I started teaching postgraduate design at the RoyalCollege of Art. In our department, consistently through theyears, students have hailed from about 25 countries. Yet Iveseen two distinct changes in their interests and orientation.The first is in their ambition, which has changed course from
yearning to be an independent star to a more collaborativesocial drive. The second is the relationship to digital andmechanical technology. After over a decade of infatuationwith screen-based design, there has been a dramatic returnto experimentation and thinking by making. Another clearchange is that many of those students experimenting withtraditional making techniques have significantly fewerskillsthough that doesnt stop them, as it might have inthe past. Do these shifts reflect wider societal interests? Ismaking a more critical and accessible means for innovation,cultural production and social progress? Craft, at the forefront of these activities, is often notseen as such. Yet todays craftspeople are rewriting the rules.They embrace new applicationsmutations that happen atthe junction of craft, technology and human ingenuitythat make the artform relevant again. This junction is whereone starts to glimpse a future where making and craft area hotbed for the imaginative use of skills. As writer andcritic Bruce Sterling once put it: The future of making is inhacking the post-industrial milieu.
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ApproAches
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Types of makingMakers use various skills and techniques to shape theirmaterials. They fall into three types:
Adding techniques connect, layer or combine materials. Theyinclude welding, soldering, veneering, weaving, embroidery
and painting.Subtracting techniques remove materials. They includecutting, carving, engraving, drilling and grinding.
Transforming techniques alter materials. They includethrowing clay, blowing glass, forging metal and baking.The transformed states may be temporary or permanent.
Irreversible transformations occur in processes like vacuumforming, stereolithography and casting.
Learning a skillMost people can make something, at least at an amateurlevel. But there are many layers of expertise beyond that. Itmay take years to attain complete mastery. Too many peoplenever get a chance to experience a high level of making. Atevery stage in the learning process, a makers relationship tomaterials and tools changes dramatically. What may at firsthave been frustrating becomes pleasurable. Makers start tothink through their skills almost unconsciously. Once theylearn how to use and care for a tool, makers might start
modifying it, or even invent a new tool to replace it. In allthese ways, learning a skill is a way of opening up futurepossibilities and challenges.
ApproAches
of the mAkerby Daniel Charny
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In the zoneAdvanced skills may take a long time to learn, but the feeling
of being in the zone can be experienced by anyonefroma four year old to a master artisan. When youre absorbedin making, unplanned things happen. The experience isintuitive, like playing sport, and it can be meditative, likemaking music. This sensation of effortless flow is a rewardin its own right, but its also a situation of intense learning.Makers who are immersed in what theyre doing build onexisting skills and discover new ones. Innovations in makinghappen, more often than not, when they are least expected.
Making new knowledgeAll knowledge about making was once new; someone, sometime, had to formulate it. But theres a big difference between
established, traditional forms of making and those thatare innovative. Both are crucially important and both can beexpressive, but they serve different purposes.
Traditional ways of making have been passed down fromgeneration to generation, often through apprenticeships,and learned through repetition. Innovative making is less
rehearsed and may be less reliablebut it is more exploratory,with the potential to open up dramatic, new directions. Thiscan involve redirecting existing skills or creating new ones.All knowledge, even the most traditional, can be new for anyindividual, but some knowledge is new to us all.
Thinking by makingMany people think craft is a matter of executing apreconceived idea, something that already exists in the mindor on paper. Yet making is also an active way of thinking andcan be carried out with no particular goal in mind. In fact, itis here that innovation is likely to occur. Sometimes thingsgo wrong in making. Unskilled makers, hitting the limits of
their ability, might just stop. Experts, though, will find a waythrough the problem, constantly unfolding new possibilitieswithin the process.
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duing
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IN TODAYS HIGH-TECH WORLD therelevance and importance of craft isnt what
it was in the preindustrial age, or even in the
early-20th century. But the skills essential
to making a product by hand should be
preserved and consequently supported and
encouraged wherever possible.
This is not, I would argue, because craft
is necessarily superior to machine-made
design. Its because doing so nurtures a
function thats at the root of how we as
human beings have evolved, and indeed at the
root of how we evolved into our mechanised,
technological and now digital age. For that
reason, we cant afford to lose our skills. They
may be innate but they can also be easily lost.
There is a second, very marketable
reason for preserving and encouraging
craft skills, and it stems directly from a
desire, even need to connect with raw
materials and handmade products in
modern societies where the synthetic and
machine-made is proliferating. There are
many unmistakable national and local trends
toward reconnecting with all things natural
and sustainable, but globally the pendulum is
yet to swing toward craft.
Craft in todays marketplace cannot
survive on nostalgia or intellectual veneration
alone, however. It needs to harness timeless
duing
Dign
skills and apply them to good, relevant designand efficient, creative methods of production.
Then it must reach the consumer with a
relevant sales and marketing strategy.
Alas, far too often there is a missing link
in this chain that renders the viability of craft-
based industries in industrialised societies
increasingly tenuous. Consider the cost of
manufacturing, or indeed the large volumes
necessary to manufacture crafts cost-
effectively; the pressure on competitive retail
pricing; the limited choice of suppliers; the
common belief (in high-wage markets) that
unless its high-end and high-margin it isnt
worth doing; and the absence of widespread
appreciation for crafts and craft skills.
Unless all these elements work in a mutually
supportive way and manage to cross-fertilise,
the chances of sustained success and
growth remain slim.
The picture is a complex one and very
definitely two-way: demand matters as
much as supply. Our consumerist societies
have long fostered a culture of consumption
where an items value is skewed toward
instant appeal, affordability, fashionability
and desirability rather than longevity, quality,
localism and timelessness. This applies to all
industries. Why buy one well-made garment
when you can buy five incredibly cheap ones
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and lal nd wad nning
wi all ing naual and uainabl,
bu Glbally ndulu i y wing wad a.
even though you might wear them onlyonce or twice before discarding them? Why
buy a costly but timeless piece of furniture
when you can buy a cheap, imported one in
a different colour and style every season,
then throw it in a landfill?
To a large extent the question is one
of scale. If niche is enough, then crafts
will probably keep finding outlets where
traditional skills continue to survive and
perhaps even thrive. If, on the other hand,
we begin to demand a greater contribution
to the manufacturing and retail trade
from craft and traditional knowhow, the
system will present new arrivals with real
challenges to address.
When we launched Another Country,
all these factors came into play. While we
had a good, experienced team behind us,
we did not strictly come from the design
or furniture industry; we had no industry
connections, no network of suppliers, no
retailers and no manufacturers. So we
looked at our business with a fresh set of
eyes. We asked ourselves: Why do it at all?
Dont we have enough things in the world?
Is this a useful endeavour? How do we make
our products? And where? How shall we
sell them? What is the brand about? What
are our values? Who is our market? How
do we sell to them? Where do we sourceour materials? How do we package? What
are the defining values that should inform
all of the above, like recyclability and
sustainability? And on and on.
The business is one year old now. This
process was a very important exercise to
have gone through because it established
a strong brand identity from the outset. We
also realised quickly that by choosingat
least at launchto manufacture in the UK,
price ourselves competitively and embrace
craft skills and strong sustainability values,
the internet based direct-to-customer
sale model was the only one that worked
commercially for us. It proved that a
niche craft brand can come to the fore
and succeed. But at the same time weve
recognised the limitations of this model
and the difficulty of growing with a sole-UK
manufacturing base.
Will we overcome this growth challenge
by altering our business model? Or will we
retain it along with our values by seeking a
more sustainable manufacturing base and
partners elsewhere? Those questions are
up for debate, but the mission of retaining
and supporting craft production will endure.
Paul de Zwartis co-founder of Wallpaper*magazine and founder of Another Country,
a producer of contemporary craft furniture
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When I reflect on the advancements indesign and craft over the past 20 years, I
see the fields have undoubtedly benefited
from a recent surge in public interest. This
was facilitated, in part, by increased media
coverage, reflected in a rise in the number
of trade and consumer design magazines,
newspaper supplements and TV programmes
that cover design and new product launches.
Such media outlets have played a role in
shaping aspirations and educating people
about the virtues of well-made, well-designed
objects. Meanwhile, design shops, exhibitions
and festivals have flourished to feed our
newfound appetite for design.
But the same media that brought about
this change has had to deal, lately, with an
influx of competing voices. Digital, the new
kid on the block, has in less than a decade
toppled yesterdays definition of news.
Mobile communications and the immediacy
of the Internet have placed tremendous
pressure on traditional media, which is left
grappling for strategies to adapt. Instant
content is now the publics expectation. And
to top it all off, the public doesnt expect to
have to pay for it.
The proliferation of blogs and
social media has given us the ability to
communicate specialised stories to a
uniaing
Dign
target audience. While traditional mediatakes into account the wider market when
deciding what is worthy of being published or
broadcast, now individual niches can pursue
a market online. The logistical limitations
on distribution have been superseded by
sophisticated online search facilities that
allow us to quickly access what were looking
for around the globe, at a click. No longer do
editors and critics dictate content; instead,
anyone with a passion for a subject can
express his or her mind. On one hand, its
liberating. On the other, were continuously
bombarded with opinions and the headache-
inducing noise of information overload.
Its fair to say that the avenues of
communication available online present
designers and makers with distinct
opportunities: freedom from expensive PR
firms, marketing agencies and the whims
of editors, for instance. As grandiose as
it may sound, a website is a portal to the
world; and for designers and brands, its a
powerful digital platform for news, ideas and,
of course, products. And there is hardly a
single design website out there that doesnt
engage in e-commerce. After all, the power
to interact directly with your customer, offer
bespoke options, ship anywhere in the world
and earn full margins is irresistible.
Dign agazin, nwa uln
and tV ga a v dign []
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[ ]
av layd a l in aing aiain
and duaing l abu viu wll-ad, wll-dignd bj.
It all sounds so easy, yet being discoveredwithin the worlds largest database is a
distinct challenge. Associating with other
imaginative products and strong ideas has
always offered the endorsement producers
strive for. And so, as with traditional media,
approval from a respected editorial source
comes into play. Popular blogs and news
websites are the gateway to more cyber
eyes that could potentially click through
to a burgeoning website. Thereafter, social
media sites like Twitter and Facebook help
to boost a following, allowing designers
to impart their own opinions, values and
stories to an audience that has already
signed on to hear it.
Of course, sustaining such a following
presents a new hurdle. It is unfair to
constantly bombard followers and friends
with non-stop news feeds and product
updates. And the fallout can be rather
damaging. Information fatigue is a very real
problem in the saturated mediascape.
Moreover, consumers have become
accustomed to judging objects from a
printed image, detached from the nuances
of quality, texture and experience. Its
triggered many designers to sell their
products with behind-the-scenes stories
and videos that convince the cynical
public theirs is not just another anonymousproduct. Among consumers, this cycle
has created an appetite for provenance.
For craftsmen, this added layer of
communication helps to validate their skills
and infuse their work with personality.
While the excitement around new
media endures and fresh technological
innovations are unveiled on a daily basis,
its interesting to observe our continued
yearning for face-to-face connections.
We dont want to consume life through a
screen; we want to stimulate the senses
with which we were born. We want to enjoy
personal relationships and experience
real interaction with our surroundings.
Exhibitions, conferences, events and
festivals respond to this and remind us why
were working in this field: for the palpable
pleasures that print, TV and the Internet
could never offer.
Max Fraseris a design writer, publisherand curator
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THE CHALLENGE to deliver an exceptionalexhibition in London can be irresistible.
Working in Europes creative capital, sharing
a platform with many of the worlds best
designers, latest products and freshest
ideas means the standard is set very high.
The pressure this brings maintains and
reinforces quality, an essential component of
a good design festival and something a citys
creative reputation lives or dies by.
But why exhibit? Production and planning
are stressful, space is scarce and more
often than not budgets are tight. The answer
depends on a key component that shines
through any good exhibition: the realisation
of a strong rationale or, simply said, a good
idea. London thrives on ideas theyre a key
commodity. Exhibiting allows designers to
show new ideas, develop narratives and
expose the process behind designs.
The motivation to exhibit varies
enormously. Designers want to experiment,
test a project or present something as part
of a development phase. Countries and cities
seek to shift views, challenge perceptions
and demonstrate modern thinking and
skills. Retailers and brands want to launch
products, say something about themselves,
secure sales and create desirability.
Museums and galleries want to explore or
xibiing
Dign
reinforce theories and values around design.Nearly all of them want press coverage and
an audience.
Exhibition audiences are easier to
attract through festivals, but content is
king. Todays most successful method for
building excitement is by illustrating a design
journey showing how ideas evolve into
products and concepts audiences want to
buy. Explaining or, better still, demonstrating
a process behind the making of something is
highly valued. This craft-inspired aspect of
exhibiting has helped exhibition organisers
hone their storytelling skills. It also reflects
an increasing confidence in the language of
contemporary design.
The London Design Festival was devised
as an open platform for exhibitors. By working
together, this network is able to create
opportunities and experiences for a diverse
audience while also generating business. The
rise of the design exhibition as experience
has helped fuel a level of engagement with
design previously unseen in the UK.
In this country, our reputation for
creativity has been hard won. Exhibitions
on design have played a key role in this,
communicating directly with audiences at
home and overseas. Since the mid-1990s
successive governments have supported this
exibiing nw ida igg g
and iula ill nw ida ti
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and iula ill nw ida. ti
a i idal dbaing iu,
lving bl and diving innvain.
activity, nationally and regionally. Aroundthe world, authorities now recognise the
importance of harnessing creativity, both
to enhance reputations and as a driver for
economic growth.
Creativity is now regarded as a core
strategic strength in the UK, one that
attracts a skilled workforce, world-class
design businesses and international trade.
The design sector has a turnover of more
than 5 billion and employs nearly 61,000
people. In London the creative industries
generate one in three new jobs and the
creative sector is the second biggest
contributor to the citys GDP second only
to the financial sector.
In less than a decade since the first
London Design Festival was staged, design
festivals have proliferated worldwide. In
fact there are nearly 100 festivals staged
each year around the world and most are
supported by governments in one way
or another. This support is best when its
offered with a light touch; government-
staged design exhibitions can be staid,
or can even strangle the creativity they set
out to promote.
The success of festivals in promoting a
city or countrys design credentials is now
well established. The best festivals tend
to reflect their location, or the conditions
in which theyre set. The best ideas reflect
a hunger for authenticity. And shows that
highlight the exciting possibilities of the
future provide a powerful antidote to the
gloom of financial downturns.
Londons traditional ability to
blend culture and commerce means a
collaborative approach prospers, setting
the stage for a wide variety of interests
to be met and, in turn, creating a true
festival. By specifically setting out
to include the widest range of design
disciplines (up to 20 are included in each
London Design Festival), we avoid having to
settle for simply a furniture exhibition or a
graphics show; the approach is to blend a
range of design skills.
A festival is, by definition, a
celebration. Exhibiting new ideas triggers
progress and stimulates still newer ideas.
This atmosphere is ideal for debating
issues, solving problems and driving
innovation. Prosperous economies rely on
innovation, and festivals succeed at moving
governments to acknowledge the great
potential of design.
William Knightis the Deputy Directorof London Design Festival
lling
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ITS A STRANGE WORLD in retail right now.
The pressure to provide cheap products
is increasing as news headlines fill people
with fear of the future. Rising prices on raw
materials far outstrip salary growth. The
changing face of mainstream retail has left
streets in cities from London to Madrid to
Copenhagen with the same clothing stores,
mobile-phone outlets and sports brands,
reducing the pleasure we get from travelling.
Fewer and fewer products are made in our
part of the world.
Yet for clever independent retailers
there are opportunities to exploreif they
are prepared to work harder on sourcing,
presentation and branding. Tourists visiting
other continents expect unique products;
Chinese visitors to Europe do not travel
across the globe to shop for items made back
home, and the same goes for Europeans
visiting Japan. Increasingly, consumers are
demanding products made locally, both for
environmental and nostalgic reasons. Luckily
for smaller manufacturers and retailers, the
big players dont seem to be able to capture
this market; they require big volumes and
streamlined products to keep the wheels
turning and institutional shareholders happy.
The result is a polarization between
global budget retailing and local niche
lling
Dign
retailing, with the middle market shrinking.
Prior to 2008, this circumstance would
have been described as a rise in luxury
consumption, but that term has become
not only pass but vulgar. Instead its being
replaced with a sentiment once articulated
by German designer Dieter Rams: Buy less
but better. Its no longer about buying brands
heavily promoted in expensive ad campaigns,
but about spending whatever money is still
available on quality goods with a story to tell,
items that make you happy.
The world is still filled with small
workshops, factories and makers. The
challenge for them is to find designers and
retailers who value their manufacturing
skills. Yet this is easier said than done. These
sorts of small makers and manufacturers
are often old, conservative and unable
to see the opportunities in front of them.
Designers, meanwhile, prefer to seek out
manufacturers who are equipped to take over
the whole process, from product development
to the shop shelf. And retailers want all the
packaging and marketing done before they
place their order. Everyone is looking for
the easiest solution. The answer for some
retailers is to team the right designer with the
right manufacturer in order to create a limited
run of exclusive productsthough it often
evy du qui a uan and
a ag cuniaing i
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45
a ag.cuniaing i
anuauing n g a
ndu n u.
requires more effort than attending the big
trade fairs and filling in order forms.
The division of design in the West and
manufacturing in the East brings with it new
challenges and risks. In the past, some of
the best designs were close collaborations
between the designer and the factory
worker. But when this communication is
cut offor at best carried out by a sourcing
officethe design suffers. Besides which,
consumers have become too far removed
from the manufacturing process. Just
as people rarely think of the farmer who
bred the cow or harvested the wheat, the
craftsman who turned the bowl or made the
chair has become invisible.
Yet every product requires a human
hand at some stage. Communicating
this manufacturing process often gets a
tremendous response from customers. Even
products made overseas would benefit from
this; if you knew the face of the person in
Thailand or India who made your clothes,
it would connect you to their product.
A products virtue is not in where its made
but under what circumstances. Thus visiting
a glassworks in Italy should not be a better
experience than visiting a ceramics factory
in Asia, just different. Everything is locally
made from someones perspective.
All these considerations come together
when a retailer is trying to source a new
product. But their single biggest challenge
is to communicate the value of the product
to the customer, something that is not
always easy in a busy world. Fashion brands
are very good at explaining why a handbag
can cost as much as a sofa, yet sofa brands
arent very good at explaining why a sofa
can cost as much as a handbag. Some
retailers still seem to think its enough to
put up some shelves, fill them with products
and wait for the customers to walk in. But,
thanks to the popularity of online shopping,
those days are long gone. Its not enough
for a store to be a glorified warehouse
nowadays; it needs to inspire. Retail should
be a joy for all the senses.
Magnus Englundis the co-owner ofSkandium, a contemporary design store
in London
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on ivd a lain
a, llibl dign a b
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47
a, llibl dign a b
adlin nw and a nniu i
wiin induy.
Midcentury design by French modernists
like Jean Royre, Jean Prouv and
Charlotte Perriand has dominated the
market due to its quality and availability.
Original furniture by equally important
midcentury designers is more rare because
so little of it was made. But Prouv and
Perriand produced volumes for schools and
hospitals, just the sort of stuff that tends to
stick around.
Yet even this rich vein is being
depleted, and interest is slowly shifting
to contemporary practitioners, both
established and emerging. Whats
fascinating about the market for
contemporary design is that the galleries
and auction houses arent necessarily
driving it, despite conventional wisdom. Its
popularity stems largely from a confluence
of longtime collectors and progressively
sophisticated consumers shunning
ubiquitous or commonplace design.
Increasingly, these collectors are acquiringdesign with an agenda that goes beyond
function, hence the correlation with art.
This is symptomatic of the radical
changes coming about within the industry.
The seeds of rebellion were first sown
in the late-1970s, when postmodernist
designersincluding Italys Alessandro
Mendini and Ettore Sottsassintroduced
craftsmanship into their work, partly
to signify their rejection of modernist
conventions. They encouraged a market for
unique collectible design that often defied
definitions of design. These early insurgents
were followed by British-based designer
makers like Ron Arad and Tom Dixon, who,
lacking support from the industry, began to
realise one-off pieces. Meanwhile a band of
Dutch designers, including Hella Jongerius,
Tejo Remy and Jurgen Bey, was introducing
wry humor and narrative to their designs for
Amsterdam-based Droog.
Todays younger generation of
designers is heir to this radicalism and
rebellion. Many new nameswhether
mindful of adding to the superfluous glut
or seeking to work free from industrial
constraintsaspire to design for the
collectible market. Doing so is an
opportunity for expression, not to mention
a critical commentary on the industry andthe political and social issues they feel are
pertinent to their lives. Its for this reason
that I proudly stand behind collectible
design as a patron, editor and gallerist.
Libby Sellersis the founder ofGallery Libby Sellers, a contemporary
design gallery in London
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I think a lot of materials ar and the price on mater
and that will ma a lesser
And I think that will op
Nina Tolstrup, designer
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going to be scarce,ial is going to go up,
e the labour costart of the total calculation.
n up opportunities
to produce locally.
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