by

Rebekah Olsen

&

Meredith Elzea

This workbook contains our exploration of Heritage through

meaningful heirloom artifacts. We began with a simple question:

Here are the stories of eight people and their herilooms.

WHAT IS YOUR MOST VALUABLE HEIRLOOM AND WHY

“[It] reminds me of a time when things were more simple and less

complicated - definitely think of the finer things in life and having a cup

of tea in a beautiful cup is one of those things.”

Heirlooms can be reminiscent of specific family history, or in general of an older era.

Facts:

Parents acquired at wedding

Does not drink out of them

56+ years old

“She said, ‘Be careful, when you return it to me it should be the same as

when I gave it to you because when I pass, this is going to be my inheri-

tance to you.’ [And] I feel like I get to keep a part of her and a part of my

culture... but I always think that I cant wait to share it and yet I know

that it’s going to be mine forever to keep and pass on to someone else.”

Heirlooms can be embedded with culture.

Facts:

Mother collected shawls

Made out of finest materials

“It was my very first ring. It had my birthstone in it. and I wear it every

once in a while. It’s yellow/gold so it’s not really my thing but I still think

it’s still really meaningful to me. It was actually the last time I saw her

before she passed away”

Heirlooms may not always fit the decor or personal style of an individual but they still find meaning in the object.

Facts:

Birth stone ring

Recieved from Grandmother

on death bed.

“The names are faded in a way but you can see the whole thing... I don’t

know why he documented something like that because we believe in our

history... just tell this person about their grandfather .. we don’t write it

down. So it’s amazing that he wrote something like that”

When people do something unexpected to preserve heritage, it is appreciated.

Facts:

Culture did not have a lot of

writing materials

Written on unknown material

70 years old

Image not available, Render taken from: http://syverson.name/images/family-trees/Syverson-Family-Tree.jpg

“So I’ve had that since I was in elementary school... and so [my son] gravi-

tated towards that and so he’s already claimed it as his already. It’s inter-

esting because it’s pink and white and he would just wrap up in that and

he always wants to know where it is and make sure it’s okay. I love that

he already understands how important it is and that he just wants to make

sure that it’s always there as a reminder. He also thinks it’s amazing that

she just sat and knitted like that. ”

Stories can be handed down at a very young age. Even though heirlooms can be old, some people continue using them for theirintended purpose.

Facts:

Knitted

Grandmother made one for all 7

grandkids

“It’s a ring that my mom made out of a bracelet that my grandmother had

and the bracelet has diamonds and then rubies which are my sisters birth-

stone and then emeralds which are my birthstone and sapphires which are

my moms. And we weren’t born when she had the bracelet so she didn’t

have it with that intention but my sister and I both have these rings...”

Reappropriating heirloom artifacts can create a richer history.

Facts:

Worn everyday

Made by mother

“I can’t really remember any of the things my mom made for me... but the

thing that I remember the most is when her basement flooded. The rain

had ruined all of her [crafts] that she kept in the basement. And you know

that was her life... crafting. I think this definitely played a role in her

death shortly after the flood.”

People develop a strong attachment to the artifacts they have made.

Facts:

Mother was a life-long

crafter

Image not available, Render taken from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Hand_made_dolls.jpg

“It was just a thing I did on birds, and ya know, I did paintings of differ-

ent birds and I wrote about them. Not bad for a 5th grader. I’m not sure if

my children even, I think they may have seen it one or twice, I’m sort of

keeping it for them in a way. I think they will just kind of discover them

when I die or something. .”

Sometimes people don’t have the opportunity to tell the stories associated with heirlooms because they are passed down after death.

Facts:

Collection of notebooks from

school days

Hand drawn/illustrated

Our interviews led us to find a significant pattern.

We narrowed our focus and asked the question:

HOW DOES THE CRAFT COMMUNITY ADDRESS THE PRESERVATION OF HERITAGE

6 OF 8HEIRLOOMS WERE HANDMADE

“If you go back and read craft history, so craft started in these

cottage industries which are things like blacksmiths... the way

this approach worked is that you essentially had an apprentice.

A lot of times the apprentice became a part of your family. So a

lot of this was passing down this tacit knowledge from observa-

tion or working together rather than sitting down and study-

ing it. You see a lot of this passing knowledge down from

generation to generation and that’s kind of embedded into the

culture of craft.” - Katie O’Donnell, Etsy Researcher

Even modern crafters tend to exhibit the same character traits

of the old cottage industries, that the notion of craft is learned

and built into a person’s upbringing. Because of this, the idea of

heritage becomes an embedded value in handmade items from

the crafting community.

“My mom has always sewn. When I was growing up she

worked for Annalee, which is a doll company, and also for a

company called Mutts and Mittens, making dog toys. My sisters

and I would get paid 5 cents for every dog toy we turned right

side out and stuffed. Sewing was always something we did. I

started making my own stuff when I was very young, as far

back as I can remember.

--Heidi Kenney

Handmade Nation: The rise of DIY, Art, Craft and Design.

As designers we find ourselves at the

Our research insights have led us to identify two distinct paths.

One path inspires us to look at existing handmade heir-

looms from past generations and create ways for people

to attach history and heritage to those items so they

won’t be lost for future generations.

The other path inspires us to explore innovative ways to

assist the crafting community in the inclusion of history

and heritage in handmade artifacts.

Whether an heirloom has come from the past, or is being created for the future, there is still a need to more closely align the artifact with the stories of history and heritage.

THRESHOLD OF NEW HEIRLOOMS

(said in a boomy voice with echo)

4 7 8

Based on our insights, we will• explore how to capture stories associated with handmade heirlooms to help avoid the loss

of heritage after a family member passes. • explore innovative ways to assist the crafting community in the inclusion of history and

heirtage in handmade artifacts.

11 5 56

The following are insights that we presented in the previous pages:

1234

5

678

heirloomscanbereminiscentofspecificfamilyhistory, or in general of an older era

heirlooms can be embedded with culture

heirloomsmaynotfitthepersonalstyleofanindividual but they still appreciate the meaning

when people do something unexpected to preserve heritage, it is appreciated

even though heirlooms can be old, some people continue using them for their intended purpose

reappropriating heirloom artifacts can create a richer history

people develop an attachment to the artifacts they make

sometimes people don’t have the opportunity to tell the stories associated with heirlooms because they are passed down after death

THE THRESHOLD OF NEW HEIRLOOMS

digitally augment old heirlooms new ways to create heirlooms

the past

the future23 3

As we began to consider how to digitally enhance heirlooms or capture history

and stories associated with heirlooms, we turned to existing exemplars. Our

search did not return many results. A majority of the websites offer photo

scanning and restoration services with a few extending into the printed photo

album book option.

Family Tree Magazine has come to the same conclusion: “Family history

isn't just about records and vital statistics—it's also about the stories,

memories and traditions you want to pass on to future generations. “

Their solution, however, is to offer the following forms to fill out and file:

Halmark introduced a new line of Recordable Storybooks where

parents or grandparents can record themselves reading the story. We

believe this is a step in the right direction and these storybooks will

become a new type of heirloom for the future. We were inspired by

Halmark’s product line. On the next page we show a concept map of a

variety of ideas.

Although the forms have good questions that help people to think about

preserving their stories, we believe that filling out a form is less than

ideal.

Keep track of details about family artifacts and heirlooms

not in your possession.

Record information about your family's traditions and folklore.

Create your own time capsule from these sample questions.

Describe the origins of your heirlooms for better integration with

your family history.

EXEMPLARRESEARCH

trunkrecipe box

lineage of love

land-marks

can be comprised of

can show

quilt

can be made of

video fabricaudio

tags

can hold

can have

love letters

etsy heritage

can be shared

photo albums

can help create

can be made into

personalized childrens books on family history

scrap-books

can have

audio stickers

can be generated online

personalized patterns

can be recorded

book told by Grandparents recording

time lines

can store video

CONCEPT MAPPING

The above concept map shows an overview of the concepts we were looking into and the connections they have with each other. We wanted to introduce the variety of concepts before presenting the narrowed and more detailed concepts that follow in order for you to understand the different mediums we explored.

1

2

3

Ourfirstconceptcaterstothecraftcommunity. We have added a division to the Etsy venue. This space allows crafters to make items that they intend to give as mementos and possibly heirlooms. Users can document creations as they are made, and attach video and audio to the object whereby creating a richer history associated with the artifact.

Unlike an Etsy store, this space is a personal place for users to store collections of heirlooms and attach personal meaning to the objects in the My Etsy Heirloom.

1 Users create personal collections

2 At a glance users can see the supporting media. There may be times when a family member wants to just see videos or audio clips of the crafter.

3 Each heirloom in the account will show the type of supporting media attached.

MY ETSY HEIRLOOMconcept 1:

Once a user has clicked on an heirloom in the collection, it opens in a manner that is characteristic of Etsy. Pictures other than the heirloom can be uploaded.

1 Heirloom History shows the supporting media attached to the Heirloom. This way users can track the history of the heirloom. The intent is to continue creating a history about the artifact, people, and memories. Every entry of history is dated.

2 Here users can upload other photos, videos, audio clips, and blogs (letters).

3 If users do not have something to upload they can choose to record directly through the interface.

1

2

3

MY ETSY HEIRLOOMconcept 1:

The supporting media creates a richer history for the heirloom. Uploaded and created media do not have to be about the actual heirloom. Here the quilt was made for a 5th birthday party. The uploaded media is a video from the party showing the 5 year old opening the quilt. .

Years from now, when that 5 year old is 20, she can look back and see the history of the quilt. If parents continue adding to the history, the heirloom becomes more about the stories and memories of the people and events, and less about the actual artifact. The quilt becomes the token of the heirloom. My Etsy Heirloom will help make stories and history ‘tangible.’

MY ETSY HEIRLOOMconcept 1:

1

2

3

45

ETSY HEIRLOOM STORYBOARDconcept 1:

now

“Christine is going to love the history behind this blanket. My grandmother knit my mom the same pattern. She’ll cherish this forever.”

“This blanket is so old. I know my mother

made this but I don’t know what’s

so special about it. I wish I knew the significanceofthis

blanket...”

Hand-made artifacts have a story that can go untold depending on whether or not the owner passes on their story. Through our research we found an interviewee that is not planning on passing down his story. He planstolethischildren‘find’hisartifact,potentially losingsignificancewhenhischildrenfindit.Wewantedtolookintowaysthatuserscouldtell the story and communicate the history of artifacts they pass down.

then

TALKING BLANKETconcept 2:

“Hi Christine! This blanket means so much to me because my

grandmother knit the same pat-tern to my mother. I grew up with a blanket just like this, and I hope

someday your kids do too. I love you very much. Mom.”

(tiny speaker inside the tag)

The Talking Tag is intended to preserve the story behind textile objects, i.e. a blanket, for younger generations who receive it. The idea is that the person making the blanket can create personalized tags via a website. The online tag website will allow the user to create a personalized message to be stitched onto the tag, as well as a personalized audio clip that will be inserted into the tag. Once they receive the tag, they can stitch it onto their blanket. Now the person receiving the gift can press the tag and listen to the personalized message about the artifact from their elder.

TALKING BLANKETconcept 2:

With the Talking Tag, the story behind the artifacts given to younger generations will be preserved. Not only will people know the story behind the artifacts passed down, but they will also be able to hear the voice of their loved ones, potentially bringing together the generations that did not have the chance to know one another.

TALKING BLANKETconcept 2:

past present future

TALKING BLANKET storyboardconcept 2:

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2

3

4

5 6

78

In continuing the theme of designing concepts that augment the histories of hand-madeartifacts,thisconceptoffersa way for people to attach stories to photos or paper goods. Photos, whether they are antique, or creatively displayed in a crafters scrapbook can only say so much to those that were not present at the time. Even though crafters aim to bring context to a photo by adding design elements and informational decoration, they still can’t tell the whole story.

We propose a similar technology used in talking or singing birthday cards to record and play back audio in sticker form. These stickers could be decorative in nature to cater to the crafting and scrapbook community, or plain in nature so people can write on them. This technology will give people the ability to record stories associated with the photos.

PHOTO STORY STICKERSconcept 3:

“Grandma Sally loved Sunday dinners. The whole family would come over. After dinner was served, Grandma Sally would watch as everyone else dove infor foodandfilledtheirplates.She was always the last one to eat. She once said her favorite thing was to watch us all enjoy her food.”

1

Photos need context. When context is lost the stories begin to fade. We can’t always count on people to tell the stories. Someday Grandma won’t be there to tell them. When that happens the stories could be lost forever. The Photo Story Stickers allow people to capture the stories via voice recording and let them live on for future generations.

1 By pressing and holding the button for 3 seconds the family members can record an audio story.

When quickly pressed the sticker will the play the previously recorded audio story.

PHOTO STORY STICKERSconcept 3:

PHOTO STORY STICKERSconcept 3:

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3 4

56

7

9

8

press down once to record, press twice to stop

“It’s a beautiful, sunny day and I’m sitting in the park knitting your blanket, Julia. Your sister is running around trying to catch a duck. Crazy girl!”

Message Knitters are knitting needles that allow the user to record audio messages throughout the process of knitting. The user may press the button down once to record, allowing them to say a personalized message for the person receiving the blanket/knitting needles. After the user has recorded their message, they can press down twice and the knitting needles will stop recording and store the audio. Once the person receiving the messages wants to retrieve the audio, they can pick up the Message Knitters via bluetooth.

concept 4:

message knittersMessage Knittersconcept 4:

Message Knitters will allow the user to personalize the heirlooms they make without interrupting the process of making them. The needles will give them an easy way to record throughout their process of knitting and ecourage them to pass down their story and intention for the handmade heirloom.

concept 4:

message knitters

“It’s a beautiful sunny day and I’m sitting in the park knitting your blanket, Julia. Your sister is running around trying to catch a duck. Crazy girl!”

Message Knittersconcept 4:

Message Knitters STORYBOARDconcept 4:

THANK YOU

Thank you for participating in our exploration of heritage and heirlooms. We hope you have enjoyed your read. Since this is a digital version of the Heritage and Heirlooms workbook, you won’t get to experience the tangible artifact. We put a lot of time and love into the presentation and production of this book. Below is an imageofthefinaldeliverableboundintoaleathercover.Thepagesareprintedonahandmadefiberbasedpaper.

We believe impressivness in the details. Maybe you noticed, maybe you didn’t, but about half way through the book, the fonts changed. This was intentional. We began this exploration thinking about antique heirlooms - things that are old - and ourdesignreflectsthis.Whenwenarrowedourfocustoconsiderthemoderncraftcommunity,weevolvedthedesigntoreflectthosequalitites.Tosomethismaylook like a mistake, to us, it was symbolic of our process.

ThiswillmostdefinitelybecomeanheirloomforusandwewishwehadaplacelikeEtsyHeriloomtouploadthisfile.

ATTRIBUTIONS

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1F9YmzxXxfs/TGoXenplyTI/AAAAAAAAC_0/NcP-JO98Fw9c/s1600/Tea+Time+004.JPG

http://indigenousinnovation.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/chawl-cerado.jpg

http://img1.etsystatic.com/il_fullxfull.308099265.jpg

http://syverson.name/images/family-trees/Syverson-Family-Tree.jpg

http://www.stitchersshowcase.com/photo/granny-stripe-baby-blanket?xg_source=activity

http://www.recycledbride.com/uploads/listing/5/5743/34_carat_diamond_wed-ding_band_14_k_white_gold_womens_wedding_band_6071_view5.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Hand_made_dolls.jpg

http://wroughtworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/blacksmith_tools.gif

http://www.etsy.com/listing/61848762/wiener-dog-plush-dachshund-dotty

Handmade nation: the rise of DIY, art, craft and design.

Katie O’Donnell

http://digitalheirlooms.com/

http://www.hallmark.com/online/in-stores/storybooks/recordable-storybooks/

http://www.familytreemagazine.com/info/oralhistoryforms

http://www.heirloom-albums.com/

http://webzone.k3.mah.se/k3jolo/material/uqddv1.pdf

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/people/asellen/techeirloomschi.pdf

http://delivery.acm.org.ezproxy.lib.indiana.edu/10.1145/1520000/1518862/p1053-odom.pdf?ip=129.79.13.20&acc=ACTIVE%20SERVICE&CFID=67876829&CFTOKEN=57920137&__acm__=1330240353_657f1240f826970578e84ce512d852dc

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs23/f/2008/027/f/7/Scrapbook_by_rach_electric.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L1bFAtLHxU8/TLCeRSBWc2I/AAAAAAAAAOI/UbUYG-ZYAUug/s1600/Magnetic+album+%231.jpg

http://keepsakecrafts.net/blog/wp-content/gallery/scrapbooking/2012-01-31-woyww-christmas-scrapbook-layout-right-side.jpg

flicker.com/photos/caitlinator/

THANK YOU

Thank you for participating in our exploration of heritage and heirlooms. We hope you have enjoyed your read. We believe impressivness in the details. Maybe you noticed, maybe you didn’t, but about half way through the book, the fonts changed. This was intentional. We began this exploration thinking about antique heirlooms-thingsthatareold-andourdesignreflectsthis.Whenwenarrowedour focus to consider the modern craft community, we evolved the design to re-flectthosequalitites.Tosomethismaylooklikeamistake,tous,itwassymbolicofour process.

ThiswillmostdefinitelybecomeanheirloomforusandwewishwehadaplacelikeEtsy Heriloom to upload this project.

Rebekah Olsen

Meredith Elzea