Design through making: crafts knowledge as facilitator to collaborative new product development

Karen Yair, Anne Tomes and Mike Press, Art and Design Research Centre, School of Cultural Studies, Psalter Lane Campus, Shefeld Hallam University, Shefeld S11 8UZ, UK Collaboration between manufacturers and craft makers is believed by many crafts theorists to offer new originality, insight and specialist expertise to design for production. In practice, however, there exists a discrepancy between this ideal and a reality of unreconcilable cultural and methodological differences. This paper documents and discusses such a collaboration as an example of best practice with implications for managers, educators, designers and craft makers. It identies a new role for craft makers with the appropriate knowledge and experience to act as bridges within companies, facilitating the adoption of design methodologies appropriate to changing priorities in the manufacturing industries. 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Keywords: case study, communication, crafts knowledge, design management, product development

his paper concerns applications for crafts knowledge to design for industry. Despite theoretical advocation for increased collaboration between craft makers and manufacturers, empirical research has previously been limited to anecdotal narrative. The aim of this paper is to offset this imbalance by documenting an example of best practice, examining the nature of expertise derived from crafts knowledge and its effect on both design process and product. Assertions of the value of crafts knowledge to design centred, until recently, on upholding standards essentially derived from the Arts and Crafts Movements commitment to integrity and workmanship. Leach1, for example, criticised manufacturers for designing without consideration for their own materials and processes. He envisaged an alliance with craft
www.elsevier.com/locate/destud 0142-694X/99 $ - see front matter Design Studies 20 (1999) 495515 PII: S0142-694X(98)00040-4 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain

Leach, B A potters book Faber, London, UK (1940) p 21

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makers, whose commitment to such values in their own work could, he believed, be applied to mass production. Contemporary theorists have re-assessed the value of crafts knowledge, suggesting its increasing relevance in relation to changes in consumer values and corporate strategy. In the context of shortening product life cycles, for example, craft makers modelling skills can be applied to prototyping, potentially minimising development times, improving the communication of ideas and facilitating decision making2. In order to counter increasing competitiveness, one suggested strategy is to develop products reecting a unique combination of expertise rather than a single technological innovation. Rhodes and Carter3 suggest achieving this through multidisciplinary teamworking, indicating a possible role for craft makers in contributing to products insusceptibility to imitation. In relation to product aesthetics, Thackara4 argues that the signicance of craft makers potential input to new product development is increasing as consumers begin to reject technology-led innovation. Increasing emphasis on visual, tactile and emotive qualities can benet from the craft makers process-based creativity, ability to convey meaning through form and sensitivity to materials. Technology and crafts knowledge have however been shown not to be mutually exclusive as, according to Braddock5, their integration in the textiles industries is essential in devising product applications for chemical and materials-based innovation. It may therefore be surmised that craftas a discipline distinct from industrial designcould be contributing with increasing signicance to new product development. However, further investigation indicates that the actual number of successful collaborations with British manufacturers is small. Several half documented cases reveal a discrepancy between each partys expectations, and a reality of unreconcilable cultural and methodological differences6,7. This anecdotal evidence is substantiated by a 1997 Crafts Council survey, which suggests that only 3.8% of craft makers engage in design as an activity detached from their own making8. Dissatisfaction with such collaboration is common to both parties concerned. Manufacturers are perceived by many craft makers as inexible, unimaginative and myopic. Leading ceramic maker Jacqui Poncelet describes her experiences with British manufacturers as like pushing an elephant7, whilst glass designer and maker Stuart Garfoot states in an interview with the author that,
Most people (manufacturers) nowadays cant stop the machine of production, the process of production, to listen to an individuals requirements.

Woodhuysen, J Small rms, big rms and the future of the crafts RSA Journal Vol CXLIV No 5471 (1996) pp 7479 3 Rhodes, E and Carter, R Emerging corporate strategies Co-Design Vol 3 (1995) pp 613 4 Thackara, J New british design Thames and Hudson, London, UK (1986) p 10 5 Braddock, S Respect for tradition, curiosity for technology. In Textiles and new technology 2010 OMahoney, M and Braddock, S (eds) Artemis, London, UK (1994) pp 18, 23 6 Benjamin, J Raising our glasses Design August (1986) pp 3033 7 Harrod, T and Margetts, M Bridging the divide Crafts May/June No 80 (1986) pp 50 51 8 Knott, C Crafts in the 1990s: an independent socio-economic study of craftspeople in England, Scotland and Wales The Crafts Council, London, UK (1994) pp 177180

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Manufacturers criticisms of craft makers, meanwhile, focus on their alleged limited awareness of design issues, preoccupation with selfexpression and inability to adapt to new situations. David WilliamsThomas, former managing director of Royal Brierley Crystal, describes his view of craft makers shortcomings in an interview with the author:
The studio person who comes into Brierley is really trying to develop their own ideas They dont have the breadth of vision to look at the marketplace, to look at our processes, and to bring them together.

Interviews undertaken with both parties have offered some insight into the complexity of the cultures which frequently impede collaboration between them. For example, the well documented problems of cultural division between designers and technicians9 may be exacerbated by both the craft makers status as an outsider, and by the art-based nature of crafts education and practice. This can result in stereotyped perceptions of each party by the other. Craft makers may for example expect an unattainable degree of exibility, whilst production staff may not appreciate the limits of the craft makers company-specic knowledge. Conict clearly exists between strong theoretical advocation for crafts industry collaboration, and empirical evidence of unproductive working relationships. This indicates a need for documentation of best practice where it occurs. By analysing the design methodology employed in a successful project and determining the inuence on it of contextual factors and the craft makers knowledge, skills and expertise, implications can be made both for individuals involved in future projects and by policymaking organisations.
9 Jevnaker, BH Fostering strategic design directions in business rms: the hidden assets SNF Foundation for Research in Economics and Business Research Administration, Bergen, Norway (1997) p 2 10 Biemans, WG Internal and external networks in product development: a case for integration. In Product development, meeting the challenge of the designmarketing interface Bruce, M and Biemans, WG (eds) Wiley, Chichester, UK (1995) p 147 11 Fletcher, W Creative people and how to manage their creativity Hutchinson, London, UK (1998) p 33 12 Glaser, B and Strauss, A The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research Aldine, Chicago, USA (1967)

Methodology

The case study was conducted in the context of doctoral research into applications for crafts knowledge to design for industry. The methodologies chosen reect a relative lack of academic research in the eld of enquiry. As this precluded the testing of existing hypotheses, issues were allowed to emerge from the data as it was collected in an approach broadly based on Glaser and Strauss concept of grounded theory12. Initial data collection centred on in-depth, semi-structured interviews, informing understanding of how interviewees perceive their professional knowledge and relationships. A combination of direct interpretation and categorical aggregation dened the most signicant emic issues contained within each interview. By comparing such issues across interviews, and in relation to other resources such as drawings and documents, theoretical categories began to emerge. These were in turn used to shape further data

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collection. In this way, analysis could focus progressively on key issues as determined by the participants actual experiences, rather than by preexisting theories. The links that became evident between empirically derived categories and the existing literature were therefore in no way pre-determined. Although qualitative data is inherently subjective, data analysis strove to maintain rigour by employing multiple forms of existing triangulation protocol. Firstly, a relativist approach was adopted which sought to preserve the cases multiple realities rather than attempt to resolve any contradictions within it. Interviews were therefore undertaken independently with each of the projects key players. Secondly, methodological triangulation was used where possible. This combined interview data with observation of the factory at work, review of relevant literature and documents, and analysis of sketches, technical drawings and prototypes. Finally, additional insight into interview data was sought through member checking and investigator triangulation. These methods represent a search for additional perspectives on the case, rather than for conrmation of one particular interpretation.

Context

In order to contextualise the case and its implications, this section indicates those aspects of its participants backgrounds with particular signicance for their attitudes and motivations towards the project, and consequent working methods.

2.1

Designer: Jane Beebe

Crafts education and practice is centred on a dialogue between creativity, materials and skill, the maker developing ideas by combining conceptual vision with manipulation of the object. A crafts educationsuch as that undertaken by Beebe at Manchester Polytechnic (198093) and the Royal College of Art (198688)instills in its students a unique tacit knowledge of how the chosen material is formed and reacts to processes, as well as its potential as a vehicle for expression. For many craft makers, the tensions inherent in this dialogue provide the creative stimulus for a lifetimes work, with vision and skill developing simultaneously. For Beebe however, the limitations of her own skill level became increasingly frustrating as her ideas advanced beyond the parameters imposed by them. The solution was to work with another, more highly skilled craft maker who could produce the size and thickness of blown glass required. This was a process of collaboration rather than

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delegation, with the designers crafts knowledge informing both the initial idea and its development in the hotshop and nishing workshop:
Beebe: Neil (the glassmaker) puts as much of himself into making something as I do, so its like the sum of everything that you get, instead of one person. And Neil knows how I work, and as well, my works appropriate to his sense of form and proportion.

This relationship introduced the designer to the concept of collaboration as a creative catalyst. It demonstrated the new potential offered by integrating others specialist expertise with the designers vision, and the importance of communication in achieving the mutual understanding crucial to success. Figure 1 shows two of a series of sculptural vessels produced in this way. Experience of working in the glass industry constitutes another aspect of Beebes background which is unusual amongst craft makers yet which has contributed signicantly to her competence as a designer. Developing an understanding of the management of professional relationships and how to operate within an existing company structure has since proved essential for consultancy work. The effect of management style, company culture and company politics on design policy and implementation were evident at both Royal Brierley and Dartington Crystal, where she worked as studio glassmaker and freelance designer, respectively. Dartingtons weaknesses appeared to be its structure (marginalisation of designers, poor communications, and mechanistic management systems), its lack of direction

Figure 1 Jane Beebe, Asymetric Forms, 1990. Photograph: Trudie Balantyne.

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(designing for an unknown market) and its company politics, resulting in impeded creativity and new product development.
Beebe: They expect a designer to have all of the answers and do all the work. Youve got to be psychic. They didnt integrate you as part of the team, you were set apart, in a Portakabin. To me, design, manufacture, marketing, sales, its all vital that each feeds to the other, and it didnt.

In addition to developing appreciation of the relationship between products quality and the system that creates them, working at Dartington provided an opportunity to relate crafts skills to those employed in industry, specically the effect of form and processes on pricing.
Beebe: I used to sit and watch production for hours. You could see how one little movement here or that little pipe-roller there could make so much difference to the cost of your product and to whether it would go through, because it went under the price bracket you were working to. Theres a lot to contend with, but it comes naturally to work around that after a bit.

A project working with Dartingtons nishing team on an exclusive range of sculptural vessels was valuable to Beebes future work in developing her skills in team leadership. The most effective strategy found for overcoming the teams opinion of designers as interventionalists was to demonstrate equality by sharing their tasks, and establishing a rapport based on humour. An additional tactic was to exploit the nishers pride by encouraging them to demonstrate their skills whilst increasing company prestige. Rewards were also offered, in the form of praise for their contribution and a set of photographs of the work. Such motivational tactics successfully established strong working relationships for the future as well as achieving short-term aims, and informed relationships with other production teams:
Beebe: I never had any problems with them after that. Theyd always nd ways round things. If Id got a problem production-wise, theyd say well, if you do it like this itll be alright, dont worry about it. So we always got on very well, we understood each other.

To summarise, whilst Beebes design skills are essentially derived from crafts knowledge, her motivations differ from many craft makers in her need to expand her ideas beyond parameters imposed by her own skill level. Her experiences have taught her the value to professional practice of learning-based relationships based on mutual respect. In addition, she has developed the ability to communicate with and motivate others in order to attain their input, and to adapt as necessary to company culture.

2.2

Manufacturer: Nazeing Glass

Nazeing Glass is a Hertfordshire glass manufacturer, operating on its current site since 1928 and producing only to order, with no in-house

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designers. Its production systems are semi-automated, yet both blown and pressed ware remain partly reliant upon hand skills, and its products range from traditional stemware to trafc light lenses and limited edition corporate trophies. The company occupies an unusual position within the British glass industry, encumbered by neither the traditional handmade crystal manufacturers conservatism, nor by the large-scale producers tooling costs and production constraints. Although the majority of Nazeings new products involve no design input, instead reconguring existing moulds, in theory the company is well suited to collaboration with design consultants. The need to adapt to often short runs of varied products has bred a culture of exibility and creativity within the management team which is consistent with the organic management style recommended by Oakley13 for design-led projects. His denition parallels working Nazeings working practices in its emphasis on teamwork, common goals, job exibility, communication, and an even distribution of expertise throughout the workforce. In practice, however, relationships between consultant designers and Nazeings production staff are characterised by wariness and resentment.
Sales Director: They (production workers) tend to think that because they make it theyre the ones that know about glass, and the designers come up with these stupid designs that cant be made.

These attitudes have resulted from the production workers experience of designers as arrogant and uncompromising idealists, badly informed about glassmaking and over-demanding of the processes available. Such designers frequently approach the company with pre-determined requirements, developed to full a marketing led brief without consideration for production constraints. These proposals rarely reach full-scale production, as the designer is unwilling to compromise on form in order to improve ease of production and decrease costs. The resulting negative perception of designers is exacerbated by their status as outsiders, as mutual respect of competences rarely has time to develop. New products not only interrupt production, but may also constitute a threat to individual members of the production team, who are forced to prove their skill to colleagues by making an unfamiliar shape.
13 Oakley, M Assembling and managing a design team. In Design methods, a handbook of issues and methods Oakley, M (ed) Blackwell, Oxford, UK (1990) p 332

To summarise, whilst Nazeing Glasss size, management style and company policy were conducive to involvement in this design-led and unpredictable project, its weakness was a resistance amongst production staff towards designers and new products.

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2.3

Client: Mada Trading

Mada Trading research, source and supply luxury tea and tobacco products to the Jeddah-based distributor Linjawi Holding Company, part of the AlMaglif Corporation. Their products are characterised by quality of manufacture, and by a distinctive and sophisticated style which combines traditional Eastern and contemporary Western aesthetics. The company had decided to expand its product range by introducing an expensive, high-quality glass hookah pipe which was to be marketed as British-made lead crystal. The long tradition of hookah smoking meant that the pipes accepted form had evolved through use rather than design, and that there was little understanding of how it actually functioned. Mada Trading therefore had no technical knowledge to inform the design process, meaning that the project required technical solutions as well as an aesthetic one. In evaluating the importance of the case, it is important to acknowledge the products commercial success. The original order for 200 units has now been repeated twice, with Linjawi Holding Company experiencing difculty in matching supply to demand. Standard components from the original design have been used to extend the range, which now includes a cheaper, metal stemmed version, a travelling version with no neck but a portable case, and an ornate two-headed version intended for sharing and for combining different avours of tobacco. Figure 2 shows the standard production model. Mada Trading attributes the products success to its virtual immunity to imitation, achieved through a combination of quality workmanship and appropriate design. The companys satisfaction with the project is demonstrated by its continuing collaboration with both designer and Nazeing Glass on further new product development.

3 Case study: hookah pipes 3.1 Information gathering

Design work began with a set of sketches exploring form, colour and surface effect, intended as stimuli for discussion rather than actual proposals. Three of these ideas were immediately commissioned by the client for manufacture, necessitating the transformation of visual concept sketches into working prototypes. This was problematic because although the drawings had been informed by the designers understanding of glass from both studio and manufacturing perspectives, technical requirements had not been addressed.

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Figure 2 Photograph: Trudie Balantyne.

Recognising the limitations of her own expertise, Beebe approached glass manufacturers, engineers and metal workshops for advice, informing design development with their specialist expertise and her growing understanding of production constraints and capabilities. For this she relied heavily on a network of professional contacts, developed during her time working in the glass industry and as a freelance designer and maker. One contact was David Royce, sales director at Nazeing Glass, with whom several previous projects had been discussed. Familiarity with the company enabled accurate assessment of its suitability for the current project: whereas price had previously been an important consideration, on this occasion communication and exibility were more important criteria.

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Such a degree of familiarity also informed understanding of the companys working practices and particular facilities, skills, strengths and weaknesses. This allowed design to incorporate practical restrictions (such as those imposed by the size of the annealing kilns), and strengths and working practices of the production teams. For example, observing the production teams work on a lamp shaped similarly to the hookahs base allowed the anticipation of problems with her own designs. Considering features of production specic to Nazeing was to prove benecial in the development phase, as many of the problems that would have been encountered by a designer unfamiliar with the company were avoided.
Royce: The beauty of it is that youre working with a designer whos sympathetic to glassmaking, and in particular not just glassmaking, but what we can make and what were good at.

Informed by the designers improved knowledge of the company, and by consultation with engineers and metalworkers, aesthetic vision could now be integrated with technical considerations and production constraints. Determining the size of the bases neck proved problematic: whilst a large diameter caused the smoker to choke through excess inhalation, a small diameter impeded the blowing of glass into the mould. In addition, enabling sufcient smoke to ascend the pipe necessitated reducing the bases capacity twice. Reconciling these two critical dimensions without compromising the designs elegance could only be achieved by gradual renement through a series of functioning prototypes.
Beebe: They couldnt have known until they had something that they could actually try to smoke, because nobodys even thought about it before.

It was decided not to produce these prototypes at Nazeing as interruptions to production needed to be minimised, and at this stage the production teams wariness of designers had not yet been overcome. It was therefore considered that a exible environment more conducive to experimentation and reection could be better provided by the craft-based workshop familiar to the designer.

3.2

Focus on production

Once Nazeings involvement had been secured through a meeting with the clients, design development could be concentrated on its specic systems and processes. The management team and designer together identied remaining potential problems by comparing the designs features to those of previous projects undertaken by Nazeing. One problem occurred in achieving a tight seal between the metal and glass components. Although Beebe had believed this to be caused by irregularities in the hand blown prototype, Royces experience of other projects suggested to him that

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Nazeings version would be similar. Figures 3 and 4 show their solution, which prevented smoke leakage by altering the funnels shape to provide a closer join between the metal components. This demonstrates the designers willingness to incorporate suggestions from others, and to compromise in order to balance design integrity with ease of manufacture.
Beebe: What was happening for them (Nazeing) was that they were getting specic drawings with specic measurements on that they were having to make, and the designer was adamant that it was to the drawing. Whereas I said, does this dimension here give you a problem? Because I can alter that if you want. I would prefer it like this, but if it makes it easier, I will take it out 2 millimetres. I will move, as long as its not at critical points that would just destroy the design.

This time at the factory was also crucial in developing a rapport between designer and production team. By demonstrating an informed interest in their work, how certain effects were being obtained and the rate of

Figure 3 Jane Beebe: technical drawing.

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Figure 4 Jane Beebe: revised technical drawing.

production, Beebe was able to gain professional respect for her understanding of glassmaking. Establishing a dialogue through crafts knowledge challenged their perceptions of her as a designer, whilst demonstrating a lack of arrogance and respect for their skills.
Beebe: Theyll offer you their hand and its black with dirt, but what does it matter? I think they actually quite like that, that Im prepared to shake the dirty hand. Foreman: She seems to communicate a lot more (than other designers). And she doesnt mind being in the factory, you know what I mean? She doesnt mind getting her hands dirty. Shell talk to you. She seemed to have quite a good idea of how we went about it. I mean, she ended up telling us what to do in the rst place.

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These comments demonstrate the accuracy of the designers evaluation for the need to demonstrate equality through participation and communication, and to establish professional respect. The value of her crafts skills is evident in both respects. Firstly, it enabled her to communicate with the team as a sympathetic and informed outsider. Secondly, it allowed her to make accurate technical specications and to produce a prototype, demonstrating competence and facilitating production. Royce acknowledges the importance of such an attitude to overcoming the production teams scepticism:
Royce: The relationship can be very fraught at times. I think the designer has to be very skilled in public relations, because the attitude of a production glass factory shop oor is bloody designers.

During this development phase, the established divisions between designer and production team were therefore overcome through mutual respect generated by crafts knowledge. This process of integration was to be essential to the projects success, fostering a positive attitude to the job within the production team. It meant that throughout production, the factory oor were supportive, willing to overcome problems and keen to produce glass of a high quality. Whilst the designers outgoing personality undoubtedly contributed in this respect, the most important factors in her success were her attitudes to design as a collaborative process that develops from within the company, and her ability to communicate through her crafts knowledge.

3.3

Team motivation

The integration of the entire product development teamcompany management, designer, foreman, blowers and nisherswas conrmed by a pre-production meeting held at Nazeing. The prototype was presented to be handled and dismantled by the glass makers and production manager, increasing their understanding of its function. The meeting was also important in transferring responsibility for the designs acceptanceand consequently ownership of itto the team as a whole. Encouraging each person to consider the design in relation to their own expertise and role in its production also created another opportunity for remaining problems to be identied.
Beebe: It was getting rid of the attitude that designers are a real problem because they say, thats it and thats how its got to be done. I gave them the opportunity for their input, so if it went wrong then, they couldnt blame me.

An additional benet of the meeting was the contextualisation of the project in terms of Nazeings proposed expansion into new markets based on quality and service rather than cost. It was important to convey to the production team their role in providing the level of quality required for this change in company policy.

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Royce: So the guys knew what they were trying to achieve, they knew who the end client was and that we had huge potential business there. He was expecting that he would be getting a superb, hand made, crafted product. So we had to keep hammering into our own people that we mustnt let him down. That it might be just another job to them, but that the client was paying a lot of money for it, it was something very new, with different criteria, different parameters, and that we had to be very careful not to make any mistakes.

On commencing production, the benets of high production staff motivation became evident, in terms of both the quality of work produced and the level of interest and enthusiasm demonstrated. The factory teams resulting willingness to solve problems is demonstrated by their input as production began. When the actual moulds were used for the rst time, it was discovered that the sharp angle where the shoulder of the base met the pipe caused the glass to crack. Although the need to maintain an effective seal precluded any change to the shape itself, the blowers devised the solution of ling the edges slightly with emery paper. In a typical project, such a problem would have been blamed on poor design, with little attempt made by the production team to resolve it.

4 Discussion 4.1 Communication through craft

Traditional design management systems follow a linear sequence, whereby design is essentially imposed upon production. When Nazeing is approached by an agency with a nished design for production they are experiencing this model, often compared to a relay race where the baton of new product development is passed from one department to another. Recent studies, however, reject this method in favour of concurrent development which integrates design, engineering, sales and marketing from the projects conception onwards. Advantages of cross-functional development include decreased product development times, improved organisational ability to solve complex problems, heightened customer focus, increased creative potential, improved learning by team members and a single point of contact within the company for clients10. It is established that the success of such cross-functional development in the manufacturing sector is often inhibited by cultural divisions separating designers and technical staff, which have been shown by production workers comments to exist at Nazeing. According to Biemans, divisions originate in differing backgrounds and attitudes between professional groups, and result in each group perceiving the other according to stereotypes and displaying little interest in their work10. Such cultural differences may be expected to be exacerbated in collaborations involving craft makers, as

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their perceived status as artists can stereotype them as insecure, egotistical, stubborn, rebellious, poor time-keeping perfectionists11. Such negative stereotyping can result in an attitude from production and technical staff of resentment and unwillingness to compromise. As Oakley writes,
Resistance (in general) may take the form of constant rejections of new designs, refusal to supply information and help, or simply obstructionall while paying lip service to the need for new products13.

This case study, however, demonstrates how the dual nature of craft makingas a discipline with its origins in both design and productioncan succeed in overcoming such cultural divisions and consequently optimize the potential of cross-functional development. The projects stakeholders constituted an unusually diverse group in terms of attitudes, motivations and working methods, determined by differences in class, culture and status. Beebe recognised the potential communication problems resulting from this diversity, and the impact of this on a project largely dependent on communication for its success. She therefore adopted a bridging role between the client, subcontractors and Nazeings management and shop oor, acting in a way that Royce describes as chameleon-like:
Royce: When Jane is talking with the glass blowers, shes got to be one of them. When shes talking to prospective clients who might be directors of a chain of stores or whatever, shes got to be one of them. Shes got to blend in.

Crucial to success in this role was an understanding of the perspectives, motivations and ways of working characteristic of each group. This was informed by the dual nature of crafts knowledge as a discipline dependent on both practical skill and reection, and by experience of working in the glass industry. For example, translating the clients tastes and needs into an appropriate product required the employment of analytical and interpretive skills common to both craft and design education. The management of relationships both within the manufacturing company and between it and Mada Trading was aided by the designers experiences, which had informed her of the need for positive working relationships based on mutual respect of strengths, weaknesses, attitudes and perceptions. Crafts knowledge was however most benecial in building a rapport with the production team derived from a shared tacit understanding of materials and processes, and the potential to work together on a practical level. This allowed an unusual degree of communication between designer and production workers, encouraging contribution to design in the form of

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specialist knowledge related to particular production tasks. Designs were developed to reect the production teams competences as well as their input, countering their usual criticism of designers inexibility and ignorance.

4.2

Integration

The positive relationship between designer and production team meant that ownership ofand responsibility forthe product could gradually be transferred to its makers, ensuring quality workmanship and willingness to resolve problems. The understanding that Beebe had developed of the teams attitudes and perceptions enabled her to identify personal challenge and company prot as their motivating factors. Through communication and inclusion, her achievements became those of the team as a whole, whose self image shifted gradually from passive labourers to active participants in the projects success.
Beebe: Letting everyone say their bit makes them feel that theyve actually made a valid contribution. The ownership of the project has shifted onto them, so then theyll take a pride in it and make it beautiful. Because otherwise they wont put that effort in.

4.3

Design through making

In contrast to conventional linear models of product development where design ends before production begins, here specications were nalised as late as possible, allowing further renement as the processes actual demands were imposed. This exibility encouraged continued input from production staff, optimizing the potential for a creative and easily manufacturable design solution:
Beebe: We see how it feels and how it looks, because what shows on my drawings isnt necessarily what happens. When it comes to cutting Ill have a pattern worked out, but it might look better if it had nine repeats to if it had ve. The cutter might say, you cant get that line exactly, but if we just twist it like this, then it happens. Before you know it youve got something that actually isnt very much like the drawing.

This is a process of design through making which demonstrates obvious parallels with crafts practice. As discussed, the craft object demonstrates a reconciliation between its makers vision and the opportunities and constraints presented by chosen materials and processes. Through repetition and experience, the craft maker develops understanding of these factors alongside the judgement to resolve their often conicting demands. As Peter Dormer writes,

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The crafts are partly shaped and to some extent determined by the patterns of thinking encoded in processes, tools and attitudes to making14.

Just as the craft maker operates within a dialogue between ideas and materials or processes, so here the designer oversees a reconciliation between vision and the limitations of manufacture. It may be argued that the ability to reconcile two such disparate concerns is neglected in a typical design education, where solutions are generated by a conceptual approach. In this case, the designer extended the process of design through making from the individual to the collective sphere, allowing the integration of otherwise unavailable skills, processes and production levels with personal vision. This approach is unreconcilable with many craft makers need for control over each stage of design and making. Beebes past experiences, however, had indicated how sacricing some degree of control could allow her work to escape the limitations of personal skill, whilst continuing to be informed by crafts knowledge. When collaborating with a skilled glass blower on the making of one-off vessels, she had used his technique as an extension of her own to generate new possibilities for self expression. At Nazeing, the same methods were applied to working with the production team, observation, reection and reassessment replacing the usual designers detachment. The result is a design tailored to accommodate the manufacturers strengths and weaknesses, stretching their competences whilst producing an achievable solution. Figures 5 and 6 show Nazeings production staff working on the nal product.

14 Dormer, P Why the crafts need more than literary criticism, keynote address from conference The Context for Critical Studies in the Crafts The Crafts Council, London, UK (1995)

Figure 5 Hookah pipe base being cut. Photograph: Trudie Balantyne.

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Figure 6 Hookah pipe base being blown into a mould. Photograph: Trudie Balantyne.

4.4

Conclusion

This case study challenges the view traditionally held by manufacturers of craft makers as inexible and over-specialised artists. It indicates a new boundary-crossing role within the new product development process, facilitating the adoption of design methodologies appropriate to changing priorities in the manufacturing industries. Previous collaborations have attempted to impose craft makers designs onto production7, have used them as researchers for future projects7, or have established a crafts studio within the factory, in the hope that technology transfer will automatically occur between craft and production6. This new role, however, concentrates on using the craft makers skills in a different context, as contributors to

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the design process as well as the product. In essence, the dual nature of the designers background in craft makingcombined with broader experience and her skills in communication and empathyallowed the cultural differences that are often encountered by consultant designers and craft makers to be overcome. This enabled active participation to be encouraged from all areas of the company during design development and pre-production. A crafts-based design methodology could then be employed, stressing interaction with the object as it was subjected to the demands of the production line, and accommodating both constraints imposed by the processes and opportunities created by it. The product therefore grew from within the company, rather than being imposed onto it as is more common at Nazeing. By incorporating contributions to design development from both management and factory oor, the nal solution became a team effort rather than an imposed vision. This process in effect initiated a feeling of involvement inand ownership ofthe design within the manufacturing company, ensuring high workforce motivation reected in quality workmanship and a willingness to overcome problems. Such a crafts-based design methodology has parallels with several important aspects of design management strategy advocated in the current literature. Whilst these strategies are usually presented as theoretical recommendations, this case study constitutes an actual example where their adoption has been facilitated by an individual with a certain set of skills and experiences. Firstly, in many ways the methods used parallel those employed by the product champion described amongst others by Moss Kanter15. This is evident in the gathering of input and expertise from throughout the company, the ability to communicate conviction in the project, persistence, commitment to the team building, and appreciation of the need to credit all those involved for their input. Secondly, the encouragement of others input into design development reects Reichs concept of the entrepreneurial organisation, which advocates the encouragement of a pro-active workforce:
Distinctions between innovation and production, between top managers and production workers blur. Because production is a continuous process of reinvention, entrepreneurial efforts are concentrated on many thousands of small ideas rather than on just a few big ones16.

15 Moss Kanter, R Changemaster skills: what it takes to be creative. In Managing innovation Henry, J and Walker, D (eds) Open University Press, London, UK (1991) pp 5561 16 Reich, R Entrepreneurship reconsidered: the team as hero. In Managing innovation Henry, J and Walker, D (eds) Open University Press, London, UK (1991) p 69 17 Townsend, J Creating the ideal workforce Independent on Sunday (3.5.1998) p 3

Townsend acknowledges the value of releasing latent workforce creativity by encouraging each person to relate knowledge of their particular job to the current problem17. In this instance, the designers role was not that of the consultant expert, but of the facilitator of such renewed creativity.

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Thirdly, through effective communication with each of the projects stakeholders and with other contacts which form part of an established network of expertise, the designer created a product which synthesised a unique combination of skills, interests and experience. This implemented Rhodes and Carters strategy for avoiding imitation3. The value of such a strategy is indicated by an interview with Frances Lambe of Mada Trading, who partly attributes the products success to its immunity to imitation. In evaluating the case, it is important to recognise the limitations of its application to other companies and individuals. Successful collaboration must depend to an extent on factors previously identied as important in the management of traditional cross-functional development projects. These may be summarised as understanding, awareness, communication and commitment18. It may also be expected that collaborations involving different media would enjoy varying measures of success: for example it is well documented that handwoven textiles are closely compatible with computer systems and are therefore well suited to adoption by industry19. Certain inuencing factors on the outcome of the collaboration were determined by the manufacturing company. For example, Nazeings manufacturing processes semi-automated form of hand production is relatively close to that used in crafts workshops, and can therefore be considered relatively accessible to a craft maker. However, the manufacturing technology employed in large-scale production of glass and ceramic tableware is hardly far removed from its crafts origins. We may surmise from the lack of successful craftsindustry collaborations in these areas, that such success is as much reliant on company culture and attitudes as on manufacturing processes. It should therefore be recognised that despite Nazeings production teams hostility to consultant designers, its size, lack of tradition, exibility, structure and project-based approach were conducive to success. The collaboration depended to a large extent on the designers mobilization of skills and creativity within the workforce which although latent until this project, had always had the potential to be developed. It would be a matter for further research to determine whether such unexploited potential exists in all crafts-based industries, or whether this is a feature specic to Nazeing or to glassmaking. Overcoming cultural divisions, communicating with production staff and employing motivational tactics would not contribute to the design process if no specialist expertise existed to be identied. An additional factor inuencing the projects success is the designers background, which in this instance combines a crafts education and

18 Cooper, R and Jones, T The interfaces between design and other key functions in product development. In Product design: meeting the challenge of the designmarketing interface Bruce, M and Biemans, WG (eds) Wiley, Chichester, UK (1995) p 95 19 Dormer, P Textiles and technology. In The culture of craft Dormer, P (ed) Manchester University Press, Manchester, UK (1997) p 168

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practice as a craft maker with experience of working in the glass industry. Whilst the methods employed are derived from crafts knowledge, the additional skills, knowledge and interests informing them differ fundamentally from those possessed by the typical craft maker. It may therefore be argued that they represent a hybrid of crafts knowledge and professional skills which is rarely developed in an industry which offers few opportunities for craft makers to work as designers. As these skills are generally underepresented in degree level crafts education, with its tendency to concentrate on preparation for crafts-based self-employment, graduates with an aptitude for design are often ill-equipped to work in industry. One solution could be the introduction of a postgraduate course which introduced crafts graduates to design, contextualising their work within a new framework and teaching additional professional and management skills. It is clear that future research must address the implications of this case study for educators in craft, design and management studies, in order to exploit more fully the benets of crafts knowledge to design for industry.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Jane Beebe, David Royce, Frances Lambe and Bob Garraway for their co-operation in interview, and Stuart Garfoot and David Williams-Thomas for providing contextual information.

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