Handmade, digital age

Katie Bunnell, digital printed ceramics

However, the rapid pace of development is bringing increasingly sophisticated equipment within the reach of smaller producers – and some believe that the potential for new technologies to both sustain and extend the opportunities for independent designers is now arriving.

According to Dr Katie Bunnell of University College Falmouth’s 3D Research Cluster, it’s a question of exploring the possibilities and making those innovations accessible.

“Digital manufacturing technologies, developed through science and engineering research, have until recently been relatively inaccessible to individual creative design practitioners, for both economic and cultural reasons,” Bunnell explained.

“As a result many existing micro-businesses, such as designer-makers, are currently locked out of the digital manufacturing revolution – a revolution that has the potential to enable mass customisation and highly responsive localised production, perhaps even in the home.”

Exploiting this potential is one of the aims of a collaboration between the 3D Research Cluster and the not-for-profit membership organisation Hidden Art Cornwall, also based at University College Falmouth. The ‘Repeat and Variation’ project provides a chance for local practitioners to learn and experiment with digital techniques.

Drummond Masterton, laser-cut form

The Cluster combines expertise in traditional mediums such as wood, glass and ceramics with computer aided design (CAD), computer aided manufacturing (CAM) and rapid prototyping. It’s a meeting of traditional skills and cutting-edge techniques that can yield some striking results.

One example that may be familiar to people outside of the design field is the mass production of Tord Boontje’s decoratively complex ‘Wednesday’ lamp. Originally designed and exhibited in the Barrett Marsden Gallery, a leading craft showcase in London, the item was priced at £150 – but it was later reproduced in its thousands and sold by Habitat, retailing as ‘Garland’ for £15 each. The commercialisation was enabled by digital laser-cutting techniques, which are increasingly accessible to small-scale producers.

Part of the challenge is overcoming distrust of these new tools. “Many craft practitioners believe that using computer technology will somehow destroy the individual identity of their work,” says Bunnell. “Their fears may be well-founded in a situation where their use of software is isolated both from digital manufacturing and traditional making methods.”

Taking these feelings into account, the emphasis of the Repeat and Variation project is to encourage designer-makers’ involvement in the entirety of the production process. Organisers emphasise that the digital revolution is as much about communication as it is about design itself.

“Digital manufacturing methods facilitate remote working, enabling individuals to network and communicate their design ideas globally, work in teams and exploit their creative potential more effectively,” added Bunnell.

During a demonstration day early this year, Hidden Art members were invited to view five pieces of digital equipment in operation, and then submit their ideas for how they would like to utilise them. Five entrants have been selected to spend a week working with the 3D Research Cluster, with the resulting products due to go on display this summer.

Hidden Art Cornwall is the first regional franchise of the acclaimed London-based group Hidden Art. The group’s organiser, Jessie Higginson, said: “Our aim is to improve access to information, enable an exchange of ideas and expertise and offer a platform for designer-makers to exhibit and sell work, products and designs to key markets and the public.”

“We also aim to increase national awareness for the quality of work being made in Cornwall by helping Cornish designer-makers to strengthen their profiles and grow their businesses.”