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An Exploratory Investigation into the Role of a Research and Development Programme on Future Craft Practice

This paper assesses the effectiveness of a research and development programme on improving contemporary competencies in craft practice through the participation of sole practitioners in a mentoring programme in a Design School. Outcomes from the programme include improved personal confidence for practitioners who had no previous available support in shaping research and development for their work including: approaches to marketing; increasing the quality and range of innovative products being designed and produced; and acquisition of greater technical knowledge and skills. Other advantages of participation in the programme include improved evaluation of appropriate new audience development practices, extending professional networks and reaching new markets. The paper is structured as follows. The introduction explains the research context by evaluating the origins and economic contribution of craft. A discussion of its contemporary impact is developed, assisted by appraisal of recent research from craft and marketing perspectives. A two-part methodology is utilised, with a focus group of key informants followed by in-depth interviews of participants in the craft mentoring scheme. Thematic analysis of the data is carried out and implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Craft Communication and Innovation. Valentine, L. Apr-2013 Ideas of the Handmade: Histories and Theories of Making. The University of Edinburgh, pp. 60-73 14pages. In this follow-on chapter, Valentine articulates the central challenge for contemporary craft as sustaining change and capitalizing on the momentum gathered during 2002-2012. She articulates the exigent problem of mindfully managing knowledge of how craft engages with the principle of uncertainty, and offers four ways in which craft communication and innovation should to be considered when moving the discipline forward. 'V&A at Dundee' is introduced as a future leader of craft; leadership in the context of co-creation, co-design, co-production, commission and collaboration where new national partnerships are nurtured for prolonged creative and economic wellbeing.