Mike Press

The design agenda : a guide to successful design management.

UK Design lies between the worlds of culture and commerce, between passion and profit. Design is indeed a passion for things, offering methods that enable them to come into being. It follows that design should also aspire to a passion for the people who use these things, for their quality of life, their aspirations: a passion for betterment. The management of design is about fostering that passion and linking it to the fulfilment of corporate goals and profitability. The Design Agenda explains why it is necessary and how it can be done. This clearly written book: * draws on the best methods to provide practical guidance on effective design management * contains a unique resource guide to enable further study and research * contains contemporary examples to illustrate the value of well managed design In combining practical advice with a theoretical overview the book represents an ideal introductory text for a range of design students and an excellent source of information to middle managers in retail and manufacturing industries.

Crafting competitive advantage:: Crafts knowledge as a strategic resource

Abstract This paper describes how, through its alliances with crafts-based designers, a UK pewter manufacturer has transformed its learning capabilities, adding value to its products and creating new organizational knowledge. Drawing on literature from the fields of design management, organizational learning and crafts theory, a three part model is proposed which describes the contribution of crafts knowledge and cognition in this process, as a means of stimulating innovation, of integrating expertise, and of disseminating and stabilizing learning. The impact of organizational structure upon project success is analyzed, and the companys strategic and competitive gain described and evaluated. It is concluded that crafts knowledge may constitute a powerful strategic design tool when, as in the case described, it is managed appropriately and recognized as a unique amalgamation of cognitive, social and technical skills rather than a purely aesthetic resource.

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

Abstract 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 identifies 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.

All this Useless Beauty: the Case for Craft Practice in Design for a Digital Age

This paper draws on practice-centred research combining craft practice and digital technology to illuminate the role of beauty in facilitating the engagement with digital complexity. In a climate where digital technology is increasingly prominent in our everyday lives, the role of beauty is seen frequently as an extravagance. As digital technologies extend their reach, the power we have to change and expand our potential for engagement with technology grows accordingly. To regard beauty as a stylistic afterthought is a flawed strategy. The phenomenon of human-digital technology interaction raises the potential for captivation, enchantment and fascination or frustration, distrust and doubt. Here we explore the ways beauty can create accessibility to the complexities inherent in much technology, referring to examples from the applied arts. We state the case for the relevance of craft to the design of digital systems and three-dimensional digital devices focusing on the role of research and method in this process. We define beauty in this context as a form of enchantment, drawing from perspectives from philosophy, human-computer interaction and the applied arts. This paper is based on research which illustrates the role of beauty and enchantment in the conception of digital jewellery, how people respond to enchantment and beauty, and how this acts as a key to a personally meaningful engagement with digital technology. Personal subjectivity and criteria for beauty are explored and responded to through the process of making objects which aim to enchant and linking this to an equally significant mode of communication. The results present a reflective view of the role of beauty and craft knowledge in the conception and design of digital devices and interfaces.

A New Vision in the Making: Exploring the Value of Craft Education in the Information Age

Based on research funded by the Crafts Council, this paper examines the changing context of craft-based design education, and seeks to test the proposition that crafts education is providing the skills and qualities most required of people in the emerging information society. After reviewing relevant research and pespectives, the paper identifies an agenda for a continuing programme of research.

The Culture of Craft: Status and Future Peter Dormer (Editor)

Peter Dormer appeared to regard many practitioners of contemporary craft as fallen women who, having rejected the virtuous way of traditional skills and wholesome craft values, prostitute themselves on the street corners of conceptual art. His mission was to save them from themselves and to save craft from its own form of fornication with the devil - self-referential design autism. The publication of his last book provides a timely opportunity to reflect upon his contentious views on craft and design, which have often been expressed in an opinionated polemic that at times crossed the boundary into personalized abuse. His writing is invariably provocative and on occasion infuriating, driven by a seeming moral certainty.