Pinterest party

Juxtapoz Handmade (cont.)

All is not what it seems with this pile of 'junk' - it's all handcrafted down to every last detail. 

Paper craft is a thing of incredible beauty and something I admire very much. It's something that has been transformed and utilised a lot over the past few years within adverts, branding, tv and just generally within design to create something so engaging the audience can't look away. 

Juxtapoz Handmade

I just have no words for this piece of design. I think it's absolutely beautiful and it's one of my favourite book covers. For something so intricate to be made from something so simple is incredible. It's things like this that make me question how people can even question the value of handmade design. Look at it, it's a whole town made of box houses! For me handmade is just design that keeps on giving, there's so many small details on each house that I'm pretty certain you could spot something you hadn't before each time you go back to it. 

Hands on design

"As our lives become increasingly digitalised, and we consume more images on-screen, the presence of handmade elements in a digital context brings the content back into our ‘real’ world and our tactile experiences."

Another article I found on CreativeBloq, this time from May 2013:

http://www.creativebloq.com/future-handmade-design-5132895

There are some really interesting comments made within this article about what it is that makes handmade so valuable. It is stated that there is a sense of honesty in the handmade process, and that's something that I would definitely agree with. You are taking raw materials and turning them into something incredible, something that you don't get with digital design. Granted, you can create immensely beautiful things with a computer from scratch but I just don't feel the same sense of achievement, as I said before. It seems much more treasured too, it's a one off and yes while you may have photographs of it you don't have backups of copies and surely that makes it that little bit more special? This particular article has also alerted me to the existence of an amazing website called http://www.ikeahackers.net/ where people send in adapted versions of their IKEA products or alternative uses for them. 

"What takes months of planning and building by hand could be achieved in minutes on a computer, but the final image would lack integrity. It’s the story behind the making of such an image that captures the imaginations of viewers."

 This particular article has also alerted me to the existence of an amazing website called http://www.ikeahackers.net/ where people send in adapted versions of their IKEA products or alternative uses for them. Consumers taking back control if the product does not meet their requirements/is not adequate. 

All the comments and points made in this article relate perfectly to my earlier question of 'is handmade valued more?' and if so then why? I will further analyse the article and comments made, and look into the 'honesty' of handmade design as I think this could be a good feature to focus on. It's something I completely agree with. The article also states that handmade has been making a return for around a decade so I will be looking back further to see if I can find any examples. 

"The future of handmade is not simply about an aesthetic or a set of tools or practices, then, but a system of beliefs, or an ethic about ways of working that upholds quality, craftsmanship and innovation. The handmade in design is bound up with wider cultural changes relating to consumption. The hegemony of the mass-produced is compromised when we, as consumers, feel the need, and find ways to reverse it, by hacking its products into something more personal, rewarding and long-lived. Fundamentally, we are rediscovering our hands as tools, making us active participants in designing the future."

Microwaves? Huh?

Now I'm sure you're all (not) wondering what the URL of this blog is all about. Maybe if I tell it in a story I can make it more interesting for you? Okay, here we go:

Once upon a time there was a graphic designer named Milton Glaser who created a very famous logo, something about New York, and he went on to create some incredible work and say some important things and everyone loved him. One day he said something very thought provoking, that "Computers are to design as microwaves are to cooking" - and he was right. 

Now on a serious note, what Glaser said is something that in one way or another is reiterated to us at some point in this industry. On more than one occasion one of my tutors has said to me that the Mac/PC is just a tool, an expensive pencil, an aid to the final piece. The digital side is not what makes the piece, it is the thoughts and creativity behind it. What Glaser is saying is that the 'microwave' (computer) in design is too much of an easy option, and by spending time preparing/working on something with fresh ingredients (ideas) can create a much better dish (final piece). Purely digital design often feels very churned out as if on a production line and this is not the way design should be seen. 

This quote from Glaser was featured in an article about handmade design on the CreativeBloq website [March 6th 2007, 11:05am] where the shift towards more tradition mediums was examined by an illustrator and agent Lawrence Zeegen. Several artists were discussed within this post and it definitely made for an interesting read. But the subheading on Glaser's section caught my eye - Microwaving mediocrity. Following the quote from Glaser, Zeegen writes 'The man had a point: simply reheating ready meals rather than cooking with fresh ingredients every time can leave the palette craving new tastes and experiences. Serving up mediocre and mundane dishes day-after-day isn't good for the soul - whereas experimentation is the spice-of-life.'

The full article can be found here: http://www.creativebloq.com/computer-arts/hand-made-3079573

Hello!

Welcome to my dissertation blog, a place for structured research and the occasional ramble (most likely more of the latter). If you're looking for a graphic design student discussing the importance of handmade design and the prospect of handmade and digital working hand in hand then you are in the right place! If not, I wont mind if you just click the 'back' button on your browser. Alternatively, I'll be posting lots of inspirational design/pretty pictures and artists/books of note so if that sounds like something you might like then get comfortable and enjoy. 

My original working title and abstract are below.

Working title;
Despite advances within technology in creating design for digital means is there still value in using more physical and traditional mediums? 

Abstract;
More and more in recent years handmade and 3D solutions have become increasingly popular within the design industry and in universities up and down the country. With studios such as Snask and Pixelgarten leading the way it’s time to question why should we be constrained by digital? From advertising to typography, a variety of medias across the board have undergone a handmade makeover, utilising photography as one of the only digital processes involved. Closer to home, with the rise of Pinterest and its community of makers, is handmade increasing in popularity through how inclusive it is? Is this a question of handmade vs digital, or merely an insight into the two processes working together in harmony and what that could hold for the future of design?

Key aims of research:
1) Question why the ‘back to basics’ approach
2) Highlight the importance of handmade and 3D design within the industry 

3) Has digital been overused?
4) Question why people are working in what are considered traditional means when digital    
     has been the prominent forerunner for a few decades

So now to answer the obviously burning question, why handmade/3D graphics? You're a graphic designer, surely you should be rooting for digital? 

Actually, no. Traditional methods within graphic design/the industry as a whole is something that has interested me since college and is something I've experimented in frequently, unfortunately not to the level that I desire as of yet but I'm aiming to change that in 3rd year, alongside this essay. It's with the rise of Pinterest that I have been exposed to so much more handmade/traditional graphic design - how ironic, digital has exposed me to more traditional. As an avid book hoarder I have a good amount of design books on both handmade and digital but I find the handmade much more engaging - and I think this feeling continues through to the actual work being put out there. Do the audience, be they designers themselves or non-designers, feel that there is much more value to a piece of design that has been crafted by hand? That is not to say that there has not been some digital processes involved - here is part of my discussion - that they can work so well together to create something much more interactive.

I feel that one of the only issues here with handmade is that it can often bring up one of the designer/artist's favourite things to hear from someone not in this line of work - 'Oh I could do that/anyone can do that' etc etc. I've heard it many many times, mostly when I used to make and sell jewellery - if you could do it, then why don't you? Simple. 

I feel that I may be getting slightly off track here. My point is, handmade has made a triumphant return over the past few years even with all the new digital processes available to us as designers. It personally gives me more of a feeling of accomplishment if I've barely used the Mac and done a lot by hand. There's also much more material available on the subject; Amazon and Waterstones have a fairly good selection of books, Creative Bloq has covered the subject, as well as arts magazines such as Frankie and Computer Arts. With the rise of platforms such as Pinterest, Etsy and Tumblr unknown/smaller artists can be discovered and recognised for their talents. Craft is back and bigger than ever. 

It's probably time for me to stop talking on this post (I told you it would be a lot of rambling). So to sum up:
- return of handmade/is it valued more
- handmade vs digital or handmade and digital

- something else

If you've made it this far down, I salute you. Bye!