Nathaniel's Creative App Journal

Properly framing the design challenge will help to get this project going on the right foot, organise how I think about the solution, and help to clarify where I should push your design next.

1. The first task is to work out what problem I am trying to solve, written below.

Reduce the number of traditional crafts that are seldom practiced and lost in the UK.

2. The next step is to frame it as a design question.

How might we reduce the number of traditional crafts that are seldom practiced and lost in the UK.

3. Now I have to work out what the impact I am trying to have is.

Increase the number of people practicing and teaching traditional crafts, in the UK, to pass skills on to next generations.

4. Now I must write down some possible solutions to help frame the question.

• Create community focussed groups of craft enthusiasts to help foster skills sharing.
• Educate young children about crafts and enable them to pick up craft hobbies at a young age.
• Make crafts more inviting to a wider variety of people.
• Break down the barrier between those who know crafts and those who don’t.
• Create more modern, user friendly ways for crafts to be taught.
• Remove the stigma that heritage crafts have in the UK

5. Now right some constraints you have for the project.

• How might we teach physical and technical crafts through a mobile application?
• Not many of the younger generation know much about heritage crafts.
• How do you encourage younger generations to pick up physical crafts as hobbies, potential careers etc.
• Many skilled crafts people have given up heritage crafts as careers, so the skills are not being passed on.

6. Finally reframe the question to take into account the context, constraints and lead towards possible solutions.

How might we encourage more people, especially younger generations, to take up heritage craft as a hobby and show them the possibilities that there are in the UK.

This is by no means the final problem, as there is more research and refining to do, but it does give me a great start to use to refer back to during the next stage of my research and ideation.

In the UK craft does not have the same importance as other countries, such as Japan, as highlighted in the previous blog post. This is truly saddening as many important and historical traditions are being lost, as they do not hold the same cultural importance as

“Over the last 10 to 15 years, quite a lot of the folk we used to work with have retired or died without passing their skills on,” Mr Woods from the HCA says.

Examples of crafts being forgotten:

Swilling

Swilling, or oak basket making, is a skill native to the area around Coniston, in Cumbria.

Swilled baskets can be seen in the illustrations of Beatrix Potter and were common until after World War Two, when materials such as plastic became popular. The baskets were used down coal mines and even for carrying babies. 

Swilling involves tearing thin strips from a trunk of boiled coppiced oak, then weaving them round larger strips, known as “spelks”, which form the ribs of the basket. Owen Jones is England’s only full-time swill basket maker but runs classes to try to keep the tradition alive. “When I first started 25 years ago, everyone in the local area knew what swilling was,” he said. “Now there’s a whole generation who have never heard of it.”

Copper

Alastair Simms is one of the few remaining master coopers in the country, but he has a feeling he is in a resurgent industry. Large companies like Theakstons and Marstons employ less-experienced coopers, while the revival of real ale means many micro breweries are also interested in the craft. Mr Simms learned his trade at Theakstons, one of a number of breweries that prides itself on using wooden, as well as metal casks. The craft dates back centuries and Mr Simms said there was even a mention of a cooper being listed as “important cargo” in the insurance documents of the Pilgrim Fathers, early English settlers of North America. He uses planks of English oak, bent into shape using fire or steam and held together with iron hoops. He now supplies an assortment of breweries that are interested in how different types of barrel affect the taste of the ale stored in it.

Wood Turning

Robin Wood, a forester, says the traditional craft of turning wooden bowls on a pole lathe dates back to neolithic times.

“I believe these skills are part of our heritage, as much as the historical buildings and wildlife we seek to protect.” Robin Wood, Wood turner

“It’s hard, physical labour but it’s also very wholesome and fulfilling.”

He built his own lathe out of fence posts and read numerous books on the craft before taking it up. He now produces just under 1,000 bowls a year, varying in size from small olive bowls to larger soup dishes. “Until about 10 years ago, I was the only person in England doing this,” he said. “I have now taught a number of people in this country and around the world.” Mr Wood has supplied bowls to museums, such as the Jorvik Viking Centre in York, and film sets, including Ridley Scott’s production of Robin Hood. He is also chairman of the Heritage Crafts Association, which seeks to promote and preserve such skills.

Hand Carved Clogs

Jeremy Atkinson, who has made clogs from sycamore blocks since the 1970s, believes there is a bit of snobbery attached to the shoes. “Most of my sales are in America,” he said. “A lot of people in England seem to think they are shoes for northerners.” Mr Atkinson, from Kington, believes he is the only person in the country using traditional techniques to make the shoes from wood and leather.” The older techniques all work,” he said. “After all, people had several hundred years to get them right. “Nowadays they have been largely forgotten. I make them for people who want something different. “I make them for film sets and tree surgeons and people who just fancy them. They are leftovers from another age.”

Trug Making

Trugs, baskets for harvesting food or collecting grain, have been made in Sussex for 200 years. 

For Sarah Page, it was a business that came with the house she and her family bought in the 1990s – Coopers Croft in Herstmonceux. “My three children were at school and I was looking for something to do,” she said. “Trugs had been made here since 1899. “There is a great tradition of trug-making in this village. It’s like trug Mecca.” With the help of some of the older villagers Mrs Page learned the techniques of making trugs, which have a sweet chestnut frame and willow boards. “It takes about five years to [learn how to] make them with enough speed and quality to be viable,” she said. Mrs Page is the last trug-maker left in the village and she knows of only six other people who can make them. “I think it will die out, unfortunately,” she said.

Wooden Ladder Making

Stanley Clark trained as a wooden ladder maker but retired from the trade 20 years ago.

“It was the trade I learned as a young man but aluminium ladders came in in the 1960s and 18 months later, nobody wanted the wooden ones,” he says.

“We used to make more than 2,000 ladders a year, made to measure ones, out of Colombian and Norwegian pine.

“Once the aluminium ladders came in, I made the odd one for a window cleaner who wanted a made to measure ladder but that was it. There are now only a few people left who can make the wooden ones.”

These examples give key insights into the problems that face those forging a career in craft, but the example of the Cooper whose business is surging shows there is hope for craft to make a resurgence. Think of how many Woden ladders are being used in houses nowadays top display textiles, or add another element to the interior. Or how a focus on sustainability could put more focus on sustainable and natural materials in shoe making. There is more hope now that anytime in the past 50 years that craft will make a resurgence. Just how we can promote that is the question.

Of the 65 million people living in England today, it is estimated that 30,000 make a living from heritage crafts.

Right now, nobody can be certain of the precise numbers of makers for each craft, but in 2004 a report was published that gave some rough estimates such as: over one thousand dry stone wallers, between 100-200 chestnut fencers and four people who can still make hay rakes. Anecdotal evidence points to just one traditional clog maker, one scissor maker and one person who can still weave oak spale baskets, used in the Lake District for potato harvesting.

The Ise Jingu grand shrine in Mie Prefecture, Japan, is remarkable for many reasons. Set among woodland, the complex includes row upon row of perfectly aligned fencing and includes a magnificent palace of Amaterasu-Omikami, one of the major deities of the Shinto religion. The shrine is also as big as Paris. And every 20 years locals tear it down and then rebuild it from the ground up. They have been doing this for around 1, 300 years. Why? To ensure the craft skills used in every part of the shrine don’t miss a generation and remain in active use. This gives the young apprentices the chance to learn from masters face-to-face, or rather hand-to-hand.

In 2003 UNESCO created an important convention for safeguarding “intangible heritage”. A formal recognition that heritage craft skills, along with oral traditions, performing arts and festive events, are as important as monuments. It came as no surprise that Japan was third of the 168 countries to ratify. There are 198 countries in the world. 30 have not yet ratified, approved or accepted. The UK, along with Somalia and North Korea, is one of them. Patricia Lovett, the vice-chair of the Heritage Craft Association, believes that Japan can teach us a lot about how to treat our makers and how to recognise intangible heritage. “In Britain we are very good at looking after and listing our buildings…but Japan lists its makers as official living treasures. It’s a statement of intent really, showing that it’s the people who create the things and the mastery of the skills that matters. ”

The crafts have ended up on the endangered lists due to various factors, such as limited training opportunities and a lack of mechanism to pass on the skills and knowledge, however research conducted by Airbnb into the nation’s hobbies also provides some insight into the problem.

Hobbies have become less of a priority to the population, with a quarter (26%) of Brits stating they don’t have one, and 31% unable to remember their last hobby.

Unsurprisingly, the main reasons for Brits not taking part in hobbies these days were:

Although Brits may have fewer hobbies, a third of respondents stated they’d be more interested in trying out a craft if they knew it was in danger of dying out – which has now been made possible thanks to the collaboration between Airbnb and the HCA offering ‘critically endangered’ crafts as Experiences available to book on the platform.

“Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire” – Gustav Mahler

Research from:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/feb/08/five-traditional-crafts-do-something-creative

https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/lifestyle/raiders-of-the-lost-crafts-a7324826.html

As part of my research I want to start by focussing my research into Guernsey crafts and heritage to help preserve important crafts to my island.

The National Trust of Guernsey was the first place I visited in order to find information about what is done in Guernsey to preserve valuable crafts. I quickly found this great event coming up about wool and textiles, which is synonymous with the traditional Guernsey.

WOOL AND TEXTILES CRAFT HERITAGE EVENT

Whilst Guernsey’s and knitting are not going to die out imminently, there are familial patterns and techniques that have become engaged and extinct. It would be wise for me to contact someone at the National Trust regarding Guernsey crafts and in particular Guernsey’s.

Another Guernsey craft is Copper Cans, traditionally used for carrying milk and have been made by craftsman on the island for over a 1000 years.

http://www.guernseycans.co.uk

This is a craft that is craft is under threat as there is only 1 craftsman left on the island. This would be worth further research.

After my initial research into the decline of crafts I thought the most important area to research would be what makes a traditional craft be lost. Previously I referenced the HCA’s list of issues affecting the viability of heritage craft. This seems to be the best, and most thorough, reasoning I have found so far.

The following are reasons that have been attributed to the decline of crafts and were found on: https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/redlist/issues-affecting-the-viability-of-heritage-crafts/

Training:

• A general lack of training opportunities and a lack of quality training, standards and qualifications.
• The loss of traditional methods of skills transmission, such as apprenticeships and intra-family transmission
• The closure of further and higher education courses, and a loss of focus on the practical skills of making.
• Many courses are now very short and not taught to a formal qualification standard.
• The cost of these course for both the trainee and the teacher are high.
• Lost of these crafts are difficult to teach quickly leading to low level of understanding.

Recruitment

• A lack of awareness that the craft exists as a career option, or a lack of awareness of career opportunities within the sector. This is compounded by the lack of craft-oriented teaching in schools.
• Difficulties in finding trainees with the appropriate skills and experience, such as basic woodworking and metalworking skills. This is partly due to a lack of making in schools, particularly the closure of woodworking and metalworking departments.
• An unwillingness for people to enter into a career where it is very difficult to make a living.

Ageing Workforce

Many crafts raised the issue of an ageing skilled workforce, with few or no younger people entering the craft. In some cases, the youngest known craftsperson may be in their 50s or 60s.

Loss of craft skills

• In some crafts, there are very few professional practitioners working to a high standard and the craft is dominated by non-professional practitioners.
• A loss of skills due to a shift in focus from making from scratch to repair, restoration or conservation.
• A loss of skills due to teaching being undertaken by people who do not have much experience themselves, and who therefore pass on lower-level skills.
• A general loss of skills within the craft, perhaps resulting from a fall in demand leading to the craft being practised less regularly, or from the mechanisation of production and the increased use of technology, such as CNC machines and digital printing.

Market Issues

• Falling demand or a decreasing market for the product.
• Fluctuating demand for the product, as some crafts are affected by changing tastes and fashions, such as wallpaper making or wood turning.
• Limited demand for the product, either because it is has only ever had a limited demand/market, or has been very niche for a long time, such as armour and helmet making.
• Low demand for a hand-made, British-made version of the product, the cost of which is seen by many to be off-putting to potential customers. This is compounded by a lack of understanding of the time, effort and skill which go into craft work and account for the perceived high-cost of an item.
• The rise of internet shopping was cited as both a problem and a benefit to crafts. Internet shopping is believed to have made customers impatient, meaning that they are not prepared to wait for a hand-made and sometimes custom-made item, and has driven customers to focus on price rather than quality. However, the internet has enabled craftspeople to market themselves much widely, including internationally.

Traditional crafts are an ‘intangible heritage’ where the craftsmanship skills themselves are valued more than the end product. UNESCO defined this as:

“Any efforts to safeguard traditional craftsmanship must focus not on preserving craft objects – no matter how beautiful, precious, rare or important they might be – but on creating conditions that will encourage artisans to continue to produce crafts of all kinds, and to transmit their skills and knowledge to others.” (https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/intangible-cultural-heritage/)

Traditional crafts must be seen as important as monuments, buildings and works of art, but in a different sense. These skills need to be passed on to new generations and spread the skills, before their knowledge is lost and forgotten. The Heritage Crafts Association has put together a list of crafts that are engaged and extinct, was WWF does with animals.

Below is an excerpt from the list.

This shows the shear variety of skills and crafts that have been lost from the UK or are on the verge of being lost. But how do these become lost? What causes crafts to go extinct?

According to a report by Creative & Cultural Skills Organisation, “Craft employment growth increased by 11% between the years 1997 and 2006, one of the highest growth rates of the creative and cultural industries.” (http://blueprintfiles.s3.amazonaws.com/1319724056-11_20_Craft-blueprint.pdf)

This shows that craft itself is a growing sector as one that people are looking to interact with and be part of. But the difference between this and endangered traditional skills is that these skills are being taught, are financially viable as a career and have many practitioners to teach new apprentices.

HCA (heritage Crafts Association) see the loss of crafts to be caused by a combination of the following; lack of training, lack of recruitment, an ageing workforce, a dwindling loss of market demand and changing methods of working. (https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/redlist/issues-affecting-the-viability-of-heritage-crafts/)

This reaffirms my initial research that craft is indeed a valuable asset and something that should be treasured. This brief research has kick started this project with the next steps being further research. I will read further into the topic in order to fund more causes of the loss of craft and what possible solutions there are.

To start this module I wanted to create an application that solved a real world problem that is tangible and needs solving. I started the research process into issues I felt were not regularly talked about and were not in the public eye. I soon came across this article on the Guardian about the risk of local crafts dying out.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/dec/30/traditional-skills-endangered-heritage-craft

In this article they raise the fact that many traditional craft skills are not being utilised and passed on to new generations. They are at risk of being lost and forgotten. This really spoke to me as I am very into my practical skills, sewing, painting, woodwork, leatherwork etc. It struck me that losing these skills would be devastating. Skills such as basket weaving, clog making and denim making were once pillars of communities and have now been exported elsewhere to make way for globalisation.

In Guernsey we have strong heritage and tradition like every outlying part of a country. The one craft that makes Guernsey what it it is the Guernsey jumper. This is knitted using a very specific and traditional technique and pattern, but is known by only a few local craftspeople. Losing a craft like this may not be likely immediately as these are very commercial objects, but it is possible if the skill is not transferred.

With this first block of research I hope to define what makes traditional skills so important, how they can become lost and how this problem is being tackled across the UK.