On Design and Craft
Bea Correa from mindwhatyouwear dropped me a question: "what is the difference between design and craft?". This is a great topic for a longer article, and certainly many conversations have touched on it over the years.
The first thing that comes to my mind is the history of these terms. As we discussed earlier here on HobbyPrincess, 'craft' is typically linked with handcraft, hand made, something that is made by human hands from start to finish. 'Design' as a concept emerged in the late 19th century and as a professional institution in the beginning of the 20th centrury. From the beginning it was developed to serve the needs of the industry. Design as a term also implies separation from manufacturing: Products had to be "designed" before they could move to the production line. This means that a design product can be easily machine-manufactured and serially produced – something that a craft product typically cannot.
Design, more than craft, is often associated with certain aesthetic norms, which determine what is good design and what is not. These norms, like fashion, change over time and are (to a degree) controlled by professional institutions. Craft, in my opinion, emerges more out of individual and local aesthetic ideals reflecting the personality of the maker.
Many well-known designers base their work on traditional craft. For instance, here in Finland almost all the great names who went on to win gold in the Milan Triennale during the 'golden age' of Finnish design in the period from the 1930s to the 1950s had high respect for the use of original materials and traditional handcraft. Some excelled in craft skills themselves.
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Mr/Mis. I want information about the "Influence of religion on textiles and traditional design.if u help me out by sending nots on this topics then it will be a grate.
I will be weighting for ur respons.
Thanks & Regards From.
Shashikanth.
Posted by: shashikanth | February 15, 2007 at 11:13 PM