Version 1, December 2020
A lightly structured and partly commented selection of excerpts from various literatures. The aim is to provide food for thought on what interaction design could learn from craft.
Design is not craft. Interaction design is certainly not craft. But there are elements of interaction design that could benefit from a craft perspective.
The document provided here as a PDF for download is an annotated bibliography of sorts, collecting excerpts from a rather broad selection of sources that I find pertinent to understanding craft and what interaction design can learn from craft. The sources are drawn from several academic disciplines. I have provided my reflections and comments on some of the excerpts, and sorted them into seven categories:
- What is craft? Attempts from various disciplines, mostly craft research and art history, to define and characterize the concept of craft.
- Craft ethics. The values and driving forces underpinning craft and craft practice.
- Craft aesthetics. Beauty and other aesthetic qualities in craft.
- Practical knowing. The nature of knowledge in practice is an important part of understanding craft.
- Design, innovation. How craft relates to the design disciplines and to more contemporary notions of innovation.
- Digital craft. The effects of digitalization on traditional craft.
- Interaction design and craft. Other examples of interaction design scholars and practitioners making connections to craft.
It is my hope that this document can provide inspiration for other interaction design scholars and practitioners in their joint efforts of bringing our discipline forward.
Cite as: “Löwgren, J. (2020). Notes on craft and interaction design, version 1. Available at http://jonas.lowgren.info/ncixd.htm”
PDF downloads
The 472-page document comes in three different versions, for various reading and printing needs.
Two-up: Slightly reduced two-up for screen reading or landscape A4 printing. Provides the best overview of spreads with excerpts and their related annotations.
Plain: Single page, original layout size (140 x 210 mm), for screen reading. Provided mostly for completeness.
Sheets: Imposed for short-end duplex landscape A3 printing to yield 16-page signatures for handbinding.
Here are two different styles for some book-binding inspiration: half leather in-board (top) and Gebrochene Rücken case-bound (bottom).
