Resourceful efforts: Employing multiple strategies

The projects of Amygdala and Aljir are largely customized, in that they mostly design products based on specific demands of clients. This impacts the designing and production process between the designers and craftsmen, in which new experiments should take place every time new projects come. This extends the idea from Janzen and Weinsen (2014) that social designers should ideally be able to identify suitable project-specific practices that might involve multiple methods. Existing research on the participatory design or codesigning process often focuses solely on one-time projects, despite iterative processes being more flexible and less constrained. In the case of Amygdala and Aljir, however, the partnership between the designers and craftsmen has persisted for a long time, and thus the strategies to build products do not rely on a single type of design process. This is due to the material availability in the craft villages, as well as the different nature of demands from clients, including the quantity of products and the customized designs.

There are multiple factors that Amygdala and Aljir need to overcome to transform traditional craft products. First, the flexibility in shifting the design outcome. The obsolete and

old image of craft products has caused a decline in interest in traditional craft products among the people, which has become a primary concern for both designers and craftsmen. Responding to that, they strive to penetrate various market sectors to avoid the overreliance of craft products on a single market, and they always keep updated with the ongoing trends in the market.

Consequently, their products should be suitable for the specific needs and demands of the target markets. The flexibility to shift the design outcome is the way for both designers and craftsmen to keep producing new forms of craft product in the village, which is in line with the idea of a rebranding strategy as “a way to generate a new niche” (Fukushima, 2016, p. 173). Both designers and craftsmen reflect two objectives in their work from the outset. The first is the intention to create a product that large numbers of craftsmen can produce, and that is not too challenging for them to produce. Considering this objective, both designers and craftsmen are not able to create completely new forms of design, as they will not be compatible with the production systems of the craft villages, or with the material availability in the village.

Consequently, designers and craftsmen should strike a balance between achieving the demands of the client and adjusting designs to match the production capacity in the craft villages.

The second priority is to produce products for customized orders. This condition applies in both cases, as almost all the projects are customized, made specifically for specific clients.

One strategy, for instance, is to concentrate on serving customized orders instead of retail products, as the designers can negotiate directly with the clients. Another example is to utilize the available resources in the craft villages, such as the components or traditional skills the craftsmen have. However, this may result in instability, as craftsmen always rely on

experimentation every time new types of orders come. This production methodology implies the ability of the craftsmen and designers to adapt to new situations through constant reconstruction and development, finding new forms and functions for craft products. Moreover, the two cases reflect the strong willingness to experiment with new designs that deviate from the usual

production process. Utang, who used to make birdcages, is a good example of this. However, after meeting with Harry, they always attempted to find new functions and forms of products, such as household products, fashion goods, or interior elements. In a similar vein, Aljir also frequently challenges craftsmen in Bali to experiment with new designs. For instance, Aljir created copper cutlery sets with craftsmen who usually make door handles. Although this does not guarantee success in manufacturing products, the experimentation of designers and craftsmen reflects the iterative process of codesigning (Sanders & Stappers, 2008).

Second, the optimization of sociotechnical resources. One of the advantages of having a geographical distance between the designers in the city and the craftsmen in the rural area is the distinct resources available in each area. This combines not only the skills and abilities of the designers and craftsmen, but also the technical and material resources, such as the laser-cut machines, 3D printing, and CAD software available in the city, with the natural materials, such as bamboo, wood, and specific hand tools available in the craft villages, which are also important elements in building new products. For instance, in Aljir’s case, after the craftsmen have

completed the products in their workshops, Jimbo goes to laser-cut workshops in other places to carve the client’s logo into each product. The Amygdala case also reflects this, as Harry

attempted to combine the bamboo parts Utang made with a ceramic cup from Bandung. This is in line with the asset-based approach to the design process (McKnight & Kretzman, 1993;

Thorpe & Gamman, 2011), adjusting to the strengths within a community. In addition to the asset-based design process, the cases in this chapter show the importance of mixing and matching to optimize various assets, not only relying on the craft villages, but also optimizing the resources in the cities where the designers live. Thus, all the products use mixed materials.

Furthermore, even though the geographical distance might hinder communication,

communication technologies, such as messenger applications and e-mails, have underpinned the designing and production process. For instance, when Harry finished meeting with the client in

Bali, after sketching some ideas, he sent them directly to Utang in Selaawi village, and this allowed Utang to experiment on the prototype quickly.

Third, the multiple institutional positions of designers and craftsmen. In this case study, the designers and craftsmen have been partners for a long time, resulting in the development of their portfolio as the accumulation of their achievements. This portfolio impacts their image, as both designers and craftsmen receive acknowledgement as experts. For instance, with his attainments in achieving competitions and his excellent work, Harry has been a trainer or a guest speaker in projects organized by governmental or private institutions. Through this position, he can spread his work and design philosophy to the wider public. In a similar way, Aljir has also been involved in international exhibitions and spoken at various design training sessions, positioning itself as a design and craft expert. Moreover, as design ideas originate from

designers, they frequently have multiple identities and multiple social roles (Murphy, 2015). At the same time, however, as the projects in this case study have been collaborative, Utang as a craftsman has also become a prominent crafter in his social world, giving him an important position in various institutions in the region. The achievement such people gain becomes a portfolio that positions them to spread their work and share their design ideology about the entanglement of design and craft widely. It indirectly promotes and rebrands the traditional image of craft, as craftsmen apply new designs to craft products.