Review of "A Time for Making" from Design Perspective

I enjoyed watching this.

I went into this review with four questions.

What drives makers to make?

Which of the makers in the documentary resonated most with you? Why?

How do makers describe their connection between materials and making?

What are the relationships between design and making?

What drives a maker to make is a complicated, but simple idea. Anything and everything performed by the maker as an action is shown in their work. This then is shown in the final product once it's been made. Every technique, new idea and mistake is shown in the final product by following the process. It's a bit cheesy, but the whole point of a maker making is the journey, not the destination. The best example of this is the jewellery shown in the documentary. Anything and everything is showing up on that piece when it is done. That is fundamentally a part of the appeal.

I probably resonate with Patrick the luthier (guitar builder) from the documentary the most. My experience with guitars tells me that the guitars he makes have got to be at a bare minimum, great. As a guitarist, going to a music store, pawnshop or something and finding THE guitar is like that moment in Harry Potter where he gets his wand. Because every guitar is slightly different, and personal preferences is bound to also be slightly different. The worst guitars are the ones are the mass produced which do not have human intervention. It's hard to explain, but when building an instrument you have to pick it up and play it to make sure it feels correct. Watching Patrick put all his effort into creating a guitar, piece by piece tells me a lot about the instruments in that sense.

The makers describe the connection with the materials and making like the "Anti-Job" (*word I made up). They wake up in their making space and get to it with what's around them. The basket weaver in particular couldn't believe that anyone would pay good money for a basket made from materials around her house. What it shows is a lifestyle of self-improvement. Someone who improves their skills day after day and can use materials which cost them a fraction of the standard price, while having a connection to the area. A handmade guitar from the area will always beat out a cheap $30 guitar from Kmart, It's the nature of the craft and making as a whole.

The relationship between design and making is intertwined. Anything designed if it was to become tangible, would have to be made through the art of making. Not long ago, a maker and designer were a similar if not same job position. If you made jewellery, you designed it. You made boats, you design it. A design without the ability to be realised is just a concept. An object with no purpose or intent is junk. Even art pieces have purpose or intent, at the bare minimum. So the relationship of design and making is unbreakable.

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