From Users to Outsiders: Shifting the Sphere of Independent Innovation from Own Practice to External Fields
Abstract
This paper concerns doctorial research that investigates how new manufacturing concepts can be developed by individual designers facilitated by an increased diffusion of digital fabrication tools and knowledge resources. The paper reports on a practice-based research study aimed at exploring innovation with a technical focus on the underutilised Reconfigurable Pin Tooling (RPT) concept.
The study feature two strands of enquiry; one concerning innovation with glass forming within the researcher’s own creative practice, while another strand investigate how the same tools and development approaches can deliver innovation in the furniture industry – a field outside the researcher’s practice. Both investigations seek to provide new insights into the innovation process delivered by independent designers, and how a shift can be made from undertaking innovation within their own personal practice to delivering innovation in external sectors or industries.
The study feature two strands of enquiry; one concerning innovation with glass forming within the researcher’s own creative practice, while another strand investigate how the same tools and development approaches can deliver innovation in the furniture industry – a field outside the researcher’s practice. Both investigations seek to provide new insights into the innovation process delivered by independent designers, and how a shift can be made from undertaking innovation within their own personal practice to delivering innovation in external sectors or industries.