Human culture is unique in how knowledge is transmitted and preserved, as distinguished from all other non-human cultures. This progress is referred to as the “ratchet effect” (Tomasello et al., 1993): a mechanism that faithfully conserves existing knowledge and skills within exchanges while also contributing new innovations. This dual process ensures the accumulation of cultural knowledge.

Craftsmanship has long held a central place in art and design history. While often associated with form and aesthetics, its deeper emphasis lies in dedication, tradition and quality-in the care and attention given to the process of making. As technology accelerates and productivity becomes a dominant cultural value, design movements have emerged to resist this pace. Slow technology, for instance, encourages mindful engagement with products (Hallnäs & Redström, 2002), while speculative design and design fiction invite audiences to imagine alternative futures (Dunne & Raby, 2013; Bleecker, 2009). Yet both still centre primarily on the perception of the audience and on how the work is received or interpreted. Craftsmanship, by contrast, turns inward: it concerns the mode of practice, the values and sensibilities embodied by the maker in the act of creation. It asks not what is made, but how it is made, and how that process shapes the maker themselves. In the context of design education, this focus on practice makes craftsmanship particularly resonant: it cultivates an attitude, a rhythm and a sense of responsibility toward making that extends beyond outcomes.