What? Why? How? If? - Proforma

2010
Name: Annahita Mackee
Tutor: Richie Manu

Introduction

This proforma is designed to help you to define and articulate your MA question, subject, motive, methodology and research strategy. Make sure that you answer all the questions and think about the relationship between them and the impact that this will have on your strategy and ambitions.

What

What is your main personal ambition?

To feel joy, love and passion. Expand and discover more about myself. Undo my conditioning, clearing personal and generational history and transforming myself.

What is your main professional ambition?

To find a profession that utilizes the best and most creative parts of myself; and affords me the opportunity to grow. To work for myself in an environment that attracts like-minded souls.

What is your main area of research interest?

Craftsmen, artisans, lost skills and the possible creative collaborations, collusions and collisions with new manufacturing techniques and materials.

What is your question? (Your question needs to ask, “how can” and must indicate the means as well as the end that you hope to achieve)

How can we mix new technologies and ancient crafting skills to create designs that arouse the ever-more demanding customer?

How can traditional crafting skills survive in the digital age?

How can the development of new technologies ensure lost crafts are re-awoken?

How can the lost skills of ancient craftsmen be combined with new technologies to produce exciting sustainable designs for the ever-more demanding consumer?

WHY

Why do you think that this question will enable you to achieve your main personal ambition?

I believe my question will allow me to meet a wide range of people with a variety of skills that I can learn, it will allow me to create, and help me find my passion. I hope these new skills and my new found understanding of lost crafts will allow me to develop my creativity and myself.

Why do you think that this question will enable you to achieve your main professional ambition?

I hope to meet like-minded souls through this project and see how they make a living using their creativity, which will help me reverse my conditioning and allow me to fulfil my true potential. I hope to build up a portfolio of work throughout the project and exhibit my work online and physically, allowing me to build a network of useful contacts.

HOW

How has your research informed your question so far?

My research so far has allowed me to search out lost crafting skills. Look at combinations of old and new techniques, allowed me to compare labour-intensive quality items that are locally sourced, low energy, recycled or recyclable with mass-produced high energy, high waste, high toxin items.

How will desk research inform your outcome?

Desk research will allow me to investigate lost crafts and skills as well as new manufacturing techniques and materials. To find craftsmen to visit. Investigate product innovations and creative collaborations. I will also complete a variety of market research on what consumers are really demanding from designers, new products, and services; this will allow me to investigate ways of utilizing forgotten skills to satisfy these needs.

How will field research inform your outcome?

I will need to meet a lot of artisans and craftsmen to understand their artistry and hope that I can reach a level of proficiency in a number of new disciplines. I will also need to meet designers that currently use old methods with a contemporary twist. I also hope to see first hand various new manufacturing techniques.

How has your artefact extended your understanding of the potential of your question?

By looking at artefacts created using ancient techniques or artefacts that combine modern technology/thinking with traditional ideas I can see that there is a real depth to my question and a real opportunity to develop this further.

How do you intend to develop the next stages of artefact iterations?

With the development of my skills and ideas I hope do produce a variety of artefacts throughout my journey. The conclusion of this project will be the production of an artefact that fully integrates the modern and the traditional.

How do you intend to ensure that your feedback will challenge as well as support your preconceptions?
I hope to get feedback from a variety of sources, designers, craftsmen, consumers and businesses.

How do you know that the individuals and organization/s that you need to inform your research are prepared to co-operate?

I understand that there will always be some difficulty getting access to the appropriate gate-keepers, however so far I have not had that experience. I have spoken to a number of people who specialise in traditional handicrafts who have all been very interesting in passing on their techniques. I have also visited the studios of a number of Creatives and spoken to them about the possibility of combining new and old techniques.

How does theory play a role in the methods you are using to define, gather and analyze your research question? (Define which methods?)

I will initially use qualitative research techniques to look at, describe and understand the crafting skills and ideas, as well as the new technologies available. There will be a level of qualitative research into the beliefs and values of consumers about new and old technologies, which will allow be to form the questions, identify the sample group for the quantitative research.

How important is time planning to the achievement of your outcome and how have you worked out your strategy for using time (answer this with a fully worked out time plan)

Time planning is essential to ensure I schedule in the time needed for the desk research as well as the very time consuming visits to specialists to observe and learn new techniques. Without this I will not have the skills or the time to create and develop my artefact. See attached time plan

How are you going to be able to manage the resource implications of your research strategy? (Answer this with a detailed budget)

My research project will have a variety of costs from visiting craftsmen and producing artefacts to postcards for the exhibition. See attached budget.

How do you intend to balance your research project with your commitment to the exhibition team (answer this with clarification of your role responsibilities and time allocation)?

I am fully aware of the time and responsibility planning an exhibition will take, and am really looking forward to applying the skills I use in my job (project management/PR/event planning) to help the exhibition team; this is included in my time plan.

IF

If all goes well where do you hope your mastery of your subject will position you at the end of the Course?

I look forward to the completing this process as I feel it will allow me to grow personally and professionally and lead me to some creative and productive answers as well as new questions! I would then like to develop these new questions after my course, one outcome I would like to achieve would be to produce a model/template of how to combine the old and the new to create sustainable designs for the future.