Designer or Artisan -Design versus Craftsmanship in Digital Design Håkan EDEHOLT*, Michael JOHANSSON*, Simon NIEDENTHAL* *Arts and Communication (K3), Malmoe University, SE-205 06 Malmoe, SWEDEN {hakan.edeholt,michael.johansson,simon.niedenthal}@k3.mah.se Abstract: As we are approaching the Information – or Post Industrial – Society, we need to question the implications for those designing artifacts for this new context. We therefore present a paper on practice-based design education, for a context in which design has evolved from the requirements set by the Industrial Society to the ones of the Information Society. It is a context that closely relates to the currently emerging situation where Information and Communication Technology (ICT) move from the desktop to pervade most aspects of our everyday world. We show that qualities inherent in the ICT require a deeper understanding of the digital material than common sense seems to demand. There is an urgent need to not only understand ICT as an efficient tool but also as a “design material” with a unique set of characteristics. In order to achieve that, we believe that designers need an understanding of ICT that more resembles the traditional craftsmen’s relation to materials and tools. Our analysis indicates that efforts should be concentrated on issues concerning aspects of technology, integration and disciplinarity. These issues involves a new kind of a more open and instant prototyping environment (the versatile technology aspect), used in temporary design teams (the broad integration aspect) where different professions can develop their own specialization (the deep disciplinary aspect). Finally we suggest an approach based on what we call CraftLabs, a node in an open network of competencies, inviting other parties to engage in the development of future products and educational frameworks. Key words: Design Education, Ubicomp, Prototyping, Conceptual Components, Digital Art, Digital Design 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 The industrial versus post-industrial mindset When Adam Smith made the competitive advantages of ‘division of labor’ evident [1], he not only paved the way for the industrialized mode of production, but also for an evolution in which craftsmen either had to move in more artistic or more industrial directions. Those moving in the industrial direction were divided into ‘implementers’ and ‘specifiers’, roughly corresponding to blue-collar workers and designers. In Scandinavia the new design profession typically grew out of two distinct educational traditions, that of Arts and Crafts on one hand, and Architecture on the other. This division roughly corresponds to the ‘implementers’ and the ‘specifiers’ of the pre-industrialized society.