The Culture of Craft (CADCAM and industrial ceramics)

The Culture of Craft
Peter Dormer
Manchester University Press, 1997

‘CADCAM and the British Ceramics Tableware Industry’
Neal French

Neal French contributes a chapter to The Culture of Craft discussing the changes and challenges that CADCAM has brought to the traditional modelling skills used in the pottery industry. The book was published in 1997 and some parts seem outdated as digital technology has moved on both in accessibility and what it can do.

In his introduction he briefly mentions other changes that have happened in the industry,

“another change concerns the way the evolution of style in ceramic design has become market driven. This led to what some people perceive as ‘conservatism’ or even ‘timidity’ in design.” (French, 1997:158)

I have selected this quote as it an example of how ceramic form is influenced in many different ways. French discusses how the market influences form, for example the pressures of ease of production and consumer demand. He also writes that as companies focus more and more on market research that gives out similar results to all, it creates less distinction between the forms produced. He adds that

“Today there seems almost to be a desire for anonymity, a feeling that the only way one should be able to tell the origin of a piece of their china is by the back stamp.” (French, 1997:159)

French explains that something that influenced the ceramic forms produced before the 1960s was the relationship between the designer and the modeller responsible for interpreting the drawings into plaster models. He writes that often this was a frustrating process as the designer felt their ideas were not being realised satisfactorily and they themselves usually did not have the skills to produce their complex designs. However, in the 1960s tastes changed and shapes were simpler, allowing the designers to work directly in 3D. He points out that despite this new freedom they still did not control what was produced as the company directors had to be convinced. Making the plaster models look as close to the finished item as possible helped this process, and when CADCAM became an option for creating prototypes many ceramics companies took it up. (French, 1997:161,162)

In a section titled ‘Comparisons’ French begins by writing that CADCAM has reduced the time taken to develop a tableware range from two years to twelve weeks. Although being able to react to the market quickly is desirable, he writes that

“compressing the development time into twelve weeks also entails a compression of thinking time: it allows the modeller and designer much less opportunity to reflect upon what they are creating.” (French, 1997:164)

He argues that the ‘traditional’ approach “allowed a certain liveliness to enter into the design and modelling process” (French in Dormer, 1997:165), he feels that this ’spontaneity’ is lacking in designs made on the computer. Having used both traditional and digital technology to test out an idea for a form, I think that rapid prototyping a design developed on the computer allows for much more freedom and spontaneity and gives a better indication of the final result than the process of trying to interpret a drawing into a plaster model.

French touches on the clay as a material. He writes,

“Ceramic ware, however produced, is made from clay. It ought to show this and not look as if it is made from some other material such as metal or plastic.” (French, 1997:165)

He fails to recognise that since ceramics were first made thousands of years ago clay has always imitated other materials. This imitation has influenced its form and uses, which Robin Hopper discusses in his book Functional Pottery (Hopper, 2000:?). Indeed as Philip Rawson writes, to try and separate the influences of other materials on clay from ceramics would be a waste of time (Rawson 1971:?).

In his final paragraph French writes that

“most manufacturers do not want to use the creative potential of CAD; they are using CADCAM as a slave to model inoffensive, undemanding shapes…to break this stylistic monotony it is necessary for shape designers to work with computer modellers to explore together what the computer can do” (French, 1997:167)

I think that the role of breaking the ‘stylistic monotony’ falls ideally to a craftsperson, who has the potential to combine the skills of the designer, the computer modeller, and the traditional plaster modeller.

He concludes by questioning whether it is necessary for designers or computer modellers to have any hands-on experience in modelling in clay and plaster, however, as I mentioned above I think that a breadth of knowledge can only be a good thing (French, 1997:167).