Art and Design
Designer Crafts People
The majority of designers work on domestic appliances, furniture, ceramics, clothing and textiles, the graphics for wallpapers and packaging, etc. Some designers make purely decorative objects. Having acquired the necessary skills, they set themselves up in a workshop or small business and work for themselves. Most craft designers work in hand finished furniture, ceramics (pottery), silverware, textiles and jewellery, with a few people working in more unusual areas, such as stained glass, glass blowing or engraving, wrought iron work, etc.
Successful craft designers usually combine business know how with their craft skills in order to survive. Simple market research is important. Assessing whether there is likely to be a market for the product, and the actual marketing itself, are both going to be vital to the success of a new concern. A sound business plan is essential.
Furniture:
Most furniture is mass produced, but there are small workshops producing handmade products. Learning the craft to an advanced level is a slow and arduous business. Training can be by a training placement, apprenticeship or through attendance on full time higher level courses, or a combination.
Ceramics:
Many small potteries are dotted around the country. Most potters start with an art college training and then go into business on their own.
Silverware and Jewellery
This is an area of work where both apprenticeship training and art college courses are available, as well as a limited number of training places organized by the British Jewellers Association. Most of the work is really craft based, so the designer's role can be limited, particularly at the less expensive end of the market. The creative craft designer will probably want to strike out on their own, but materials are expensive and sales uncertain. Jewellery is probably a more likely area for a craft designer to get started in than silverware, where most work is carried out by large firms with staff designers.
Textiles
This includes woven, knitted, embroidered and printed fabrics. Again, the craft designer produces something that is not provided by mass production. The craft product is usually more expensive, but attracts customers through the quality of workmanship and design flair. (See earlier sections on fashion and textile design.)
Glass blowing and engraving
Skill and design flair combine to lure customers away from mass produced glassware. There are not many craft designers in glass blowing, as the skill is difficult to acquire nowadays. Glass engravers need a high level of drawing ability, but materials and equipment are relatively cheap.
Stained glass
The demand for stained glass is relatively small, but the market has slowly expanded in recent years. Many people working in stained glass are concerned with the maintenance and repair of old glass and are employed in cathedral workshops. Numbers there are very small. New stained glass panels and objects are often designed by a designer craftsperson, but assembled by a craft worker.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
There are courses at various colleges and universities in most of the craft studies mentioned above. You will find, however, that while pottery or textiles is offered at many colleges, stained glass courses are limited to very few institutions. There are two main pathways to a career as a designer craftsperson - the BTEC Higher National Diploma route and the degree route.
To start a BTEC Higher National Diploma course at 18 plus, students normally need three/four GCSEs at grade C, followed by either a BTEC National Diploma qualification, an Advanced GNVQ, or one relevant A level with another subject studied to A level.
To follow the degree route, students of 17 or 18 years normally do a one year art and design foundation course at a local college and follow this with a three year or four year specialist degree course. Direct entry from school to a degree level course is possible with a good portfolio of work, a minimum of five GCSEs at grade C and at least one A level, but courses nearly always prefer to take people who have completed a foundation or possibly a BTEC National Diploma or Advanced GNVQ course in art and design.
The apprenticeship route into some crafts presents more difficulties. You may find a craft designer prepared to take you on. This means making contact with as many people as you can in your chosen craft. Addresses can be obtained from the Crafts Council and from the Rural Development Commission (see Further Information section). Neither of these bodies actually deals with recruiting apprentices, but the Rural Development Commission is involved with training in some rural craft specialist areas. Using your Youth Credits to find employer based training, or perhaps a Modem Apprenticeship, may be a possibility in your area. Your local careers service or TEC will be able to help you.