The benefits of designer intervention to the artisan are commonly known. Designers bridge the divide between tradition and modernity, helping match craft production to the needs of modern living. In 1985-86, under the aegis of an initiative known as ‘Golden Eye’, 11 world renowned designers collaborated with Indian artisans to produce about 300 utilitarian product prototypes. These prototypes, displayed at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution in New York showcased the remarkable potential of designer-artisan collaboration. Artisans, no doubt, benefit greatly from such interaction - Golden Eye helped to create functional designs with a contemporary aesthetic which could appeal to the world market. However, the advantages to the designer through this interaction are rarely acknowledged. Craftspeople have an extensive knowledge of techniques and materials. For designers, craftspeople are the ones who translate their ideas into workable plans and products.

Students of design as well as professional designers interact with craft communities all over the world. This process of interaction often takes up a considerable amount of the artisan’s time and creative energy. Unfortunately, many of the designs developed as a result of this interaction do not make it to the production stage and provide little benefit to the artisan. On the other hand, designs which are produced are not freely blueprinted for other artisans or designers to use, adapt and improve upon.

Developed by product designer Arghya Ghosh and CRT, this site is a platform for designers and design students to display the designs they have developed in collaboration with artisans. Each object is accompanied by the project brief, methodology, description and acknowledges the tradition and the artisans who assisted in its making. Each page is a blueprint providing a step by step procedure for producing the object featured, including sources for procurement of raw materials.

Our aim is to create a platform for designer-artisan interaction. We invite you to share your experiences, ideas and products. Designers, artisans, consumers, producers, retailers, exporters, museums, private collectors and students will benefit from this database. We encourage you to use the databank as freely and often as you want. All we ask is for you to acknowledge the designer and artisan who have collaborated to conceive the design and CRT.

If you are a designer or artisan and would like to contribute, please follow the mail us link on this page. There is a format for submission which we suggest you read. If you have further queries please write to us at mail@craftrevival.org. Do also write to us if you have suggestions or have benefited from this site.