The Maker's Mark, part 1

Detail showing Luke Batten’s maker’s mark on his Fragment tables in walnut, American ash and glass. A single symmetrical and repeating module inspired by cell reproduction and the photomicrography of bone creates a series of customisable sculptural tables. Photo: Rohan Thomson

Words and photos: Luke Batten

Storytelling is an integral part of our culture. It touches nearly every industry, drives decision making and forms our shared culture. Narrative is synonymous with craft. It is the essential characteristic in the creation and marketing of craft. Offering genuine authenticity and greater emotional connection, craft leverages narrative to be uniquely bespoke and deeply personal.

Abundance created through commercial design and mass production intensifies the desire for objects to offer more than mere practical benefits – for narrative. We yearn for meaning. Objects that inspire and captivate us, that we identify with, and objects that convey our values are increasingly sought.

Craft and craftsmanship are inseparable. Authorship is not only central to craft but also a cornerstone of the craft story. In fact, every creative industry is established around authorship. However, as creative industries increasingly rely on other people or use nontraditional making systems to realise their work, authorship and attribution becomes complicated.

Each contribution made in the development of a piece of work helps bring it to life, even those that appear insignificant. Yet, in many creative contexts attribution is simply inadequate, and individual contributions are often neglected.

Craftspeople of all mediums appear to sit in a grey zone of poor attribution. It is odd, as undoubtedly the realisation of any design is equal to or greater than the idea, and after all an unrealised idea is just that.

Full view of Fragment tables, shown top. Photo: Rohan Thomson

Narrative

The persistent romanticism of the handmade creative process, relating to creativity, skill and production, makes craft compelling. This creation process is a rich pre-purchase narrative – who designed it, how it was designed, how it was made, the tools and techniques involved, and the materials used. Not surprising then, is the post-purchase narrative that develops between user and craft object. The depth of this shared experience is distinct to handmade craft objects, connecting craftsperson with user through the object. work. In academia, authorship is embraced with every contribution appropriately acknowledged. Although, within creative industries this tends to manifest as ‘selective attribution’, particularly as the number of individuals involved increases – one contribution is emboldened over another, or contributors are completely omitted.

The shift in Western culture to value knowledge workers over blue-collar workers is part of this story, signalling perhaps that ideas are valued first and foremost. Knowledge workers such as designers are highly regarded, yet craftspeople who emphasise physical creation but also operate as narrow knowledge workers appear to be less valued. With surprising consistency physical creation is overlooked as a form of knowledge work – production design. Even as the divide between craft and design progressively widens, one part of the story remains mutually significant – authorship, which acknowledges the contributions made to create original

Traditional craft emphasises maker authorship, while mass production typically neglects the maker(s) in favour of design authorship, or diminishes all contributions through wider brand attribution. This suggests that selective attribution is intentional and is used as a marketing lever determined by perceived consumer value.

To this end, brands emphasise front-end values (lifestyle aspirations), mirroring consumer demand, where price point and transactional personal benefits take priority. While craftspeople tend to engage with back-end aspects, to accentuate process, construction and materiality.

Each industry doubles down on what makes it distinct – a narrative around concept design or a narrative around production design and material. Attempting to accentuate these aspects for greater appeal.

Luke Batten’s branding applied to a box made from ash. Photo: Rohan Thomson

Matters of credit

Attribution matters because people matter. Within our culture the importance of authorship cannot be understated. Throughout history we persist in glorifying the singular creative genius. We idealise the notion of the self-made person and the lone creative prodigy. There is a much wider picture here though, one where it takes groups of people and multiple viewpoints to make large creative breakthroughs.

Large projects are susceptible to non-attribution or selective attribution despite typically involving multiple people in their creation. It is common with selective attribution, for the availability of information to be condensed or omitted depending on how and where a project is engaged with.

Misleading consumers through selective attribution occurs because there is no standard or guidance on what attribution should look like. Surprisingly, it takes place across the entire creative landscape, from individual makers to small business to national projects and galleries.

If making is essential to the creation of any artwork or object, non-attribution suggests that an individual’s production expertise is replaceable or interchangeable. However, this is a grey area, as makers, just as people, aren’t interchangeable and measuring expertise between makers is incredibly complex.

It is a curious dichotomy – nowhere is authorship more important than in our creative fields, yet this is where poor attribution persists. Artistic authorship is significant as true creativity is ambiguous and non-formulaic.

In a craft context, selective attribution or non-attribution is a missed opportunity. It demonstrates a certain level of disregard for that person, their profession, their contribution. More severely though, it is a rejection of craft at its core – the craft message is lost, and the central craft tenants, such as integrity, and authenticity, are called into question.

Above: Luke Batten’s maker’s mark and the branding tool and jig used to produce it. Photos: Luke Batten

Initial brand

My own maker’s mark is underpinned by simplicity; designed to be unique, tactile, derived from my own hand, efficient to apply, repeatable, hard to remove, long-lasting and one that doesn’t distract from the made object.

Since childhood I have drawn, and over time I started to sign my sketches with my initials. These quickly became the most obvious choice for my branding and also my makers mark. The exact letter forms were informed by my industrial design studies where I learnt architectural printing, albeit crudely.

The design for my maker’s mark has gone through two iterations, with more likely to occur in the future. The first was a full-sized scan of my initials and the second was a smaller scaled version for smaller work. From each design, an electric branding iron insert was machined from solid brass to create efficient, repeatable, and tactile impressions on my work, and provide a lasting link between me and the object.

Branding

Attribution has an important role to play in building reputation. Within the creative industries, as reputation builds, authorship value grows in parallel. For late career artists, who have established their credentials through a body of work, exhibitions and competitions, reputation and authorship drive the perceived value of their work.

Within a craft context, physical branding, or a maker’s mark, may be the most rudimentary from of attribution. It is a physical signature, a communication tool, implying where and how something is created. More significantly however, it should represent exactly who created it, linking object and maker for the life of the object.

Each object expresses qualities that are linked with the maker, including aspects like design, aesthetics, quality, style, structure, and function. For independent makers, these qualities and what they communicate, help to develop reputation, and ultimately forms their perceived brand. A maker’s mark is another element that contributes to this story. Its design and type ideally complement and reflect these values.

Regardless of what from it takes, a physical signature is essential. It is at the heart of all creative work, forming a vital layer in the narrative that craft consumers seek.

Apex table underside showing branding. Photo: Rohan Thompson

Attribution matters

Authorship and attribution are an important part of recognising and promoting the unique skills and knowledge that individual makers and local manufacturers bring to their craft.

The lack of standards in creative industries for authorship and attribution, leaves industries to self-determine and self-regulate what is considered appropriate. In a contemporary world where social media and artificial intelligence clouds the origins and production of creative work, it is up to designers, artists, and craftspeople to provide clarity on who or what has made the objects they produce.

Luke Batten @lukebatten handcrafts bespoke objects in Ngunnawal country. He has worked as a product designer and a graphic designer, and taught design, sketching and illustration at university level. Learn more at www.lukebatten.com