WARNING: this page is part of a full, STATIC copy of the official website of the DiDIY Project, that ended in June 2017. Please read the note attached to the File Index to know more.
Designers can contribute to the development of makers’ creativity. In fact, in a world where everyone does design, professional designer have to find a new role to play. We envisage that they could lead, guide, provide scaffolds, or offer a clean slate to DiDIY practitioners, according to their level of interest and creativity *.
The phenomenon of Digital Do It Yourself (DiDIY) brings disruptive innovations which affect professional producers as well as everyday citizens. Online connectivity, digital production and rapid prototyping enable people to create, promote and distribute all kinds of intangible and physical things where previously this would have been difficult or impossible.
Digital DIY is characterised as a socio-technological phenomenon, bringing together, for example, ABC technologies and online knowledge to create new outcomes. But how far is it a question of Digital Do-It-Yourself or Digital Do-It-With-Others?
In April I wrote a blog post on ‘making meaningful connections’, which seemed to summarise and boil down some of the central ideas that have emerged from my research about creativity and making today. The points made there have turned out to be applicable in a number of spheres – for instance, only last week I used that frame for considering the future of universities.
For hackers, makers, tinkerers and other participants of Digital DIY, an important way to find out about, use and participate in technological projects in this domain takes place through Internet platforms. There are quite a few different platforms that allow people to share hardware designs.
The phenomenon of ‘digital Do It Yourself’ (DiDIY) has much to offer to creative society. By ‘creative society’ we mean the levels of creativity in society – which are vital for both personal well-being and economic growth. The rise of online communication has meant that for many years now creative people have been able to share ideas, have conversations and inspire each other via the internet.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 644344. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this website do not necessarily reflect the views of the EC.
