THRIFT
Craft persists where thrift is a commodity, either through necessity or intention. Thrift can be the result of poverty, isolation, habit, ethics or the desire for self-sufficiency. The most generous examples of craft are the result of pure thrift because so much must be made with so little.
RESTRAINT
Good enough is good enough. Well chosen materials, proportions and compositions that express their functionality need no further embellishment. Exuberance is best expressed contextually, evident in where care and attention are focused programmatically. For example, Shaker laundry tables were made to be more durable, more permanent than dining tables.
RESOURCEFULNESS
Craft is tools making tools. Fluidity with materials and techniques allows for flexibility and invention. Craft traditions and their products evolve in small increments over time, usually resulting from the introduction of a new tool or material or set of skills borrowed from another practice. Invention is often the result of the desire or necessity for adapting to a changing circumstance or environment. It’s possible to accelerate this process by respecting limitations as opportunities for innovation.
FUNCTIONALITY
The function of craft in society has always been implied obliquely through the functionality of its products, many of which continue to function as intended despite the absence of the conditions that brought them into being. The most room for innovation in craft is in re-defining functionality.