Stickies #6: What is craft?
A reflection on the meaning of craft.
My relentless pursuit of understanding how designers' qualities can thrive in the landscape of intelligent machines led me to explore a topic: craft.
I want to dig deeper into the fundamentals, where human agency not only survives but thrives and remains irreplaceable.
I’ve gathered some reflections on the definition of craft from various sources.
You probably won’t find a concrete or practical answer to what craft truly is, but consider this a prompt to refresh your soul as a designer and have a moment to reflect on: what is craft?
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#1 – Craft isn’t just one thing. It’s manifested in the intent, execution, and communication
Luis Ouriach, Designer at Figma, shares his own reflection amidst the flux of the industry, where many people have been out of the job market for months. From what he has observed, one recurring theme is the need for designers to demonstrate craft in their applications and portfolios.
Luis has been in that situation—stuck, applying for jobs for about 12 months without landing a single interview, because he couldn’t show his ability through his applications. So he shares his perspective on some aspects of craft.
My takeaway from reading Luis’ piece is this: Craft isn’t just one thing. It’s manifested in the intent, execution, and communication.
#2 – Craft isn’t glamorous
I don’t know if you’ve ever watched The Bear, the series about a young fine dining chef who rants a lot. Like a lot.
One of my favorite scenes is when Richie, who starts off as a total jerk in the series, begins to change and become a better person. He learns about service from Terry, the head chef at a fine dining restaurant, while peeling mushrooms.
Terry tells him, “It’s just a nice little fun detail, so when the diners see it, they know someone spent a little time on their dish.”1
Beautifully said, isn’t it?
It kind of justifies my act of tinkering with box shadows on a card component, asking devs to fix an off-margin, even just changing it from 8px to 4px, or sneaking in a little easter egg idea.
Although most of those “peeling mushroom” moments will probably always end up living at the very bottom of the backlog.
Still, don’t give up on your craft.
And yeah, sometimes craft isn’t a grand thing.
It isn’t glamorous.
#3 – Craft is an ongoing interaction between hands-on practice and reflection
Understanding craft isn’t a new topic. Even as far back as the late 17th century, there was an encyclopedia: ‘A Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts and Crafts’, published in France with the goal of changing the way people think.2
A French philosopher, art critic, and writer who was the main editor visited all kinds of workshops—like textile, woodworking, papermaking, printing, and many others—to observe how people worked and talk to them, all to better understand what craft really means.
One key idea he put forward was that craft involves both hands-on practice and reflection.
Through his observations, he discovered that engaging in craft often brings you into tension with your personal limits: what you can or cannot do well.
That tension sparks reflection, prompting you to assess your abilities, recognize shortcomings, and adapt your approach. In this way, craft becomes a reflective discipline, where reflection and hands-on practice are intertwined.
These insights are echoed in Richard Sennett’s The Craftsman, a philosophical exploration of craftsmanship.
Sennett describes it as an intimate connection between head and hand—a connection he argues is essential to becoming a better craftsperson. Without it, you risk mindlessly following the motions of your hands, even when they may be steering you astray.
#4 – Craft is always striving to do better
Ken is the designer and engineer behind the iPhone's touchscreen keyboard, things like autocorrect, and the overall touch experience.
In his memoir, reflecting on over fifteen years at Apple, he shared seven elements essential to Apple’s software success:
Inspiration,
Collaboration,
Diligence
Decisiveness
Taste
Empathy
and…
Craft.
To Ken, “craft" means applying skill to achieve high-quality results and always striving to do better.
You can see that mindset in his work on the iPhone keyboard that millions of people still use today.
In his book, he shares a behind-the-scenes look at the design process—and it wasn’t smooth sailing. The team got tough feedback. An Apple marketing executive wasn’t impressed. Tony Fadell, known as the “father of the iPod,” barely glanced at the keyboard during a demo before walking out.
But Ken stuck with it.
He and his team kept refining the details, improving bit by bit. That persistence led to big breakthroughs, like autocorrect, which helped make typing on a touchscreen feel natural.
For Ken, that’s what craft is all about: care, patience, and never settling for “good enough.”
#5 – Craft is a love letter from the work’s maker – Frank Chimero
Frank Chimero is a designer, writer, and illustrator whose work spans print, web, branding, and editorial design. He’s collaborated with companies like Adobe, Microsoft, and Facebook.
For Frank, craft is about going beyond the bare minimum of making something functional. It's about making it meaningful and beautiful.
But… He also described craft as “the long, hard, stupid way,” referring to the process of pouring in extraordinary effort, care, and attention to detail.
It might not always make immediate financial or commercial sense, he said.
I think most of us are struggling to bring craft into our companies, right?
It’s like, there’s no such thing as “craft.”
There’s only the word G. Growth. Other than that, everything else always ends up at the bottom of the backlog. (Just to be clear, I’ve got no issue with that. Realistically, we also need money.)
Still, don’t stop advocating for it. Find the sweet spot—the why.
Why craft deserves a place in your product.
Help others reframe their perspective to see the intrinsic and long-term value of that effort, not just its short-term practicality.
🤔 ℝ𝕖𝕗𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕥:
𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤 𝕔𝕣𝕒𝕗𝕥 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦? ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕝𝕪 𝕔𝕣𝕒𝕗𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕩𝕥?
That’s it! Thank you for reading this week’s Stickies.
If you’ve followed me for a while, you probably know that I regularly take breaks from writing, stepping back from producing words to focus more on reading and research.
Next on my reading list:
Got any reading recommendations? Drop them in the comments!
Revisit some of my pieces from the first quarter of 2025:
How AI can help designers analyze the reasoning behind design decisions
Is Figma dead? – There is legitimately no reason to use Figma anymore
Until next one,
Thomas
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Really interesting points raised here Thomas, thanks for publishing. I know it’s a little open to interpretation, but for me ‘craft’ is ‘practice’.