Map the Makers, Chengdu
British Council x Makerfun
Chengdu, China, 2018

Role: 
Designer

Methods:
Service design
Design research
Facilitation

In collaboration with British Council China Living Research, we organised this service design workshop at the Chiahuo Educational Makerspace in Chengdu to explore local making and craft ecosystems. Participants were all creative practitioners working across design, making, craft and art. Working with a variety of design research approaches, from tool postcards and user profiles to memory palaces, we examined where the nodes of key community spaces and other social actors were located across the city of Chengdu,  including organisations, community spaces, events and government bodies. This enabled us to build an open data map, hosted on storymap.js and Open Street Map, which highlighted the intimate relationships that make Chengdu’s creative cultures shine, and suggested future approaches for nurturing new kinds of digital innovation. Photos thanks to: British Council, Ingrid Murphy, Steve Coombs.