Creating Methodological Design Processes for Empowering Artisans of Cali, Colombia

Abstract

This paper describes how, from an academic exercise, Industrial Design students assume the role of social intrapreneurs (Cabana, 2018: 90-91) to become aware of the potential of design and the richness in non-academic learning that this type of dynamics can generate. In Colombia, there is sometimes a dependency between the artisan and the designer, because some professionals hired by state entities or third-sector agencies carry out design processes for the artisans, considering their skills, but these designs are not generated in a participatory manner. What is sought with this exercise is to empower artisans through the search for a design process according to their needs, where collectively the designer facilitates the artisan the incorporation of elements of the design process proper to the design into the empirical exercise of the artisan. This way, the artisan meets the creative requirements of customers and the local market, which allows them to increase their competitiveness and not depend on the designers to achieve a product portfolio that guarantees economic, cultural, and social sustainability.