The Fixperts 2017 Workshop “THE INVENTOR, THE HACKER & THE CRAFTSMAN – a methods-based approach to rapid prototyping for designers” was held from 28 April to 30April in D-Lab’s Wood Workshop at the Kyoto Institute of Technology.

The Fixperts project co-founded in 2012 by Daniel Charny from Kingston University in the UK is a growing world-wide network of designers and makers which aims to provide real world design solutions to improve the daily lives of people in need of a little design help. This workshop hoped to stimulate and simplify the transition from representational model-making to one of resources-based prototyping for functionality and performance. In this workshop, Frank Kolkman from ArtEZ was workshop leader. Frank was D-Lab’s Design multiple award-winning Design Associate from 2015-16.

During the workshop the mornings were used for generic design exercises that exemplified a particular approach and emphasis under the categories of “Inventor, Hacker and Craftsman”. Students had to rapidly come up with an idea for a pencil sharpener created by hacking the components of everyday products sourced from a 100 yen store or from discarded electrical products and then gradually refining the results The afternoons were devoted to applying the methodologies learned in the morning to their current Fixperts@KIT 2017 project. KIT has participated in the project for the past three years and our projects are featured on the Fixperts website.

Students discussed their ideas intensely with Frank Kolkman during the workshop with Frank asking them often “What next?” This question helped them to learn that a project is continuous and does not end when they submit it.

Furthermore, they learned about continuous rapid ideation and how iterative prototyping helps to develop essential ideas for their own Fixperts project.

After the workshop, a party was held to celebrate Frank’s recent awards – 2016 Prix Ars Electronic, his 2016 Dutch Design Award and his Beazley Design of the Year Award at the Design Museum in London. A special “FIXPERTS TROPHY” was made from the remaining hacked components of the workshop by Professor Julia Cassim and presented to Frank.

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Frank Kolkman (MA, RCA)

Frank holds a Bachelors Degree in Product design from ArtEz, (Institute of Arts) in Arnhem (NL) and a Masters Degree in Design Interactions from the RCA. He was KYOTO Design Lab’s Design Associate from 2015-16.
The two projects he developed here have won a range of prizes from a Dutch Design Award, the Ars Electronica prize and a Beazley Design of the Year Award from the Design Museum, London in 2017.
As a self proclaimed design-hacker, Frank tries to combine a deeplyrooted sense of curiosity towards the inner workings of things with analytical thinking and intuitive making. Through the design of experimental devices and critical prototypes, he aims to challenge our thinking about current and near-future technologies and their sociopolitical implications.