Page 70 - Design meets Business:An Ethnographic Study of the Changing Work and Occupations of Creatives

58 Design Meets Business
creative process share the thought that artifacts can be helpful in triggering creativity because, different than texts, artifacts can offer direct manifesta- tions of what an idea, perspective or direction might look or feel like (Stig- liani & Ravasi 2012; Comi & Whyte 2017). Artifacts may help designers to ‘think in action’ (Schön 1983) and make creative decisions (Ewenstein & Whyte 2007; 2009; Stigliani & Ravasi 2012). Further, because of their symbolic character (Mauss 1976[1954]; Bourdieu 1984), artifacts are multi interpretable and can help practitioners in processes of divergence such as brainstorming new ideas (Sutton & Hargadon 1996) or exploring solu- tion directions (Stigliani & Ravasi 2010). For example, Boland and Collopy (2004) described in their work how the famous architect Frank O. Gehry made use of unfinished prototypes and hand drawings, which he called “shrek models”, to come up with novel ideas for the design of buildings. Moreover, rather than only being outcomes of creative processes them- selves, artifacts can help designers to engage in divergent thinking.
Finally, designers can use artifacts to construct their (professional) identity. The key idea here is that artifacts can signal a person’s social affiliation, and hence can function as markers of differentiation (Bourdieu 1974). For example, in her study Elsbach (2003; 2004) shows how placing work- place objects like pictures or awards one one’s desk, can express a person’s achievements, preferences and rank. In doing so, artifacts do not only have representative functions, but can also be used to create a person’s identity. In her study of car toy designers, Elsbach (2006) shows how developing a ‘signature style’ in drawings can help designers to create their personal identity and differentiate themselves from others in the workplace. Fayard and colleagues (2017) show that designers differentiate themselves from other occupations that engage in similar service work through enacting material practices like organizing collaborative workshops and making tangible prototypes. So, similar to other creative workers (Townley, Beech & McKinlay 2009), what designers make and use, is strongly related to ‘who they are’.
In sum, existing studies show that artifacts are attached to the ways in which designers share knowledge, trigger creativity and construct their (professional) identity. While such explanations help us to detail why arti- facts are key in the work of designers, they mostly emphasize that arti- facts can be used intentionally. In arguing this, artifacts are portrayed as ‘tools’ that exist separately from designers and can be used to achieve certain goals. At the same time, however, there is reason to believe that artifacts are more closely linked to the work of designers. In their recent study, Fayard and colleagues (2017) demonstrate that material practices are entwined with the values of designers. In other words, designers express