As industrial design continues to embrace digital manufacturing, we are in constant danger of losing the culturally indicative crafts that express individual cultures. As global wealth inequality grows, can we create low tech, parametric tools to bring products to global market? Does the spread of generative design in products have to mean a drop in artisanal jobs that support entire towns and regions? Can we blur the line between designer and maker by working collaboratively? In this talk we look at ways that new design tools can go to emerging and potential markets to create opportunity without losing jobs, skills, and traditions. 

This topic can connect design to production by looking upstream, encourages socially sustainable practice. This can allow us to design for production near the material source taking advantage of embodied skills instead of homogenizing design.