Knowing Hands: Using tactile research methods in researching and writing the history of design

Abstract

This chapter emerges from the research and writing of The Hand Book, a design history of, and through, the hands, which explores hands both as a subject in design history and as a method of researching the history of design. By integrating embodied research methods such as direct handling into design historical methodology, I have needed to negotiate the fact that standard academic modes of writing are inadequate to communicate findings derived from these methods. This chapter asks whether the subjective and aesthetic impressions that embodied research yields are better captured using techniques from creative non-fiction rather than standard models of academic writing.