Through the concept of design thinking the act of designing is presented as an intellectual activity, and the act of planning the design is elevated over the making process. However, the importance of materiality and the embodied sense-making that occurs in this context should not be forgotten. In this study, embodied cognition in design and craft practices was investigated through three case studies. The study takes on an enhanced tactile perspective as a methodological platform; thus, the cases involve 1) deafblind makers in ceramics, 2) a practice-led self-study report on tactile experiences while working with clay and 3) a study on design students' use of their tactile sense during material exploration. The results show that the act of thinking design involves the body as a knowledge provider.

The experiential knowledge of practice resides within the practitioner and is out of the immediate reach for other researchers. Only when practitioners have an intrinsic motivation to research and make their practice explicit can their embodied experiential knowledge reach an outside audience. The present case study is an attempt to access and understand such experiential knowledge in the act of throwing clay on a potter’s wheel. To enhance her tactile sensitivity and awareness, one of the researchers has thrown porcelain clay blindfolded for five days. Her experience has been documented and reflected upon through diaries, a Contextual Activity Sampling System (CASS-Query) and videos that include thinking aloud accounts. The findings reveal that the researcher was able to articulate her tactile experiences and share her experiential knowledge to a greater degree than before. Patterns in the making, such as dividing hands into categories of active and perceiving, and metaphorical language use were identified that may be of value in an educational setting. Feelings were acknowledged as major contributors to risk assessment and decision-making in the material problem-solving process. We propose the multimethod approach developed through this study for researcher-practitioners to capture and analyse their sensory experiences and experiential knowledge of a making situation when researching their practice.

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Interdisciplinary research across the sciences and creative practice offers potential to explore new areas of knowledge previously hidden between disciplines. However, diverging epistemology and expectations make collaboration difficult. We interviewed 11 researchers working in projects that combined scientific and creative practice research, to investigate how they dealt with different epistemological approaches. In some cases, the discrepancies that were first experienced as hindrances turned into enablers, opening up new vistas for learning. Our findings show that the prerequisites for experiential knowledge transfer need to be built consciously by engaging in handson practices and shared cognitive activities that may extend beyond the personal comfort zone. Furthermore, the common goals and research questions need to be motivating for all involved. Although academic research funding agents encourage interdisciplinary research, funding alone is not sufficient to motivate people to work and truly learn together. By combining different types of knowledge in co-creation processes, participants are able to better share each other's views and construct a multifaceted understanding. An analysis of the interviews suggests how a conscious development of interdisciplinary practice helps educate thinkers and makers to feel comfortable in the unsettling zone between disciplinary boundaries, and thus contribute to innovative research.

This article describes an embodied way of making sense through making with the hands. We examine the potential o ftactile experience in the making process and analyse what tactile experiences mean. The study takes place in the context of an era marked by audio-visual dominance.The article presents a case study that observed and interviewed deafblind makers while they worked with clay. The findings reveal that modelling in clay resembles the visualisation process of sketching. As such, it may contribute to thinking through the hands. Language is not a self-evident communication tool for transferring tactile skills. Based on our case study, we propose the use of tactile communication in the process of transferring tactile knowledge through making with another person’s hands.

Art and craft practitioners have personal experience of the benefits of making: the handling of material can help to regulate our mental states through providing a means to reach flow states. The mirror neuron system helps in skill learning, and the plasticity of the brain ensures that skills may be learned at all stages of life. Arts and crafts play a role in controlling stress and enhancing relaxation. They also enable us to fail safely and handle our emotions. Furthermore, they facilitate social activity for many individuals who are at risk of social isolation. This article aims to integrate knowledge from both the field of neuroscience and the arts by focusing on the implications that flow experience and the mirror neuron system integral to making processes have on our psychophysical well-being.

This Special Issue examines collaboration within research teams of professionals, researchers, and other stakeholders with diverse disciplinary expertise. It aims to understand how individual experiential knowledge-or knowledge gained by practice-is shared, how collective experiential knowledge is accumulated and communicated in and through collaboration in interdisciplinary research. The experiential knowledge generated through collaborations between experts in various fields are discussed in four studies that illuminate the relationships established within the collaboration, the approaches used, and the new knowledge gained and transferred within the team. This should contribute to a more systematic approach for studying and integrating experiential knowledge exchange in collaborative practice and research.

The embodiment of tools and experiential knowledge of materials gained over time lies at the heart of both design and craft practices. However, empirical studies combining the study of mind and body in relation to design and craft practice is in its infancy. In the Handling Mind project, we conducted psychophysiological experiments in order to illuminate the relationships between making and feeling, handling creative situations and the embodied mind in thirty participants, both students and professionals representing expertise in various design fields, working with visual (drawing) or material (forming clay) tasks of 1) copying, 2) creating novel designs, or 3) freely improvising. Our findings highlight both the importance of the embodiment with respect to the material and the different physiological states observed in tasks differing in requirements related to following orders or creativity. We conclude that the embodied activities are both supported and altered by bodily and mental processes.