For capstone tonight we need to have a paragraph written about our capstone topic. I’m about to meet with Shaowen to talk in more detail, but I wanted to give it a shot before our meeting to consolidate my thoughts…

“Steampunk is a way of creating sublime awe within an apathetic, overly-connected, jaded culture.”  – Kyshah Hell

The world of the creative practitioner has been around for centuries. Men like William Morris during the Victorian era, as well as all the unnamed professional artisans over time, have given us a rich history of using our hands, minds, and the materials around us to create exciting, functional, and/or beautiful artifacts. With the adoption of online technology, the role of the creative practitioner comes to the forefront again as their works are displayed for audiences who wouldn’t have previously had access due to location, etc.

Here are my questions about this phenomenon: How is the creative practitioner’s identity changing due to online communities, and why? What can we abstract from this in terms of HCI design? How is the material world being influenced by its online counterpart, and more importantly, vice versa?