Many kids are told to never play with mud. In the case of a team of designers from London’s Royal College of Art, however, playing with mud is a foundation for making the world a better place. Bauxite residue, also known as “red mud,” is a byproduct of the creation of aluminum. By refining bauxite…

Remarkably resistant to water, acid, and in some cases, heat, lacquer—a natural plastic—has been used by East Asian craftsmen for centuries to create highly-detailed inlaid decorative boxes. Although it can take up to twelve months of labor to make one of the treasured boxes, the results are nothing short of stunning. It comes as little…

Considered by many to be “The Contemplative Man’s Recreation,” fly fishing is also a favorite for craftsmen who prefer to make their own equipment –– be it tying a fly on the side of a stream or making their own fly fishing rods altogether. But with well over 160 or so steps that go into making…

While nearly every material requires some sort of a process to bring it from a raw state to a finished design, few materials demand the attention of the creator quite like glass. From the heat to the constant movement, and the teamwork often involved in creating larger pieces, the process of creating glass objects is…

Centuries ago, the process of manufacturing wood objects such as bowls, utensils, and even toys involved foot-powered lathes that were powerful enough to dwindle rough chunks of freshly-cut wood into the usable items. While we’ve since replaced the need for foot power with electricity, the process of getting from wood block to finished object hasn’t…