This thesis reflects on the practical, philosophical and psychological concerns of how designers and craft practitioners make sense of materials and making through their hands.

The main research question: ‘How do design and craft practitioners think through their hands?’ is studied through empirical research in the form of three craft and design-based case studies, using practice-led, ethnographic and auto-ethnographic methods. The results point to the embodied knowledge and emotions related to tactual interaction with materials that were important informants during designing and making, especially in the many aspects of decision-making processes that the design or crafts practitioner goes through.

“The thesis makes an original contribution to enhancing knowledge on the nature and role of embodied cognition in design and craft related research and practice.”