手工艺是人类的传统，而世界各地的文化都与这一传统密不可分。追溯手工艺的初始形态，它是以聚集人和艺术，并以服务于人和崇尚自然为出发点的，因此，以自然、人和艺术为特征的手工艺，从一开始便以开放的姿态兼容了各种思想。当手工艺与工业化、东方与西方、古代与现代等多种观念汇聚在一起的时候，便由此刷新了设计的时代精神。之后，设计的每一次变革，都要回溯“手工艺”时期。传统手工艺的恰恰为现代设计变革提供了范本与借鉴。 

     Handcraftsmanship is a human tradition which relates to all cultures around the world. The initial aspect of handcrafting was the integration of fineness and aesthetics, serving a practical purpose and created out of respect of nature. As such, handicraft was created from various innovating ideas from different fields based on nature, human aspect and aesthetics. Once handcraftsmanship went through industrialization, and Eastern culture merged with Western culture, merging tradition with modernization, new concepts of design emerged. Every revolution in design is related to a period of handcraftsmanship. Traditional handcraftsmanship provided a foundation and medium for revolutionizing modern design.  

     更重要的是，用传统手工艺思想和方式进行设计创造的过程，乃是一个凝聚思考、探索、实践和不断检验与修正甚至颠覆然后重塑的漫长过程。尽管在现代生活方式和审美情趣下衍生的设计大多拥有简洁的线条，但如果用传统手工艺的思想和方式去认真创作，却绝非一个简单的过程，因为其中的一切需要靠双手去完成。正如一位生长在以传统手工艺著称的设计之国——丹麦的设计师所说：“我们是用双手在思考——这便是手工艺创作的真谛。”想想看，这其实真得很有道理。手工艺创作时所有的注意力和判断力都集中在双手，手便是思想传递的媒介，并能进而增强思考的深度，同时，还可精确地裁减掉设计操作中多余的成分。这一增一减，便是构成了手工艺的永恒定律。

      More importantly, the phases of design, akin to handicraft process, involve thinking, exploration, practice, revisions. Unlike modern appreciation of design, where technological superiority and simplicity often triumphs, traditional arts and handicrafts’ complexities were created and overcome only by the hands of the craftsman. As a designer from Denmark, a country well known for its tradition handcraftsmanship, once said: "We are thinking through our hands - this is the essence of handicrafts." It is true that in handcraftsmanship, all the creative focus and skills are concentrated on the hands; the hands are the medium between reality and mind, reinforcing the depth of thought and stream-lining the creative process.