Making Enhanced is a collective of designer makers and design historians working in pairs on the conception and production of writing, events and artefacts.

Historians and designers often work in parallel. They feed off each other without necessarily joining forces. We believe the quality and potential of each practitioner’s outputs can be improved through collaboration. Through Making Enhanced we want to implement an integrated way of working that hacks through this rarely-explored territory.

Not just working together, but working together towards a shared purpose.

Our objective is to use this collaborative framework to produce work that introduces new audiences to alternative, critically-informed ways of experiencing their environment. Live projects working in a real context.

We have backgrounds in architecture, design, jewellery, history and ceramics. Together, our research spans across the politics of governmental architecture, spatial ownership, heritage and domestic rituals.  

The partnerships are:

Alice McLean and Justine Boussard

Helen Kearney and PUG

Jennifer Gray and Soersha Dyon

Tamsin van Essen and Rebecca Bell

Each pair has been matched through their common research interests. We aim to break down boundaries across old-fashioned disciplines, challenge ourselves and inspire others to step outside their comfort zone to produce more effective outputs.

We are all researchers.

Our first work in progress show was presented at the Crafts Council COLLECT Open 2015 at the Saatchi Gallery. We are grateful to our donors for making this all-important work-in-progress show possible. The pairs are currently continuing their work, and planning the next stage which will focus on public engagement.