Crank and File is a collection of critical design research led by Oliver Bates and Ben Kirman.
The Concept
Crank and File is website and landing point for mine and Ben’s shared critical design work. I’ll be cross posting practically everything that goes over there on my site.
The title comes from word play of “rank and file” and bicycle component the “crank”. The crank speaks to the start of our research journey together working with cycle couriers to design better and more desirable futures.
Thanks to Tony Pickering (Pick Art) for a great logo!
Crank and File is a critical and speculative showcase of user and design research with gig economy couriers. As a collection of stories and articles it tracks the lives of research outputs that offer worker-centric perspectives on gig economy courier work from Switch-gig, FlipGig, and the DIY and unfunded space that exists after a research funding ends. The project is co-lead by myself and Ben Kirman.
This exists because we wanted a place to write about the long tail of our work together about gig economy courier perspectives, away from the academic bloat. It’s a space that’s creative and playful.