technocrOft
James Kean has spent 36 years teaching people to think like inventors. He’s designed mountain rescue equipment, crafted furniture from driftwood and railway sleepers, and built working model boats from scratch.
Now he’s written the book on it.
Full colour · Packed with photos, diagrams, and activities
· Based on 36 years of teaching experience
Buy the digital version and receive a FREE exclusive worksheet bundle so you can download and get started straight away!
Find your inner inventor mojo.
Latest book
The launchpad that takes you from “I don’t have any ideas” to “where do I start?”
Most creativity books tell you to think differently. This one shows you twelve specific ways to do it – with real activities, real examples, and a clear path from first idea to commercial reality.
Whether you’re a student of engineering or product design, an adult who’s always wanted to do your own thing, or simply someone who knows there’s a good idea in there somewhere – this is your starting point.
- Why you can be creative (and why you think you can't)
- 12 proven techniques for generating ideas
- The DEMO system — James's own framework, clearly explained
- How to take an idea all the way to market
Designs
Every object in the Technocroft range started with a problem and a sketchpad. The Liveman Snowanchor™ came from a Churchill Fellowship to Norway. The Forthographic™ series came from wondering why no-one had ever photographed a whole street as a single image. The Golden Ratio chopping boards came from a kitchen and a question about proportion.
This is what thinking like an inventor looks like in practice.
About james
Raised in the north of Scotland. Engineering degree. Twenty years teaching woodwork and product design at Plockton High School. Now lecturing in mechanical engineering at Edinburgh College, where he enthuses students about design and 3D printing.
He founded Technocroft in 2001 to develop the Liveman Snowanchor™. The work grew from there — furniture, kitchenware, art, model boats, photography, and books. He’s also obsessed by bikes, both pedal and motor.