Early career researcher exploring the value of applied design pedagogy within education and society as a methodology towards addressing continued regression in creativity and skills. The Maker Project addresses long-standing concerns outlined within the 2016 Crafts Council report ‘Studying Craft: Trends in craft education and training’, providing a pragmatic solution to educators, policy makers and stakeholders through engaging directly with the professional maker community. As such, this research addresses the ongoing regression of structured vocational and creative education across all levels within the national framework. Penultimately, this could lead to a shortage of skilled makers, artisans and potential loss of specialist practices in the longer term. Not exclusive to the arts, this regression is equally impacting wider professional sectors, making this research and subsequent development of the Experiential Learning Orbicular [ELO] both poignant and timely.