Case Study: Recycled Sari Book

Reflections on craft product development from the eyes of an industrial (product) designer. While living in Bangladesh, one of the social businesses that I worked with was Sacred Mark Enterprise (SME), which works to provide alternative employment to former sex workers through handicraft production. My support centered around graduating this business from being incubated under […]

Shopping with purpose in a shoppers paradise – Singapore

We were curious about the market for handmade and fair trade products in what is known as the “shoppers paradise” – Singapore. Is there an appetite for ‘purchasing with a purpose’ in a city state that relies heavily on imported products? Blogger Agy at Green Issues by Agy provides us with some great insights here.   […]

Understanding the Conscious Consumer

In an effort to better understand the conscious consumers and what drives their purchases, we conducted a small survey this summer, with the assistance of some of our friends and their loyal consumers in the sector. We hope that the responses below help inform you as a brand, in not only developing your marketing and […]

ATA’s 2016 canvas home™ Small Grants Program open!

Aid to Artisan’s (ATA) annual small grants program is back. Partnering with Canvas Home, a retailer of artisan home products, the grants are “designed to allow artisan groups to acquire materials, tools, equipment, training, marketing services in order to expand employment and generate income.” So if you are an organization or producer in sector, or […]

Inaugural ‘Fair Play Forum’ launch!

The Artesan Gateway is thrilled to announce the launch of the inaugural Fair Play Forum in Dhaka, Bangladesh this Saturday, 15th October! We have teamed up with the Fiber Resource Center, Dhaka and Fashion Revolution Bangladesh, the to convene social businesses, producer groups and consumers involved in the artisan made sector in Bangladesh. Through the […]

Value Chain Thinking

  By Guest Blogger, Nishant Das What is a value chain? A value chain is the entire system of processes that adds value to the customer at each stage, from transforming raw materials into a final product, delivering it to the final consumer, and final disposal after use. This chain is comprised of interdependent actors […]

4 Things to Ponder When Developing a Catalogue

By Guest Blogger, Nelleke Schiere A catalogue not only shows your customers the products you want to sell, it can also tell a lot about your company: how are you structured; what is your capacity; can you keep up with deadlines; and the quality and details of your work. In other words, it is a […]

More product development tips – what to avoid!

  A few months back, guest blogger Nishant Das shared with us 6 Simple Product Development Tips, in which he outlined a useful steps on product development.  We recently came across an equally helpful guide on Outerspace by Jarrod Baker:  5 Common Product Development Mistakes You Should Avoid. Baker highlights some of the common mistakes […]

The Importance of Storytelling

  As most of know, storytelling is a critical part in brand development and identity. For retail purposes, it is often used to distinguish oneself from other brands out there and connect customers to a particular cause, issue and/or perspective. Storytelling for a Better User Experience written by @usabilla provides a good overview to storytelling […]

Sustainably Chic – A Conversation with Natalie Kay Smith

We recently caught up with blogger Natalie Kay Smith and asked her to share with us her story. We were curious to know more about her passion and interest in sustainability and how she came to create a community and platform for those with a similar passion. For our friends in the artisan and producer […]