Basic Considerations for Developing a Product Line
By Guest Blogger Nishant Das Thinking of developing a product line? Here are a few things to consider (although transferable to any product line, this primarily focusses on considerations for artisan groups). 1. External (Visible) Considerations A ‘product line’ is a broad term, so first determine what type of line you want to develop. Here […]
Planning to sell Wholesale – here is some food for thought!
Artisan groups and producers alike often weigh the options of selling wholesale vs. retail. While one doesn’t have to choose one over the other (and many organization do a combination of both), each have their pros and cons. A recent article in Offset Warehouse’s The Swatch Book titled, Are You Ready to Sell Your Products […]
Aid to Artisans: creating profitable business opportunities for low-income, global artisans
AG: Tell us about Aid to Artisans. ATA: Aid to Artisans (ATA) aims to create opportunities for international, low-income artisans to build profitable enterprises inspired by handmade traditions. ATA was established in 1976 and aspired to assist artisans to import their handicrafts to museum stores in the U.S. retail market. In 2012, ATA joined Creative […]
7 E-commerce Trends to think about
With more and more shopping and commerce happening on-line, it is becoming increasingly important to be aware of both the challenges and opportunities that e-commerce can provide. While e-commerce might not be feasible or appropriate for not all artisan groups and producers, it is important to pay attention to buying behaviour. However this doesn’t necessarily […]
Artisan Resource: A trade show specifically for international artisan enterprises
Trade shows are often a great way to connect with retailers and wholesalers and to expose oneself to the marketplace at large. While they are an investment, there are those that cater specifically to certain products and markets. Artisan Resource (founded by ByHand Consulting) is one such trade show that works specifically with export ready […]
Application – Visualising home decor
We recently featured a post by guest blogger Nishant Das, who shared with us 6 Simple Product Development Tips. By providing us insightful tips about product development and design, he showed us how to look at a product critically in order to develop relevant and well designed objects. A recent article in Brit + Co […]
6 Simple Product Development Tips
By Guest Blogger: Nishant Das Developing a successful product is hard. This can be even more complicated when you are developing a product for a foreign market and you have access to limited resources. Fortunately, there are a few simple, quick and cheap things that you can do that can help you in improving your […]
Tips for exhibiting at Trade Shows!
While at the NY NOW show this past summer, I stumbled across a booth called Stitchwallah. I was immediately drawn into the booth for two reasons: the name, which seemed to pay homage to Mumbai’s Parsi community; and the beautiful Orrisi Ikat and Rajasthani block prints on display! Hilary Niederer, founder of Stitchwallah, was most […]
Marketing Tips
Over the years, a common query I’ve heard from artisan groups and organizations time and time again, is around marketing. Attracting the right audience and effectively portraying one’s organization and products is one of the keys to success. What makes it tricky is that marketing is more an art than a science. As many artisan’s […]
Design Trends for 2016
Earlier this week I talked shared a link about fashion trends for 2016 and I thought I’d follow it up with a link on design trends for the next year. Design in and off it self, is simply the strategy, drawing and/or agreed upon norms of an object or plan. It requires the designer to […]