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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Eco Fashion Prediction
With ethical fashion and “conscious consumerism” on the rise, there is a desire to learn more about global business practices and an hunger for transparency in these transactions. Ecouterre recently published a great article on the Eco Fashion Predictions for 2016. Learn more about what some of the leaders in this burgeoning field are […]
Pantone Colour for 2016
For those who haven’t already heard, Pantone has chosen two colours to represent their colour of the year for 2016: Serenity and Rose Quartz. Design Milk provides us with a bit of background behind what these blend of colours evoke and provide some great examples of these colour combinations in action. With Spring already […]
Home Decor Trends for 2016
As we know, with home decor, it’s all about adding accents and personalized touches to make a space feel unique or special. A big part of this is visualizing the space and getting a sense of what consumers might like to fill their homes with. These home decor trends as listed on the Apartment Therapy, […]
Key 2016 Fashion Trends
With 2016 well under way, we thought we’d share a few fashion trends for Spring and Summer 2016. The Swatch Book, a great resource on design and trends has recently shared some Key Fashion Trends for 2016. The colours, patterns, textures and designs provide good food for thought for those designing and accessories and home […]
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 […]