One of the lifestyle trends that has continued to crack full steam ahead this year is the so-called craft or handmade revolution. With the good old US of A in the forefront, young, hip people are taking over what used to be considered our grandma’s domain. They’re knitting, crocheting, embroidering, quilting and sewing their own clothes. They’re recycling and reinventing found decor objects, painting, printing and creating an eclectic range and style of household furnishings and accessories.
This new breed of artists and crafters is mostly eco-conscious, placing emphasis on natural materials. They often look to the pattern and design styles of the early Seventies for decorative inspiration, updating it with a fresh and oh-so-hip design sensibility.
While the social commentators describe the handmade movement as a backlash against crass commercialism and over-consumption, savvy crafters, working from home-based businesses, are tapping into a growing cyber-network to sell their creations online.
Many crafters run their own blogs, trying to hook into the ever-expanding decor and design blogosphere. Etsy, catering solely to handmade producers, is the most popular and successful online store to date, providing thousands of crafters with a platform to flog their goods. The newly launched Poppy Talk online store, an outgrowth of the popular decor blog of the same name, is a second online outlet. And, while starting a blog or listing on Etsy is by no means a ticket to success because it’s so easy to get lost among the other sellers, a mention on an influential decor blog such as Decor8, Design Sponge or Bloesem can get your work noticed and send you well on your way to making it.
In an upcoming post I’ll take a look at Heather Moore, a young South African designer and illustrator who has cracked the decor blogosphere and is successfully selling her handmade range of tea towels, cushions and aprons both on- and offline.
I was busy viewing the specs on an assembly robot for manufacture and was thinking that “hand made” will be a thing of the past and then your blog popped up. That got me thinking. I was wrong!
I’m going to briefly hijack your topic -
On the one hand – Quality, mass produced products will become cheaper and much more pervasive. With the recent 3 dimensional printing (yes, printing a coloured object in 3 dimensions), better product modelling, less expensive CNC and much more flexible production machines generally. Manufacturers will be able to make just a few thousand of one object, in some cases, even a few hundred. To confirm this, visit the kitchen appliance section of a store and view the huge range of products.
On the other hand – We, the world’s big and growing middle class are becoming much more affluent and we are looking for individual unique artistic pieces. We (in my opinion) generally have good taste are prepared to pay a lot extra for these object d’art.
We are in a period of greater emphasis on art, design and uniqueness coupled with a far greater ability to make these objects. The creative right brained people will be making a much bigger contribution. We are in for exciting times!