By Mary Katherine Schweitzer
On the last day of SCAD Style, May 6, three promoters and creators of one-of–a-kind handcrafts discussed “Why-One-of–a-Kind Matters.”
Vanessa Bertozzi, the director of communication for Etsy.com, an Internet marketplace for vintage and handcrafted wares, runs the website’s blog and directs events that spotlight the Etsy community of artisans.
Artist Faythe Levine, a promoter of the DIY (do it yourself) indie craft movement, opened her own shop in Milwaukee, Wis. called Paper Boat Boutique & Gallery. She is the creator and founder of the well-known Midwest craft fair, Art vs. Craft, as well as the director and producer of the documentary film “Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY Art, Craft and Design.”
Her work was also featured on HGTV’S “That’s Clever.”
The third panelist, Heather Ross, is a designer and illustrator. Her whimsical drawings appear in textiles, clothing, surfboards, stationary and her book “Weekend Swing.” She also has her own blog, Weekend by Heather Ross.
Moderator Amy Zurcher, the director of shopSCAD, has retail boutiques in Savannah, Atlanta, Lacoste and online, asked panelists to explain why unique, handcrafted items still matter in a world of mass production.
Bertozzi, Levine, and Ross offered inspiration for those wanting to pursue one-of–a-kind design and product development, and gave sound advice on how to market yourself in the age of the Internet.
Ross explained that one-of-a-kind is something handmade that is personalized. It is something that feels part of you.
For Levine, handmade represents a lifestyle—a way to eat, create and be inspired through a community sharing ideas.
For Bertozzi, handcrafts empower people, as they seek to find a niche to produce and sell goods for a specific customer.
Zurcher asked the panelists why there is this sudden emergence and increased popularity of handmade crafts and how technology played into this.
Ross believed that because home economics is no longer a reality, our cultural response is to hold on tight to what is being lost.
Levine answered that the Internet has connected people who search out homemade goods. While she is an advocate of making connections and promoting oneself through the Internet, she also advocated spending time away from technology to create and make handcrafted goods.
Bertozzi aligned this emergence of handcraft to third-wave feminism, as it looked at handcrafts and turned it into something empowering. She also commented that the one-of-a-kind movement is closely tied with the sustainability. Bertozzi described this emergence of handcraft as, “all the stars aligned, in a beautiful way.”
When asked where the panelists saw the future of handcrafted works, Bertozzi said she believed that people are bored of shopping at Walmart.
“People are looking for something new and different,” she said.
Levine said that this handcraft consciousness will be propelled forward because the information about it is available and consumers are more informed due to the availability of technology.
Zurcher asked the panelists their tips on how to market or brand one-of–a-kind items.
Bertozzi believed that the more an artisan participates and puts into marketing him or herself the more he or she will get out of it. She said that on Etsy, the people that get the most business are the ones that work hard to promote themselves. You have to “get people interested in you” and “see yourself as a micro brand.”
Levine explained how it is important to have the same story throughout an item and product. Build your brand around yourself, while thinking about the future and how what you are doing will resonate in five to ten years.
Ross warned the audience to be careful once you brand yourself, as that is what people will associate you with from thereon. She also advised participants “to adjust and adapt. Everyday spent resisting change is a day wasted.”
