Wild Things Clay.
Being honest with your individual style does not mean being set in one's ways with your actual products-- Susan moved from jewellery to homewares to meet her transforming customer profile as she moved away from online towards face to face at the markets.
After cutting her teeth making small jewellery pieces with a view to online selling and the realities of low cost shipping firmly in mind-- Susan found she was drifting away from what she really wanted to create, and also entering a saturated market (jewellery) filled with highly competitive, established products.
So she reset her goals and instead of making small easy to ship items, Susan moved more in to homewares and cups, plates and bowls. Selling less items but at higher prices means Susan is maximizing increased turnover, and also actually making more money for the amount of time spent working. A definite win both ways.
The Little Red
As Kristy has hung around at markets her merchandise offering has changed to meet what customers are asking for. In the eight months she has steered The Little Red, Kristy began offering for sale cloth and fabric earrings, using brilliantly colored examples of fabric sourced from all over the place to make impressive earrings. But as any market-goer will inform you, the jewellery industry is well and truly drenched with competitiveness and it was a sideline of timber products that have sparked a great deal of interest.
"Lots of other stallholders have access to these great fabrics so there was that challenge-- but also the wood items were selling well and we were getting so much encouragement from customers that it sort of naturally pulled us that way.".
The Little Red timber is sourced by Dan and together they find the patterns and shapes from all over the internet-- this is a nonstop search to find the new patterns and styles as the existing patterns become aged and customers are always wanting "new" and "different" designs. Experiments with different stains and colors and effects also add other dimensions and variety to the products.
Art of Happiness.
"If you are in it, you are in it, no matter how much you try, or cover up or pretend it just won't work." There is a real "of course" moment immediately, as though genuine authenticity and passionate originality can not be mastered, or copied or faked. You are either in or you are not. It is quite intimidating to apply this to my current project, or my own life. Very confronting and almost begs introspection and that cruel reflection "do I really belong here?" And I quietly sit back as Sofan continues, sharing her observations and revealing that she is in the final stages of having the book she is writing finished and expecting publication later in 2014.
I look around and see the busy venture of stallholders and shoppers walking past with bags hanging from their arms, full of handmade products. Yes, I think I belong here. I do belong here. Sofan goes on to explain her philosophy on why markets and stallholders are in revival. People are tired of the disconnect between overseas production of goods and the shopping center model of meaningless consumption once it gets here.
The move to handmade growth is built upon the idea "if you are a genuine creative producer it shines through, and it will be valued for a long time" instead of consume-throw-away-repeat. By producing your own product people appreciate and value it more than just another piece of plastic and this is what people at the markets are seeking-- a connection to permanence and lasting value instead of cheap disposable nothingness.
Floral and Spot.
Raylee has just moved into bricks and mortar retail industry-- opening an outlet as part of a handmade collective in a building once occupied by that bastion of bourgeois David Jones. And belonging of a pop-up shop scene alongside other handmade artisans selling jewellery and handmade soap is a great way to establish a more permanent brand presence. Its as though handmade is entwined with the resurgence of main street retail and is an organic fit for projects like Renew Australia re-activating empty spaces in town.
Raylee has established for herself a workspace where she can actually do work on the production of her designs in the quiet moments between selling retail-- and it makes for great shop-theatre to see the dressmaker/designer hunched over her fabric, holding pins in her mouth. There's something reassuringly old school about watching an artisan at work and seeing pieces of fabric come to life as fashion.
Most weekends Raylee is selling dresses-- but she also has a brisk trade selling online-- with a facebook page busy with updates. In fact, Raylee uploads each item she creates to facebook so customers are able to flick through her catalogue and make a buying decision on the go. With the majority of her orders though spoken word, Floral and Spot simply sells itself with new customers asking "what are you wearing and where did you get it?".
Halo Soy Candles.
Halo Soy Candles use soy wax, which is a product of soya beans, as it has a better scent throw than traditional wax-- this means the wax holds the essential oil throughout the candle media and releases scent in a measured, sustained manner. Also, soy wax burns at a lower warmth than other waxes, so it is safer, and you can actually touch the melted wax without being burned. So you might see masseuses using soy wax in massage to impart aromatherapy scents.
Two of the most popular aromatic candles are the essential sleep blend, which was originally created for an aunt, and once presented to the market has taken off as a viable selling proposition. Another handmade scent is simply called love-- and has a distinct therapeutic value as interesting and relaxing.
Using aromatherapy blends has proven especially successful, as buyers see a clear benefit for themselves outside of the generic features of the soy wax itself. Findhandmade.com. au likes how highlighting the benefits for your customers works out as a sales tool-- and Halo Candles have clear descriptions which aromatherapy blend works for particular states.
Charlie Middleton
The Charlie Middleton line is simple, in the absence of the bling embellishments of chasing seasonal trends, but instead just presenting well developed handmade leather goods. Ben says that using premium materials and methods is what people are choosing. When it comes to getting meaningful feedback and having the ability to test new products-- it is as much a challenge to know who to listen to-- as it is to succeed when you are on a good thing.
Ben operates from his Bondi workshop weekdays and is out and about at markets most weekends-- and his amount ofwork just keeps growing. Producing handmade items like purses and tote bags requires time, and Ben's production routine is a challenge-- some days he will sell multiple products in different colors-- then not sell the same product line for a week or so. The volatile nature of developing handmade products on an artisan scale to meet the desires of retail sales is almost impossible to plan for.
