More and more often, among the usual goods, original things are found marked “hand-made”. What is it, and why are these items highly priced? Englishism “hand made”, which has firmly entered our vocabulary, is translated as “made by hand”. That is, these are handmade things that have nothing to do with mass production.
Handcrafted products have gained popularity not so long ago, despite the fact that the needlework tradition has always been very strong in our country. What has changed?
Evolution: From Handicraft to Hand Made
In Soviet society, manual work was given a rather ugly place for a cute hobby, a frivolous attempt by housewives to realize their creativity. The ability to sew, knit, embroider was encouraged, but all this was perceived only as a means to economically create your own wardrobe. In the West, on the contrary, the ability to create original things with one's own hands was reckoned as creativity, many venerable designers created what is now called “handmade”. What is it, and how modest needlework has grown to an extensive creative direction?
The heyday of industrial production has temporarily dulled people's desire to create things on their own. Serial production seemed more attractive, but the monotony quickly bored. Artistic masters competed with factory stamping, but were not able to produce enough products to meet demand. In the end, hand-made stood out in a separate creative direction - it turned out that with your own hands you can make not only clothes or wooden crafts, but also jewelry, dishes, accessories, household utensils.
Hobbies or business?
Many people wonder how to perceive such activities as hand-made - for home and personal consumption or as a business idea? Perhaps, activity in this direction can be considered as the artist’s work. You can draw for yourself, or you can sell your paintings, there will always be demand.
As an example, let us cite such a common problem as finding gifts on various occasions. Abundance of goods and great opportunities led to the fact that it became extremely difficult to choose a suitable present for a person who has everything. Originality and exclusivity come to the forefront, hand-made gifts acquire special value. The demanded masters focus buyers on the fact that they do not replicate their products, thus guaranteeing the absolute uniqueness of each individual thing.
Handicraft Market Competition
The vast demand and the emerging fashion for handmade products have led many people to have the illusion of so-called easy money. The availability of raw materials and tools contributes to this misconception - handicraft products have become a promising business area. A huge number of stores sell beads, decoupage napkins, threads, metal and plastic fittings.
However, such accessibility has created a large number of hand-made products of frankly poor quality. You can buy ready-made beads and string them, give the ornament a florid name, but this will not turn the resulting product into a valuable product of creativity, therefore, the cost will be low. With the seeming abundance of masters, there is always a category of craftsmen to whom the queue will stand. These are people with a great artistic taste, creative thinking and talent for creating extraordinary things. High competition is observed only in low and medium price categories.
How to establish sales?
If a hand-made master is going to earn money on his work, then you need to somehow express yourself. There are several ways to establish sales. Almost anything is sold through the Internet, and more valuablely, buyers can be from any country. However, to establish sales through the World Wide Web, you need to find out how customers find the product, otherwise the work will be more like trying to win the lottery.
Hand-made exhibitions become a good way to earn money - buyers come there who want to find something extravagant. Those who know how to create, but are unable to sell, will come to the rescue stores that accept handicrafts for commission.
Finding an original idea for needlework
An important part of success is the idea - uniqueness becomes one of the main tools that help in the competition. As an example, we can cite such a difficult art as a lamp. Working with glass in a burner flame is not as common as using pre-made beads. There is a lot of manual work, and creating exactly the same products will not work. Masters add various inclusions to the glass, experiment with the technique of execution, and the result is an absolutely unique creation.
If you briefly answer the question “Hand-made - what is it?”, You can see that it is the original idea embodied by the master that defines the art in question. The combination of creative ideas and high-quality execution allows you to require an impressive amount for the product.
Fair price determination
Those who define needlework exclusively as hand-made for the home do not think about the value of their creations. The main thing is that they bring joy in the manufacturing process, bring peace and poise to the soul. However, the prolific craftsman first goes into the category of gifts for loved ones, and then there is the idea of selling them. Excessive modesty in calculating the price is as harmful as self-confidence.
Calculating the cost is pretty simple. Spending on goods for needlework can be considered a rough cost, you need to add to it a fee for labor, time spent. In no case should you depreciate your work and creativity. This negatively affects the psyche.
Does hand-made have a future?
Due to the availability of various technologies and information exchange on the Web, the popularity of handicrafts only grows. People are imbued with the ideas of rejecting mass stamping in favor of original and environmentally friendly things - in most cases, needlework does not require harmful chemical components. Now many can enlighten their friends on the topic of hand-made - what it is, how to determine the level of skill and choose a real exclusive among many crafts.
Of course, handmade products have a future, hand-made is appreciated, it is loved by customers, whether it be clothes, accessories, soap, dishes or decorative decorations for the interior. What used to be contemptuously called handicraft is now gaining special appeal, because hand-made products carry a piece of the soul of the creator and delight with the originality and freshness of ideas.