Work with what you have and make it better. Make it ingenious. Make it beautiful. Like carved animals cut from flip flops that wash ashore from passing cruise ships. Recycled vintage saris re-sewn into elegant purses adorned with various beads. Olive wood bowls damaged in transport transformed into decorative fruit bowls by adding beading. Soda pop tops are designed into handbags. Necessity is the mother of invention…it also appears to be a heck of a spring board for both inspiration and far-reaching solutions. Most businesses scrutinize expenses, but with Sandy that shrewd skill is tied to the store’s mission. Consequently before any product leaves the artisans’ cooperative they are paid in full; the money enables the artisans to improve their villages. So when you do buy that soda pop handbag you are providing jobs and making a difference. So how do I as a designer facilitate this? I love photography and have shot hundreds of images, so in a pinch, I can step in and become designer and once-in-awhile photographer. Artisans’ World Marketplace provides the product, I shoot it, download and manipulate in Photoshop — silo the subject (in this case a purse), add texture, patterns, etc. and layout the ad for the on-going campaign. The cooperative provides us with the portrait of the artisan and the backstory. What we finish with is an eye-catching, clean, consistent ad for the Many Faces of Fair Trade campaign highlighting a product and reinforcing the brand.
The artisan of this purse, Neide Ambrosio was inspired to create these bags…“I am very happy to be able to help other people getting a better life. I am also very glad that I can help the environment by using recycled items.”
Tags: bags, fair trade, recycling, soda pop