indiecrafted

[indiecrafted]

What Is Our Artisan Market?

The world had changed. Once a planet dominated by the hands of craftsmen & craftswomen, slowly came to reflect the factory nature of the industrial revolution. Brick by brick, block by block, city by city, town by town: we grew to be the pinnacle of efficiency and standards. But what did we lose in the process? We traded soul for interchangeable parts. In the process our goods became interchangeable. Pieces of a crude puzzle made of pressed particle board and a sheen of metallic plastic.

The major gift of the “Great Recession” was unknown during the initial shock: time. Thousands of people were able to reflect on the lack of truly passionate work available. They began to connect the inherent danger of sending dollars overseas instead of buying local or handmade. At the very core, they began to work on meaningful things again.

Out of that began a movement that was spurred on mostly by the DIY and Maker movement. Tinkerers and small-time batch creators began to start small businesses. Ones that are jumpstarting a different kind of economy. One that is ripe for explosion and needs to be encouraged and fostered in each and every community across America. 

The success of the Internet e-commerce revolution has finally democratized and empowered craftsmen, artisans, bakers, brewers, designers, musicians and much, much more. These lucky creators are fortunate enough to have online communities on Etsy, DeviantArt, Spoonflower, 99Designs, etc. For every online community, though there is a severe lack of physical hands-on and person-to-person interaction on any scale. Sure you can have twitter followers in Sri Lanka, but what about your neighbors, your community?

That’s where IndieCraft Artisan Market comes into play. At it’s core it’s an open source arts, goods & services market. The focus placed on piggybacking upon local farmer’s markets with a built-in base of people eager to spend local. The beauty of the market is it’s ability to adapt to the needs of those who take part. In a world of micro-business typically run out of a person’s home or shared co-working space, the market fulfills it’s promise to allow entrepreneurs a low-impact “storefront” once a week or bi-weekly. In return, the entrepreneurs will scale some services to a micro level as a way to accommodate people of all income levels.

IndieCraft will become a public square once again in each community it serves. It will get people away from their keyboards for at least one Saturday a month for a day of networking, brotherhood, and commerce.

Open Source Rules

1. Each market is independent, open source and transparent.

2. It must follow the basic skeleton of IndieCraft to carry the name and pay an annual membership of $25/year (which covers the website upkeep).

3. Each vendor must pay their “rent” to the farm market according to their rules & regulations.

4. A regional market should feature local, homegrown businesses first with a focus on artists and craftsmen.

5. Currency can be traded via cash/coins or using PayPal, Square, Dwolla or Bitcoin. 

6. In the instance of trade or barter, both parties must agree to offer goods/services of equal market value. After negotiating, each party can sign a basic contract. 

7. There will be a designated market “judge” to settle cost disputes and insure all local laws are followed.

8. There will be a designated market “tax expert” to oversee the barter & trade tax process.

9. There will be a designated market “barter bookkeeper” (and notary) to keep track of agreements as an independent third party witness.

10. Each market will be self-sufficient and pay the market organizer, judge, tax expert and barter bookkeeper through a portion of the market rent.

11. Micro-goods and micro-services shall be offered as both an entry-level way to reach new customers and also a way to more easily facilitate barters or trades.

12. Space shall be designated to allow community-oriented and affordable classes and seminars.

Market Organizer(s)

This is YOUR market, make it your own. Allow it to reflect your community and the niches that represents. But get creative. Curate according to season and your distinct tastes. Be open to providers at “the edge” of society. This is a learning process for everyone who attends. Have a folk band perform a set, or organize a scavenger hunt amongst the vendors. Or hold a trivia contest with questions at each booth/table.

Website - indiecrafted.com

Either a simple Wordpress template (launch video, open source rules, faq, and meetup widget) or a Tumblr with same contents.

Social Media - Meetup.com + Facebook + Twitter

Each person signs up to be a IndieCraft founder and thus starts a Meetup account ($12/mo). Each market is essentially standalone as a private franchise/enterprise that merely carries the IndieCraft name. 

Social media presence should be minimal to avoid confusion. 

facebook.com/indiecraft_cityname (ex: indiecraft_bklyn)

twitter.com/indiecraft_cityname (ex: indiecraft_cle)

Pilot Program “Beta Markets”

1. Montclair, NJ -  https://www.facebook.com/MontclairFarmersMarket/

2. Brooklyn - http://www.grownyc.org/greenmarket/ourmarkets

3. Toledo/Cleveland

[indiecrafted]

A Day in the Life of IndieCraft Market

What makes our artisan market different, you ask?

On a delightful summer day, Kate decides she wants to bring her hand stamped card invitations to market. Her Etsy store is booming but summer gets slow. Her usual busy time are the winter holidays. So with a few examples of wedding invitations she also brings some one-off paper samples she will sell for $5/ea. announcing a summer party. 

Xavier is an acrylic painter specializing in edgy, urban art. He wants to trade a few paintings for a bag of farm market groceries and a refurbished real oak table set. For a price of $10 he also offers to sell hand painted wood toys or personalized iPhone cases.

Telly is an antique dealer/furniture refurb expert. He brings a smaller part of his storefront inventory that he curates weekly. Funky conversation pieces and dining room sets are included with smaller lamps and much more.

Samantha is a massage therapist and reiki practitioner. She wants to reach out to new potential clients so offers 25 minute massages for $10. She also wants to trade a reiki session for some artwork or jewelry for her mother’s birthday present.

In a market like IndieCraft, each person has a potential solution to their needs. Week-to-week the markets can also invite special guests to teach classes or seminars. This can range from Tai Chi masters, to a neighborhood 3D Printer hobbyist, to a Raspberry Pi tinkerer, to a smartphone jailbreak expert.

[indiecrafted]

Riding in the World's First 3D-Printed Car | Mashable

[indiecrafted]

My Dream #Makerspace

Imagine a raw open space that is a Maker's paradise. At the front desk you'll have registration and a place to get your key PED once you're a member. Near the desk will be a micro-storefront featuring member's goods for sale. In the front is a co-working space as well as pay-per-hour (or day) workstations. People there are sipping on some coffee from Red Eye or snacking on something from Montclair Bread and using the WiFi as they push their iOS prototype to Github. Some members are taking business meetings or sending emails to clients. One girl is making beats on her MacBook thanks to Reason. A duo are collaborating on a graphic novel. A small group is creating a Dogecoin competitor.

  Behind the co-working space is an open floor for a variety of things:

-- chairs can fill it for a seminar or class on Arduino, creating a neighborhood meshnet, or origami

-- yoga mats can fill it for early morning motivation sessions

-- lights and a PA system can turn it into a small dancefloor for various live music events

-- And much more

  Along one wall is a community and donation filled open-source Maker Library (yes PDF-filled thumbdrives included). Along another wall is a large computer monitor connected to a Raspberry Pi-powered Retropie MAME and all-around media center. Member art will litter the walls, some for sale and some gifts to the space.

  And finally in the back, is the workshop. Soldering stations, tool benches, a couple MakerBots, a condensed woodshop as well as tables to work on mixed-media art. One table will cater to clothiers and shoe repair. One table to jewelers and watch repair. And who can forget tools for all the various jobs?

  One section will include a "tech graveyard" where members can donate old gear and forgotten gadgets that can be re-purposed by other members in their hacks. An unused Zune screen or the buttons from a TI-83 could be used on a prototype device. Old copper wires and Li-ion batteries will be recycled.

  And to truly set the space apart, will be a section dedicated to Green and Garden Technology. Hydroponic arrays and solar panel kits will have a home here. Electronic engines will be hacked onto bike frames. Batteries powered by plants will be designed here. The end goal being: a good amount of the projects aimed at generating energy could actually be used by the Makerspace itself! And so much more.

[indiecrafted]

This episode of Makers features the San Francisco outpost of the Makerspace TechShop. With 8 locations open and 2 on the way, co-Founder Mark Hatch wants one in every major city.  Inspiring and sprawling #Makerspace in SF. Loved filming this with John and Mark Hatch.

[indiecrafted]

Future project I'll be tackling soon. Came by way of adafruit and @Sabre_FD does a masterful job of walking you through. Plus a few troubleshooting tips.