Heirloom
How might we uplift craftspeople, platforming their environmentally and culturally relevant practices in order to highlight their value amongst everyday consumers?
Olivia Press
Project Description
As we are in the midst of a climate change crisis there is an immanent need to reexamine the way in which customers and businesses interact. Values are shifting as we are experiencing a pertinent need to consume less.
Today, craft is rebellious – contemporary craftspeople are resilient against a system intent on manufacturing identity and displacing the humanity behind everyday objects.
But craftspeople in Canadian metropolitan cities like
Toronto are struggling to sustain their practices due to the lack of infrastructure supporting them. Makerspaces and creative third spaces face continuous closures as the
economic competition is fierce; craft competes with fine art for governmental funding & with mass manufacturing – as it dilutes objects’ value to potential consumers – in the market.
Maximizing connection points for makers and consumers can build a foundation for craft discourse while uplifting these professionals in a growing yet frequently overlooked sector.
Insight
As western consumer culture is simply not sustainable, there is a growing need to reestablish relationships between people and the objects they desire, and encourage meaningful interactions between consumers and the businesses they engage with. Craftsmanship provides a foundation to interact critically with everyday objects & examine consumer habits more holistically.
Idea
Fundamentally, the Heirloom platform aims to be a source of inspiration & connection within creative communities. While the app connects to nearby consumers, it gives craftspeople
agency, allowing them to interact with marketplaces on their own terms. With increased retail channels for conscientious consumers craft objects have the potential to be disruptive in the sectors they intersect.
Impact
The intention of this project is to encourage users to be mindful of their own experiences in consumers markets while acknowledging the potential value of the craft sector which currently experiences barriers due to the lack of infrastructure supporting creative trades in Toronto. Heirloom encourages users to imagine what innovation could look like in a circular economy.
Olivia Press
As a designer interested in circular economics, I am rethinking what innovation looks like to me? What does better look like - and what might be accomplish if we dismantle the constant need to increase, upscale, expand?