ccpottery@BELLSOUTH.NET on wed 11 dec 02
In reply to this and others .....
'Did I hear you right, "This is the heart of making a living at pottery or
any other product ... make what people will want" Ouch.'
OUCH??
I am hardly stating some startling new economic theory here!
Clayarters have complained about how hard it is to make a living
with pottery ... I was simply offering a clue.
Color Trends are not a big mystery. They are decided on years ahead of time.
The paint companies tell the furniture people who tell the fabric people who
tell the fashion people ... does anyone think it is just a marvelous
co-incidence that you can get drapery that compliments your sofa???
I always have the color chips posted in my studio.
I have in front of me the color chips from the year 2000 predictions.
They were for Greens and blue/purple and burgundy .... now what was the
Metropolitan magazine pushing as Hot??? Green and Purple.
They are only reporting the current effects of decisions made years
ago.
Color chips from last years predictions include 7 shades of blue.
Information is the key. Knowing blues will be in demand does not mean
you should glaze everything you make blue. It does not guarantee every
blue thing you make will sell. It does not grind your creative genes to
a dead halt.It does not make you a drone or a 'sell out'.
It is simply another piece of information. It should not scare you or
intimidate you or rob you of artistic integrity. Lighten up folks.
Add it to your options, drop it in your memory banks and go on.
Blue may be a destination but you can get there in a car or by baloon
or even on a unicycle. You can even chose to watch while it all unfolds.
Janet's answer was bang on and she is a charter member of the reality
club.
Chris Campbell - in North Carolina - no, I am not heavily invested in the
cobalt carbonate market ! :>)
Diane Mead on wed 11 dec 02
The only decorators (I should say architects who do some interior design)
I know work completely from situational settings. They essentially follow
no trends. I will say they are the ones who've spent insane amounts of
money on work I thought I made to my own specs, (and other artists I know
did the same).
They did in fact buy work at what I considered more than fair prices.
By the same token, I have never made anything that remotely resmebled
production. I would think that more universal appeal is a very difficult and
tough trend to predict.
Janet Kaiser on thu 12 dec 02
Let us agree not become "colour snobs", eh? Wanting to serve the public and
make what they want is nothing to scorn in others or be ashamed of oneself.
Many a thriving studio or pottery depends on "public taste" and all that
involves... They are filling a niche in the market-place. Nothing more and
nothing less.
But switching colours because of some third-party pressure? It is a little
drastic and a precarious business. So many are quite right... The
production of a fashionable, trendy or en vogue colour is not a guarantee
of success and can lead to HUGE losses. This is OK if a factory is
producing zillions of XYZ product and there is a positive profit margin at
every step of the wholesale/retail chain between maker and consumer, even
if it is the "economy of scale" and losses have been fractured in by the
accountants.
But a visit to any DIY or retail store will show the down-side... See those
mountains of sale goods at 50%-90% off the original price? Guess what? The
public did not buy in the quantities predicted. That is OK for the Big Boys
who have already accommodated that in their buying/pricing strategy, but
for some small production pottery or a single maker who depends on a very
tight production-sales-income cycle? I think not!
Every penny worth of clay in the kiln MUST produce the projected income.
Anything short of that is NOT a Good Thing to say the very least. Some
would not worry too much if a kiln full of work sits on the shelf and
cannot be given away, but losing a whole or half year of development and
production? Who could afford that?
In addition to this colour thread, I notice that the manufacturers are
going the way of producing series and marketing new designs with
mind-boggling rapidity... I do not think this is a good idea in the long
term and IMO they are shooting themselves in the foot.
Those production potters who have produced the same or similar work over
many years may yet win out! "I bought this casserole off you in 1980. Can
you make me one for my daughter?". No problem... "And could you make two
soup bowls to make up the original set?" Yes of course... "Maybe a set of
extra-large plates? I only bought side plates back then." Certainly. "Hey!
Do you do wedding lists... I have 21 grandchildren marrying next year...?"
(Well, we can all dream, eh? :-)
There is security in the familiar and if the big producers are denying the
public one of the perceived strengths and long term attractions (i.e. can
always extend the service and replace broken items) production potters
could yet be in for a bonanza! We just have to let everyone know... Huh...
Back to the marketing...
Presuming a potter is able and willing... do all past customers know they
can replace breakages and extend their collection of "old" work? If they
see an ever-changing colour palette - not to say design range, they may put
two and two together and come up with five. Do not presume because you made
the pots and of course you could make re-orders (within reason and the
variables of clay, colour, glaze) that your customers KNOW! Education is as
important as marketing. Indeed, there are those who say that education is
the most important part of a marketing strategy!
Sincerely
Janet Kaiser - whose main "sales problem" is not colour, but the "to glaze
or not to glaze" question... So many graduate Art School makers are
enamoured of unglazed work and say a glaze would "spoil" their work, it is
hard convincing the public they are getting a "real ceramic work" and
therefore "value for money", however "unfunctional" the piece may be.
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