One day before the market took place I learnt that there was still a space left at montagsmarkt.ch and so I took it. I enjoyed the experience a lot, met friends and got to show my re*creations to a lot of nice people that had no clue about mayari’s existance!
I had not much time to prepare. Considering the fact that my offering strategies (offers for free/for a fee/as art) and the philosophy behind mayari are quite rich I had to come up quickly with an effective, simplistic communication design for the stall. So that people who have never been confronted with Mayari.net before would easily understand what I stand for and offer.
This is how my stall looked like:
Not only I wanted to sell my products, most of all I wanted to communicate what mayari is about: Upcycling. That is offering new and practical products made from waste that has been collected, washed and used as a new raw material.
(This says: “Please save me from a way too early death in an incineration plant!”)
I wanted to show that upcycling is a fun and good (if not the right) thing to do. For mayari’s re*creations there are several ways how to get involved. Namely through:
- DIY offers
- STANDARD offers
- CUSTOMIZED offers
- LIMITED offers
DIY
This is the first offer: do-it-yourself RRR Ribbons. They are made from used beverage cartons and a pin and my visitors/prosumers were able to either make them by themselves, (I showed them how to do it), or buy them for 1CHF. They stand for “I’m in favour of reusing, therfore reducing, therfore recycling waste”. I was positively surprised how open the people were for this idea. A few ribbons were created - some very skillfully, some not so much so. (I’ll post a how to video soon that you can make one at home too if you want.) Here you can see only a few examples created at the market:
STANDARD
This is how one can find the re*creations I invented (Notebook, Card Holder and Recycled Magic Wallet) in the stores. And this is how most products are sold today: A few are made, put into retail and people can choose from one of them. It’s as simple as that. The graphic design is the one that’s made by the producer of the beverage to which the carton once was a packaging for. Now, thanks to Mayari, they got a second life and have become packaging for your scribbles, your cards or your bills.
CUSTOMIZED
This might be the way we will get/order our products in the future. These are the same re*creations I invented (Notebook, Card Holder and Recycled Magic Wallet) but covered with your own design or material. You would have to order these re*creations with me at mayari.net. As these products are made upon request it takes a little longer till you can make use of them but for that patience you get your very own and unique re*creation which you would hopefully cherish for a long, long time.
LIMITED
This is for the ones who like art and appreciate conceptual works. SAVE THE INK is a series of 22 yellow crafts made from left over ink. A special edition of card holders in a penrose pattern that are invented and will always be made by Tanja the artist herself. It’s a piece of art that makes you think and that one can use, keep, exhibit and maybe, eventually collect. Who knows, maybe one day they will be worth much more than what I am selling them for today - this depens upon my further career as an artist or entrepreneur i.e. my popularity or success I guess.
As I said, my business is quite complex and operating on different layers (design/art) using different strategies (diy/standard/customized) always using the same products called re*creations (as they are “practical, prosumer products”, do “reuse, reduce, recycle” waste and are “100% Handmade” i.e. totally climate neutral) invented by mayari that is - to this point - just me, Tanja Burgdorfer, a young Swiss designer and artist.
Markets to me are conversations and experiences. I love markets because I can see one to one how people perceive my products. I love the interaction, to be able to explain and to have a conversation. This is for sure not the last time to do this. And next time will be even better as I constantly learn from past experiences! So keep an eye on me!
Find more pictures on my flickr.
Oh for those who wonder about money: Yes I made a little profit. But what makes me even happier is to see how many people liked my products as well as my strategies. All the compliments I got motivate me to go on. Thanks so much (you know who you are).
