Improve designs to increase competitiveness for handicraft products

Product designs still follow the "old path"

Speaking at the workshop “Consulting on improving the capacity of designing packaging and packaging of handicraft products to increase competitiveness in domestic and export markets”, Dr. Do Nhu Chinh – Vice President of the Vietnam Craft Villages Association – said that the export turnover of handicraft products reaches nearly 2 billion USD each year. This figure can be further expanded if handicraft products are interested in design and model.

Mr. Trinh Quoc Dat – Chairman of the Vietnam Craft Villages Association – delivered the opening speech at the Workshop. Photo: Nguyen Van

One of the reasons why the designs of craft village products in general and handicraft products in particular are not diverse, as pointed out by the leaders of the Vietnam Craft Village Association, is that most craft village production facilities are small-scale (household), with limited capital, space and facilities, so they cannot invest in depth in designing new designs.

On the other hand, in today's craft villages, the number of talented artisans who have a deep understanding of traditional techniques and skills is not much. The elderly artisans, who are weak, have limited ability to grasp tastes and markets, and subconsciously always depend on traditional designs. Meanwhile, young people who are well-educated, dynamic, and sensitive, but do not have many skills and skills with the profession, have limited understanding of traditional value standards, and like to pursue novelty, imitate, copy existing models and slightly modify them to make them new.

“ This is also a certain limitation for the development of product models and packaging, and design styles of current handicraft products ,” Dr. Nguyen Nhu Chinh shared.

From the local reality, Ms. Nguyen Hong Chuyen - Deputy Head of the Department of Industrial Management - Hai Duong Department of Industry and Trade - stated that the requirements of modern life and integration into the world economy are requiring handicraft products to be rich and diverse to meet the aesthetic tastes of customers. Meanwhile, traditional craft villages lack an important step: applying science and technology to production, creating diversity in product designs.

Apart from a few professional designers who are passionate about traditional crafts, there is no professional design team that conducts in-depth research on each handicraft product. Craft villages and businesses currently invest too little in market research, especially the market for prototyping and design.

Although there has been progress with many beautiful and unique products, it can be seen that most of the newly designed products stop at small improved details, mainly differences in product structure and materials, and there are not many "unique" models.

Ms. Nguyen Hong Chuyen - Deputy Head of Industrial Management Department - Hai Duong Department of Industry and Trade. Photo: Nguyen Van

The reason why the designs and models of handicraft products in Hai Duong are still poor and monotonous is because the current handicraft production facilities are small-scale and have weak financial capacity, so they do not have enough conditions to invest in improving designs. Meanwhile, the coordination between the team of artisans and businesses is still loose, so the process of improving designs is slow, not meeting the demand for innovative designs.

Need "handshake" between designer and manufacturer

Faced with the above situation, Dr. Nguyen Nhu Chinh stated that if handicraft products want to develop more strongly, they must "break out" of traditional thinking to reach deep into the market. However, the quintessence of Vietnamese culture is an important factor in exploiting materials to create new designs and styles for handicraft products to suit market needs.

“ Therefore, traditional characteristics need to be promoted to their strengths instead of being conservative and stubbornly holding on to traditional designs that are no longer suitable for the market, ” emphasized Dr. Nguyen Nhu Chinh.

He also emphasized that to develop suitable designs for craft village products and handicraft products, there needs to be "handshake" between designers and manufacturers.

Workshop “Consulting on improving the capacity of designing packaging and packaging handicraft products to increase competitiveness in domestic and export markets”. Photo: Nguyen Van

For designers, it is necessary to have the practicality of the manufacturer so that the product design and packaging design still carry the national identity and breath of the region; still take advantage of traditional features, and can apply new technology; easy to organize production, meet the requirements of large quantities; size, quality, raw materials and finished product price need to be suitable for the customer; the product can be both pure art and applied art products...

For manufacturers, in order for designers to have enough data and to develop their creativity, there must be maximum sharing, cooperation, and support. In addition, at each step in the creative process, both designers and manufacturers must continuously discuss and evaluate to make the most optimal choices, preparing for the next step. Manufacturers must even bring what has been sketched to the market to evaluate the future potential of products with new designs and models.

On the side of Hai Duong province, Ms. Nguyen Hong Chuyen informed that in order to promote creativity and enrich product designs, the locality has organized a contest "Designing souvenirs and tourist gifts of Hai Duong province". This is also a responsible direction of Hai Duong province in promoting the development and preservation of traditional crafts. " This needs to continue to be done regularly, continuously and extensively, even in competitions for designs and handicraft products at the district level to stimulate creativity, create new, sophisticated products with high economic value of artisans and craftsmen in craft villages in Hai Duong " - Ms. Nguyen Hong Chuyen said.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/cai-tien-mau-ma-de-tang-canh-tranh-cho-san-pham-thu-cong-my-nghe-356875.html