Fairtrade and design

Fair Trade and Design

Lynn Van der Stocken

Interior and environmental design 3rd year

What is fair trade?

Design for fair trade

Africa is known as a part of the world where economy and industry develop slow. In rural areas of this continent, producing crafts is a way of making an extra amount of money. Designing for fair trade will put the idea of competing with the craft industry aside and will improve, promote and expand fair trade by involving designers in the development of new products with, especially, African women and children. Non-profit initiatives will take part in helping these people by craft-makers who let them become competitive on Western markets by contributing useful, culturally sensitive and environmentally designs. By using materials only available in their own country and new techniques of production and craft-making, people will develop new kind of products. These women/children will now get appreciation for their work and what's more, for their cultural heritage. They will have more control over their lives. Their success will allow them to earn money and not being underpaid any more. So other designers and consumers from all over the world will be aware of design that's not only created by designers who make their money because of their name or label on it, but because of what they really are.

“To improve the economic and social standing of underprivileged people in the world by reinforcing local economies and creating self-sustainable employment through just and responsible practices.”

                                                                               mission of handmade expressions                                      

women in Africa designing for fair trade, available at: http://www.designforfairtrade.org/                                                                                                                                               

History

Fair trade is not a brand, is not a product, it is a story.

The fair trade label is grown out of our knowledge how small farmers and fieldworkers from developing countries got underpaid for what they do. They live with constant pressures of world markets, fluctuating prices, and exploitation by local traders. This still causes a lot of unemployment and poverty. Fair trade can give more than a million people the possibility to find their way out of this downward spiral.

The fair trade original started as a committee 'SOS', The Dutch abbreviation for 'aid for developing areas', raised by Paul Meijs. Around the seventies, already different enterprises were created.

The very first fair trade label, Max Havelaar, was from Dutch origin. Also the first product, coffee from Mexico, was sold into Dutch markets. The label ensured that farmers from disadvantaged regions, as Africa, Latin America and Asia, could live from a stable income because of the guaranteed minimum prices. With each sale a premium is automatically deposited in the producer organisation's designated premium account. Afterwards farmers will decide how they will invest it, depending on what they need the most at that moment. Now about 1,5 million people in Latin America, Africa and Asia are part of this Fair trade system.

You buy what you get...

When fair trade was born, they had to tell the world it exists, because also we are the helping hand for these farmers their income. While Nike already made a name of making their shoes all over the world on the cheapest places where people were underpaid, other brands as Kit Kat, Body shop, Starbucks, Ben and Jerry's and Oxfam were smarter by finding there way in the fair trade system. Media brought fair trade more in the world. With slogans as 'beware of a cheaper cup of coffee, it comes with a price' or 'don't just buy, do!' people know what to expect of the product, but also of the consequence of it. Ourselves became a decision for a better life for developing farmers. The price of the product will be higher, but we get better quality of products, while they get a better quality of life.     

                 

Mars (2007) and Starbucks (2004) commercial with the fair trade message, available at: http://slogan.sultaninfo.com/chocolatebarslogans/

                                                                                                                   http://www.makingsustainability.com/index.php/category/action/procurement-action/

  

How fair is fair trade?

Although critics about these fair trade labelled products creates. Who is getting better of all this media? Does the money go more to the commercialising than to the farmers them selve? We never know the real answer probably, but there are many doubts about this 'fair trading'. Fair trade is maybe become a brand on its own, a name that people make them buy. While spotting the label on a product, people think it's good to buy. They will feel satisfied and proud that they bought it. We will almost feel guilty if we don't buy the product. Although most of them still fall back on the cheaper products. The thought is that we all know that we can't get poverty out of the world. But we can reduce it. So by buying it we will help people somehow. That hopefully stays the real statement of fair trade.

The furniture design company

This corporation is associated with the fair trade system that most of the times is known by food-labels. Nowhere a real history of this company can be found, but most likely it started around 2000, looking to the sources. Although this organisation has no own label for their furniture yet, they start to grow appropriate. The company also has fair trade agency called inori. This a a small family business in Indonesia who produce furniture for the company.

            

The official fair trade label the official fair trade furniture company label, available at: http://www1.salvationarmy.org.uk/uki/www_uki.nsf/vw-sublinks/4969152B63A77621802570B3005ECC8C?openDocument 

                                                                                                               http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/products/the-fair-trade-furniture-company/

Fair trade and design

Developing design

When we connect furniture design with fair trade we think about craft-makers/designers of continents as Africa, Asia (India, China,..) and South America. So here first some research especially based on design from these continents with as starting point African design.

African art has a kind of creativity, inspired by contrasting images you see all over the continent. Rain forests and savannah’s, extreme poverty and rich grandeur... These are elements that combine such different ways of thinking, creating and producing. African design has a certain character of complexity and simplicity at once. But one thing will always stay the feature of African design; the nature. People will search for materials and inspiration by themselves in an environment they know as the best, Africa itself. Rocks, trees, sand, grass,... Every little thing they use becomes magic. They make magnificent beautiful things out of these simple materials they found. What makes African design even more different than any other design is their believe in it. They believe in the spirit of the nature. This is what they call animalism. The spirit of nature will reward them with favours, if everything is going right. When things go badly, these spirits will punish them for errors of their ways. This strong source of nature give them an opportunity for inspiration and creation which also means African design is hand made and this keeps it in a certain way traditional in his kind. Although it is authentic, every object they make has its own emotional value. One kind of figure curved in wood can give a whole history or definition to that particular piece of design. African design is also known as being colourful and decorative and is recognisable of its bold patterns and simple geometry. All these characteristic, meaningful known facts remain to a natural way of thinking. Although this kind of creating is still disturbed. People with a decent income create design for putting a certain label on it. With richer fabrics and other materials they can make a comfort life more comfortable and all this produced in series with the best machines. But developing designers have to compete these other money making craft industries who undermine the hand made creations. Although there is a 'solution'...

(The spirit of African design,1996)

Between fair trade and design...

As said before, fair trade has its own organisation in furniture design too; the fair trade furniture company. This corporation produces beautiful furniture crafted by fair trade producers especially in Indonesia, also known as a developing country.

As 'design for fair trade' especially focuses on Africa (Uganda), 'The furniture company' stands in for craft-makers in Indonesia.

At the same time they evaluate the social, economic and environmental well-being of the producers in different developing countries.

Also minimising their carbon footprint, avoiding air freight and aiming to use efficient energy supplies in their warehouses and showrooms are important targets for this company. Tord Kjellstrom is a Swedish designer who made a chair out of the idea 'feel-good chair' (see: picture beneath). It is a real comfortable chair that looks attractive and of course is based on the fair trade principles.

Feel-good chair or Semarang of T. Kjellstrom, available at: http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/products/the-fair-trade-furniture-company/

'Meet the makers' – craft-makers in Indonesia, available at: http://www.fairtradefurniture.co.uk/department/meet_the_makers

While doubting about how fair this organisation is, we will keep thinking about why fair trade was raised. So in different developing countries organisations in association with fair trade help people with working about their passion with fair values. They get a great knowledge about how to design eco-friendly and use the right materials. These people now become almost equal with other designers over the world and got respect for what they do.

References

Links:

Design for fair trade, available at: http://www.designforfairtrade.org/

Designboom – fair trade design, available at: http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/8944/fair-trade-design-unseen-products.html

Edirisa crafts in uganda, available at: http://www.edirisa.org/index.php?cat=15

Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek designed a serie of furniture in Vietnam with principles of fair trade, available at: http://nl.elle.be/Design2/Deco-shopping/Piet-Hein-Eek-voor-Fair-Trade-Original

Fair trade furniture, available at: http://www.fairtradefurniture.co.uk/

Oxfam international, available at: http://www.oxfam.org/en/campaigns/trade

Fair trade foundation – history, available at: http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/what_is_fairtrade/history.aspx

Fair support, history, available at: http://www.fair-support.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26&Itemid=24

Handmade expressions, available at: http://www.handmadeexpressions.net/pages/mission-and-history

BBC news article, 7 March 2007: How fair is fair trade? [online], available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6426417.stm

Global exchange, article of wallstreet journal, 8 June 2004: How fair is fair trade? [online], available at: http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/2066.html

Fair trade foundation, innovation award, available at: http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/press_office/press_releases_and_statements/may_2010/call_to_arms_to_young_designers_to_show_fashion_can_care_ethical_fashion_forum_innovation_award.aspx

Telegraph article, The poverty of fair trade coffee [online] [last updated 23rd Feb. 2008], available at: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/alexsingleton/4019311/The_poverty_of_Fairtrade_coffee/

People tree, designing for fair trade, available at: http://www.peopletree.co.uk/content/handcrafted.php

Save the children, available at: http://www.savethechildren.in/component/content/article/49-newsflash/335-save-the-childrens-cotton-projects-in-focus-during-ikea-ceo-visit-to-india.html

The fair trade furniture company, available at: http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/products/the-fair-trade-furniture-company/

Oxfam, wereldwinkeldag (worldshop day), available at: http://www.oxfamwereldwinkels.be/wereldwinkeldag

Casinader Jehan, 2008, Idealog article 15, fair trade in New Zealand [online], available at: http://idealog.co.nz/magazine/15/is-fair-trade-a-fad

For watching:

Fair trade the movie, an eq. tv original [video online] available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZpUwCfINh8

Kit Kat commercial, Have a break? [video online] available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaJjPRwExO8

For reading:

Algotsson Sharne and Davis Denys, The spirit of African design, © 1996 Clarkson Potter/publishers New York, ISBN 0-517-59916-3 University library Dundee - Duncan of Jordanstone library

Lamb Harriet, Fighting the banana wars and other fair trade battles,  © 2008 Rider Books, ISBN 978-1-84-604083-2, University library Dundee – Duncan of Jordanstone library