"Prosumer" Economy

Here is an encouraging article from the San Francisco Gate. My comments are below...

Get ready: Here comes the 'prosumer economy'

Hunkering down, cutting and conserving, snapping up opportunities that others may miss. All the standard nostrums for surviving the Great Recession make sense, but they're not sufficient to cope with the new economic order that's coming.

That's what Eamonn Kelly, CEO of San Francisco's Global Business Network ( www.gbn.com), is telling CEOs of the Fortune 100 companies he advises. At a recent gathering of the Alliance of Chief Executives ( www.allianceofceos.com), an organization of Bay Area CEOs headquartered in Walnut Creek, Kelly outlined some of the coming challenges:

-- The era of Western-led innovation and globalization is finished, as China and India lead the shift to the East and begin to make their own rules. Henceforth, businesses will be operating in a world of "multiple models of government-private sector relations."

-- In the United States, "government is back," ending the private sector's "untrammeled permission to play." In addition to the state, the nonprofit civic sector - environmental organizations, for example - will become increasingly visible stakeholders in private enterprises.

-- Western consumption patterns are unsustainable. In fact, they are "structurally broken."

What does all this mean? Kelly believes - and this is a Fortune 100 adviser, mind you - that material consumption is being replaced by, for want of a better word, spiritual consumption. In a nutshell, quality supersedes quantity, a trend I believe we are already starting to see. For companies, that implies "a massive emphasis on co-creation with consumers," evolving into what Kelly calls the "prosumer economy."

It also presages, he believes, a transition from traditional models of competition to shared "webs" of innovation. "Companies are going to have to be more agile, more collaborative." Which, he acknowledged, "puts corporate executives in a very hard place. How do you manage that tension between dealing with the current recession and needing to adapt to these fundamental changes?"

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I feel this trend is very encouraging to the craftsperson and anyone that deals with quality items. If you are an artist, please keep up the great craftsmanship and as a consumer, which we all are, please purchase high quality.

I am glad to see the consumer finally get some power back over the corporations and I look forward to the new products that will surface and the older ones that will stay in demand.

Cheers,
Smyth Boone

Time to Re-model!

During an economic slump(or full-on melt down) people generally tend to start using their money differently. This puts the functional artist and anyone with 'real' value goods in a position to benefit.

When the economy has been riding high, people tend to spend more lavishly on vacations, large purchases and items that they can get with easy to get credit. When economic times are uncertain, people pull back on their spending, start saving and investing in projects at home and buy things that they can get the most value from. Luckily, people still have their money, they just tend to spend it on more concrete items, items that a person can see the benefits of, like a re-model project.

For example, instead of a large vacation to Hawaii a lot of people will choose to stay closer home for their vacations and re-model the bathroom or take on another house project that has been on the back burner for a while. Still spending money, but on "real" items with a real value that lasts.

Good quality lasts forever! Good luck to the "Functional Artists!" and anyone making things of quality with real value. A trend that may help us all.

Cheers,
Smyth Boone

Prototypes

I am in the habit of forging a prototype for most architectural commissions that I create. Not only does the prototype help me to figure out the pricing of a project, it also allows me to learn if the ideas and drawings are to scale and the right choices. The prototype comes after the drawings and the design concepts are realized.

Here is a close-up photo of a 3 foot prototype section for a balcony that I learned a lot about the joinery, sizes and textures...


For example... if I am commissioned to forge a railing...

First is the drawings and concepts for the piece. Then once the drawings are accepted by the builder/owner, I will build a measured section(usually 3 feet long) full scale. Railings are generally priced by the linear foot, therefore, I make a measured section( 3' for this example) and the amount of time it takes to create the prototype divided by 3 for this sample multiplied by my hourly shop rate gives me the price per foot to share with the builder/owner.

I also learn if I selected the right material sizes and techniques to see the project to its completion and on schedule. If there are things that need to be changed to make the project smoother or easier, the prototype is a great way to learn the project from the inside out. It also removes any mis-guided or unrealistic design concepts. This is also the time to make adjustments and corrections to make the project as quickly, professionally and efficiently.

While I create the prototype, I also figure out ways to make jigs and other helpful tools to hopefully speed up production once the design/prototype is accepted by the client. This means that hopefully the actual project will go faster than the prototype which can equal profit or simply allow for unforeseen delays in construction that can sometimes make one loose money on a project.

Cheers,
Smyth Boone

Feature on Design Style Guide Blog

Here is a nice feature on the Design Style Guide's Blog http://www.designstyleguide.blogspot.com/

The site is a great resource for the home decorating community and customers.

Cheers,
Smyth

Welcome Obama! and his Inaugural Address

Cheers for all of humanity!
Smyth

Here is the coverage of the Inauguration...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Practice is the key to Excelling

In continuation with the last theme of mastering your art form(10,000 hour theory)...

According to many studies, practice is the common denominator to people that truly excel to be outstanding at their medium. It appears that all people who are truly above and beyond most participants(99%),in their medium, practice as much as or more than others in the field. This concept of practice seems to be true for concert pianists, vocalists, writers, painters, teachers, sports players, artists and crafts-people of all kinds etc...

So, if you are looking to excel at your art, craft, sport or anywhere in your life... the key is practice.

Cheers,
Smyth Boone

10,000 Hours Theory(Master Crafstman)

Are you a master of your art/craft?

According to author, musician, neuro-scientist, Daniel Levitin in his book; "This is Your Brain on Music" ( a New York Times best-seller, Plume Printing 2006) , an expert or master of any craft is measured by that person practicing their craft for 10,000 hours.

Here is how Daniel Levitin puts it...
The emerging scientific picture is that 10,000 hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert in anything. In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you, this number comes up again and again.

Now how long is ten thousand hours? It is equal to roughly 3 hours of practice a day, or twenty hours a week, of practice for ten years. Of course some people never reach mastery, which is not really explainable yet. But, no one has found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery. -Daniel Levitin

This theory totally resonates with me personally and why I feel comfortable calling myself a Master artist/craftsman. I have easily put in 10,000 hours and feel confident with my skills and knowledge to solve any problem in the field of artistic blacksmithing.

More info at www.yourbrainonmusic.com

Are you a master at your craft?

Cheers,
Smyth Boone