Craftal Mahai-tresnen Harpidetza Zerbitzua by Culture Generation Japan is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2022 Brontzezko Saria A' Design Award in Kultur Ondare eta Kultura Industriaren Diseinua Competition Category.
BrontzeKultur Ondarea· 2022
Craftal Mahai-tresnen Harpidetza Zerbitzua
Client: Craftal
Brontzezko Saria A' Design Award Winner in Kultur Ondarea Category
- 17,491
- Verified Award Winner
- Verify Award Status for #139328
The Design
About Craftal Mahai-tresnen Harpidetza Zerbitzua
Craftal Japoniako artisautzako mahai-tresnak jatetxe eta etxeei hornitzen dizkien harpidetza-zerbitzu bat da. Erabiltzaileek hogeita hamar pieza aukeratzen dituzte galeria fisiko batean edo katalogo online batean, eta kurator batek lagundu dezake hautaketan. Ondoren, mahai-tresnak hiru hilabeteko probaldirako bidaltzen dira. Hiru hilabete igarotakoan, piezak trukatu edo itzuli daitezke. Itzulitako piezek mantentze-lanak jasotzen dituzte banaketa-zentro batean, beste erabiltzaile bati bidali aurretik. Zerbitzuak artisauak eta beren lana erabiltzen duten pertsonak lotzen ditu, horrela, zuzeneko feedbackak produktuen garapena bideratu ahal izateko.
The Recognition
About the Brontzezko Saria A' Design Award
Craftal Mahai-tresnen Harpidetza Zerbitzua Brontzezko Saria A' Design Award irabazlea da, sormenak, asmamenak eta zorroztasunak bereizten dituzten diseinu bikainei ematen zaien aitorpen oso prestijiotsua. Brontze-mailako irabazleak trebetasunez beteriko eta nabarmenki sortzaileak diren artefaktuak dira, beren diseinatzaileen esperientzia zabala, irudimena eta ekimena egiaztatzen dutenak. Craftal Mahai-tresnen Harpidetza Zerbitzua oso estimatua, miretsia eta maitea den objektua izatea espero da, nabarmenki profesionala eta berritzailea dena. Brontzezko Saria A' Design Award irabazi duen diseinu honek artearen, zientziaren, diseinuaren eta teknologiaren praktika onenak biltzen ditu eta xehetasunei ematen dien arretagatik bikaina da. Craftal Mahai-tresnen Harpidetza Zerbitzua beharrak bikain asetzen dituen, desirak ukitzen dituen, sentimenduak xarmatzen dituen eta jakin-mina erakartzen duen lana da.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- Craftal is a subscription service that provides Japanese craft tableware to restaurants and households, fostering a new environment where people can meet a wide variety of traditional crafts from all over Japan. This platform to solve these issues faced by both the restaurant side and the craftsmen, and we have now we started working directly with chefs to develop highly usable tableware products by incorporating their feedback and experiences.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The current scale of the business is as follows: 1) More than 300 products available, 2) Over 30 restaurants, 3) Over 50 end-users, 4) Over 50 craftsmen and artisans, 5) Over 500 people participating in trial events.
- Tags
- Japanese traditional craft industry, Japanese tableware, subscription service, craftsmanship, Japanese craft, circular economy, sustainability, craftal
- Production Technology
- Craftal’s business model was designed to solve problems faced by both craftsmen who make tableware and the restaurants who use them. For craftsmen, it is difficult for them to sell expensive products, but it is difficult for them to expand their craft if they only make pieces that can be sold cheaply. For restauranteurs, buying a wide variety of tableware is expensive, especially because they have to rotate it seasonally to pair with changing dishes depending on the time of year.
- Design Challenge
- When Craftal was first launched, COVID-19 infections began to spread around the world in early 2020. Since our initial target, which consisted of restaurants that were negatively impacted by this, we had a difficult time promoting the service. Our response was to start a B2C service targeting individual households and we were able to increase awareness of the service this way. Also, we tried to appeal to a larger group of customers, and realised there was a need from restaurants specialising in Western cuisine, which we did not foresee as our initial focus on just Japanese restaurants.
- Research
- We conducted interviews with numerous hotels and restaurants and found that for restauranteurs, they wanted to purchase a wide variety of tableware to pair with seasonal menus, but there were three main barriers to this: 1) price, 2) storage, 3) opportunity cost (ie. time spent researching and purchasing).
Also, we learned that there are many levels of middlemen, which means that craftsmen cannot directly get feedback from the restauranteurs, affecting standards for product development. - Inspiration
- The Japanese traditional craft industry is facing problems such as declining sales, labor shortage, product development, and lack of ability to develop sales channels in each process from production to sales due to the division of labor.
On the other hand, although there is a need for restaurants to use traditional crafts, there are not many opportunities to purchase them because of the time and cost involved.
This service was created in the process of thinking of ways to solve such problems. - Project Duration
- The service was first established in June 2019 in Tokyo as a B2B platform connecting restauranteurs and craftsmen in Japan and is still continuing to this day.
Targeting individual households, the B2C service was launched in May 2020 to address people spending more time at home due to the spread of COVID-19 infection. - Operation Flow
- 1. Users select 30 tableware pieces from the physical gallery or online catalog. Specially tailor-fit selections based on consultations by a curator is also available.
2. Once inventory is confirmed at the distribution center, the tableware will be sent to the restaurant for an initial trial period of three months.
3. After three months, the customer will either exchange or return the tableware pieces, and those returned will undergo maintenance at the distribution center before being sent to use at another restaurant. - Team Members
- Producer: Takuya Hotta
Director: Hideya Izawa
Designer: Shugo Urata
Curator: Aki Yasuda
Planner: Takahiro Tsuchida
Planner: Yumi Takahashi
Sponsored
Explore Beyond Designers.org
Discover products, services and opportunities from our advertising partners.
More to Explore
Related Designs
Explore more award-winning designs from the same category, selected by merit.
