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Craftal Naročniška storitev namizne posode by Culture Generation Japan

Craftal Naročniška storitev namizne posode by Culture Generation Japan is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2022 Bronasta nagrada A' Design Award in Oblikovanje kulturne dediščine in kulturne industrije Competition Category.


BronastaKulturna dediščina· 2022

Craftal Naročniška storitev namizne posode

by Culture Generation Japan

Client: Craftal

Bronasta nagrada A' Design Award Winner in Kulturna dediščina Category

Colors

The Design

About Craftal Naročniška storitev namizne posode

Craftal je naročniška storitev, ki restavracijam in gospodinjstvom zagotavlja japonsko obrtniško namizno posodo. Uporabniki izberejo trideset kosov iz fizične galerije ali spletnega kataloga, pri izbiri pa jim lahko pomaga kustos. Namizna posoda je nato dostavljena za preizkusno obdobje treh mesecev. Po treh mesecih je kose mogoče zamenjati ali vrniti. Vrnjeni izdelki so vzdrževani v distribucijskem centru, preden jih pošljejo drugemu uporabniku. Storitev povezuje obrtnike z ljudmi, ki uporabljajo njihova dela, tako da lahko neposredne povratne informacije usmerjajo razvoj izdelkov.

The Recognition

About the Bronasta nagrada A' Design Award

Craftal Naročniška storitev namizne posode je prejemnik Bronaste nagrade A' Design Award, zelo prestižnega priznanja, ki se podeljuje izjemnim oblikovanjem, ki se odlikujejo po ustvarjalnosti, iznajdljivosti in bistrosti. Prejemniki Bronaste nagrade so v celoti spretni in presenetljivo ustvarjalni artefakti, ki potrjujejo bogate izkušnje, domišljijo in zvitost svojih oblikovalcev. Od Craftal Naročniška storitev namizne posode se pričakuje, da bo visoko cenjen, občudovan in ljubljen predmet, opazno profesionalen in inovativen. To oblikovanje, nagrajeno z Bronasto nagrado A' Design Award, vključuje najboljše prakse v umetnosti, znanosti, oblikovanju in tehnologiji ter je odlično po pozornosti do podrobnosti. Craftal Naročniška storitev namizne posode sijajno zadovoljuje potrebe, se dotika želja, očara čustva in vzbuja radovednost.

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

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