Chirpy Sunday! This week I became an official fan of Thanksgiving dinners! I never had pumpkin pie, green bean casserole or sweet potato pie with marshmallows before, but now I know what cracks the turkey. I had the best stuffing ever thanks to Jess, and the nicest 10kg turkey thanks to Christina. All the 15 of us looked heavily pregnant by the end of the meal and couldn’t sit straight. We laughed and laughed, sharing jokes and stories. It was a great evening. Christina brought over the leftover ‘soda’ (so American) today. I`ve been craving them for so long and now we have 4 different bottles. I find it pretty amazing how things turn up when I crave them. I remember Friday lunchtime thinking I can`t wait to be able to do my first food shopping and make a nice chicken dish. That very evening I was given a massive pot of chicken casserole. God`s provision is just mind blowing. Rachel told me about her experience when she did Mission Year, how she was provided from unexpected sources. I did believe her, but I found it extremely difficult to capture the reality of it. And now I am experiencing the very essence of it.
I spent many hours with Monsieur Thesis today. We got on a lot better than yesterday. Most likely I can thank that to the cups of coffees I didn’t have. It really helped I felt lot calmer and happier about the writing process than yesterday and finally finished the Literature Review and the Discussion. I still have bits to write, do the editing, printing and binding, but I feel relieved by finishing off the monster of all the theories. I`ve got 24.580 words at the moment and am going to meet my new course leader tomorrow and see what she says about this.
I`ve read the thesis through so many times, I can’t differentiate any more, what I wrote already and what I only had the intention to do so. It all feels like a big flowing pool of words. At the end of the day I rewarded myself with watching the The 5th Element. Great movie. It was good to switch Monsieur Thesis off for a bit. I also took regular breaks to rest my eyes, so I didn’t end up with a pirate eye by the end of the day like yesterday.
`Discussion
In this section the writer discusses in depths the result of findings and theories starting with the role of fashion in consumers’ life. The added value of design in economics and sustainable development. Looks into traditional craft and the role of heritage in Hungary`s transition economy. The customs of consumption and difficulties of advocating local production through analysing and explaining about fashion related entrepreneurial activity and its costs in form of monthly fees and taxes by using the case studies. And finally looks at the ‘New Souvenir’ concept based on local skills – felt making, materials – sheep wool and markets – spa tourist industry.
Fashion and the added value of design
The fashion industry takes a multilevel approach to provide a platform to its consumers to create, explore and experiment through identity, belonging and community when making choices in buying and wearing clothes. At the same time Design is an `added value` a vital factor in the economic success of businesses and nations. (John A Walker: Design History and the History of Design).
Sustainable development addresses three interrelated areas: environment, social and economic sustainability. The relationship between these subjects provides a challenging platform for the successful integration of design principles. Harris expresses that `We must learn to use less and to use what is available, rather than always creating specific, new components and materials that require more energy and resources, and thus have a greater detrimental impact because contemporary aesthetic norms are based in capital – intensive, highly automated, unsustainable procedures. (page 76, Marvin Harris, the Rise of Anthropological Theory, 1968).
Traditional Craft and the role of heritage
Traditional craft is part of an ethnical group’s cultural heritage. It used to define a sense of belonging to a family, village, county or nation. Through the intricate visual language of craft, history and emotions were expressed and kept alive. It was a tool to communicate and for many a means to earn a living. Whilst historical and political changes have played a major role in shaping the heritage of traditional craft, globalisation is playing an even more serious part in the decline of artisanship. This impact together with the current policy making has a negative effect on the decreasing number of Hungarian artisans, even though there could be countless opportunities in the fashion industry to team up with artisans to create value and explore areas where aesthetics and design innovation could result in products that are more sustainable and designed with a considerate design approach in all the three fundamental areas: materials, skills and markets.
Throughout the research in traditional craft in Hungary, where there are more than fifteen different ethnic groups living, it was realised that the European Union as a whole has a rich and varied number of traditional craft techniques and variation of skills, which are not explored to the extent that could benefit the already existing problems generated by climate change . Glocal Trinnovation’s design approach aims to reduce the negative impact of product design and development processes on the environment by using local skills and materials for the local market, which potentially have low carbon footprint during the production and retail process.
Artisanship in Hungary is considered cheap labour. This belief generated from the experience during communism, where the living wage was relatively low and the product availability less. As well as the consumers, artisans earned low wages too. That made it possible for the products to be priced lower than those available in shops. Also products made by artisan were one off, which created an added value in an era where the choice was centralised and limited at the same time.
Whilst in England hand-made products have a revival and a new consumer base is emerging desiring to buy ethically designed and made products to support the local community to create a better feel when wearing garments or using the products. In Hungary even though the structure of earning is not centrally equal any more, still the third of the population lives on minimum wage. After the fall of communism since the free market opened up and brought more choices and cheaper goods and services than the artisans could compete with, their income decreased, but their monthly payable fees increased. Due to the price increase artisan products became luxury goods during Hungary`s transition economy for the those who were the consumer base before the fall of communism. The aim of Glocal Trinnovation is changing customs of consumption and advocating local production to help creating an innovative service to balance out the widening gap between the needs of consumers, the needs of artisan and the needs of the government.’
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