MAAD market September 2016 September 13, 2016 20:19

This post is a little bit overdue, but I thought it would still be useful to keep a record of some of the reflections I had after the event. This was the 2nd time I had taken part in the MAAD market at the Red Dot Design Museum, but it was quite a different experience from the first time. For one, we were in a completely different space quite deep in the gallery, as compared to the first time when we were located pretty near the entrance, just next to the souvenir shop. Also, the crowd swelled at different timings throughout the night--in August, there was quite a constant flow of people all the way from 6-10pm, but this time, the crowd was thin all the way till 9pm, when there was suddenly a HUGE crowd all the way till 11pm. 

There were a few new items that I had during this market: the Japanese yuzen origami journals, and the premium origami money envelopes in a jumbo size. Some of my customers from the previous market had asked whether I had the premium origami money envelopes in a larger size, and I thought that that was a great idea, so I trialled it at this market. It's not easy to find the paper being sold in larger dimensions, though, so I think it will always be an item with highly limited stock if I do eventually list it on my online store. 

This customer was particularly memorable for me =) she really adored my hand-bound journals and was so torn between getting the Lokta journal or the Japanese yuzen origami journal! It was so cute how she was oohing and aahing over how well-made they were and how the covers were so pretty.. I was so touched by that! And it's people like her who really drive me and my work making handmade paper goods =) Paper lovers 4EVA heehee!

There were some other conversations that I had which were memorable as well. There was one customer who did a once-over of all my items, and then asked me how long I had been in business for. I told her just over a year, and she was pretty impressed because she said I had made so many items in such a short time! Another customer commented that all the items were so colourful and diverse, and that no two patterns were the same. It's these kinds of comments that really put a smile on my face and inspire me to keep going. Of course there are also other , less positive comments, but I refuse to dwell on them because they aren't my ideal customers. I will just keep looking out for other paper lovers just like me!