Indie Design

Indie Design: More Than Street Fairs

Artists, designers and craftspeople who are independent of corporations whose products are mass-produced make up the indie design movement. The word indie is short for independent. Indie products can be anything from jewelry to furniture and include music, films and videos. There are large numbers of indie shoppers who want these handmade and often one-of-a-kind products. These items are sold from online websites like Etsy, Dawanda, Mintd, and Lov.li, which are marketplaces or virtual stores from which to sell handmade products. They are also sold at craft fairs or street markets and by the indie designers’ own online shops.

The indie movement is connected to the DIY, do it yourself, culture which began in the early sixties and seventies during the protest movements and refers to the ethics of self-reliance. It was a rejection of consumerism, i.e. sewing your own clothes rather than buying new ones or repairing something rather than buying a new one. Recently the term DIY evolved into a broader meaning and covers a wider range of skills. DIY can also mean design it yourself. With time and patience, artists and crafters of all kinds can realize their own talents if they have something they love to do and want to perfect their skills and create something.

The popularity of the indie movement has given them the venues to sell their creations. They can access the many websites like Squidoo to get information or books about how to get started in marketing their wares. The indie artists symbolize freshness and originality. With the advent of the internet, the DIY and indie artists had the opportunity to use the web to display their wares. The online sites mentioned above may charge a nominal listing fee and a small commission for each article sold from it.