Soon we’ll be able to create concrete lamps, leather belt bags, candleholders, dog collars and many other unique objects designed by Hungarian designers in the comfort of our own homes, too. Sendmade, Hungary’s first arts & crafts themed community platform will launch soon, with the aim of forming a bridge between designers and creative users longing to create at home. We asked Vanda Berecz, the mind behind the initiative.
Vanda Berecz creates premium quality leather bags and accessories under the brand trademarked by her own name. Over the years, she has made a great number of bags, so she has gained vast experience in the field. In addition to building her own brand, she often collaborates with other designers and also takes on private tutoring projects. “I try to convey the values I represent, including attention to details, preciseness and the unique designer attitude I also incorporate into my work, to others with the same enthusiasm,” she commented. At the time of the pandemic, these aspirations of hers grew into a whole new project.
Already during the first wave of the epidemic, when tourism ceased in Hungary from one day to the next, she started thinking how she could replace the revenues she lost. The idea of compiling creative packs that can be delivered to customers’ homes for people who are stuck within the four walls was born thanks to one of her friends. Eventually, it was the AHA Brain Store corporate acceleration program that gave her the first boost to develop her idea at the end of last year: this is how the Sendmade initiative was launched, which is a community platform with the help of which everyone can make unique objects at home.
“Our basic concept was to provide people with creative ideas and experiences in their homes and to facilitate the procurement of the necessary tools. There are countless DIY videos online, but to get access to the materials used in the videos many times requires a thorough research, which not always brings the expected results. Sendmade aims to place the triad of instruction-material-tool in a single box, so in addition to teaching something new, it also makes available the carefully selected materials and gives tools into users’ hands that they’ll be able to use in creative activities in the future, too,” Vanda explained.
The creatives participating in the project were selected by a professional jury in the framework of a competition: forty applicants sent their object ideas for the call, out of which the ten best made it into Sendmade’s creative community. The call did not contain specific requirements, thus everyone could submit their works according to their own interpretation and definition of DIY, which resulted in a very diverse selection. Most of the applicants submitted environmentally friendly ideas and product proposals based on recycling.
In the course of evaluating and selecting the best submissions, Sendmade’s team also made sure that those interested could gain an insight to the widest possible range of arts & crafts through the selection. The first three selected include the complex, crocheted bag of textile designer artist Beáta Kutasi, the candleholder of jewelry designer Zsófi Neuzer and the T-shirt and pencil case illustrated with Csenge Olajos’ graphic. Further winning ideas include Rita Besnyői’s concrete lamp, Melinda Molnár’s embroidered dog collar, Dalma Sury‘s table vase made of wood and test tubes, Angéla Bognár’s leather belt bag, Dorottya Baktai’s paper wallet and Ramóna Udvardi’s joyful peyote ring, but thanks to Zsófia Szőnyegi’s simple objects, we can take a peek inside the world of cyanotype printing, too.
“Today it has become more than obvious to me how different I look at objects I create myself. Today when one can order replaceable things from China with just two clicks, we start to look at the objects surrounding us as potential waste of short service life. At the same time, the overalls I sewed for myself back in high school based on a pattern I found in a magazine called Burda is still there in the back of my closet, and I’m sure the bedspread I knitted for weeks last year will stay with me for just as long. In Hungary, there are a lot of dedicated crafts people like me, who know exactly what it feels like when someone becomes the happy owner of a new object they made themselves. These are the people we’d like to connect through Sendmade’s platform with those who are looking for new inspiration, ideas or to unfold their starting creativity,” Vanda highlighted.
Sendmade’s platform will debut this summer with the introduction of the creatives, instructive videos and the content of the boxes available for sale. Vanda’s future goals include community building, the inclusion of more designers and expanding their product palette. Those interested will not only be able to create the objects at home, but in the framework of offline workshops, too, as soon as the pandemic allows it. For more information and novelties, follow Sendmade’s Facebook and Instagram pages!
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