Help shape the direction
We’re developing an online space for our maker community oriented around sharing and discovering handcraft. We’re calling it We Make and the focus is two-fold: 1) support makers to craft their best work by connecting them with the people who support it, and 2) enable the world to discover it.
Over the last several months, our priorities have been influenced by personal conversations with all kinds of makers. Now, we’re opening up the discussion to the larger community.
Consider sharing your perspective—in response to each point below or in the general comments—and help shape the direction of a community space that values the way of craft.
If you’d like to be a part at this early stage, you can request early access to Maker Map. If you’d like to learn more about the details or share more of your own vision, contact us to set up a time to talk.
The experience: how it works and feels
- Beautifully simple The design highlights makers’ images and promotes connection with the work and with others
- Makers, not resellers Images are posted by the people who made the work, not resellers
- See the work you expect Your home feed is determined by who and what you’re following, not an algorithm
- Discovery through Curation Craft-specific feeds are curated to generously guide the discovery process
- Managed by makers Select maker members (serving for limited times) curate the feeds for their respective crafts
- Equal opportunity Good work gets featured no matter who posts it (plus, no pay-for-exposure)
- Connection around our shared values A craft focus brings us together—political commentary, etc, gets posted elsewhere
- Focused on handcraft We appreciate good art but there are already platforms for posting gallery-focused work
- A neutral voice Some makers have a fun approach, some serious—a neutral tone makes space for everyone
- Collect images Remember and organize others’ work to reference later or to share
- Customer-friendly collections Explore objects by collections like Kitchen, Accessories or Furniture
- Encourage direct sales Makers can highlight objects that are for sale and link to products on their own websites
The approach: what’s behind the experience
- Serving makers of all skill levels Sharing our work is valuable for all of us, from beginners to masters
- Free for everyone Both makers and craft appreciators can join and participate for free
- Transparent leadership A community stays stronger when leadership is transparent about vision, plans and expectations
- Community-informed direction Plans are made with a lot of community input in the best interest of small-scale makers
- Get help when you need it If you have an issue, you can reach a real person who has the authority to help resolve it
- Community-created content We want to facilitate conversations and the sharing of valuable experience
- Everyone shows and gets respect Accounts posting hateful content will be removed. Disrespectful members will be warned first.
- Shared resources As we grow, we look forward to creating/offering valuable resources to makers
- Better without big data We’re working hard to keep our information outside of big data channels. (And, we would never sell it.)
- Supported by sponsors who get the vision The platform makes money via ads from vetted sponsors who support what we’re doing and offer real value
- Hide ads if you want to Members can hide ads by subscribing to an ad-free plan with a few bonus tools
- Share ad revenue Even before we get profitable we will be sharing revenue with high-contributing members
Help refine the direction
To make this flourish we want more input from the maker community. What have we missed? What stands out to you? Share your insight in the comments below or next to each point above.
If you haven’t already, you might also want to read our vision and values as well as our underlying assumptions.