Rainy Day Discussion Topic: When Did We Become “Makers”?

[paddlegal]

I’ve been watching a few TH videos on new products and he constantly and consistently refers to us crafters now as “makers”. I have to say I don’t particularly like that term. I realize we crafters “make” a vast variety of things but “maker” doesn’t sound artful nor creative to me. How did this get started?

What do you think?

[pamcook]

Excellent question. The times I visited Australia (early 2000’s) the craft fairs were advertised as Makers’ Markets.

[paddlegal]

Excellent question. The times I visited Australia (early 2000’s) the craft fairs were marketed as Makers’ Markets.

And there’s the Cricket Maker which I thought was a weird name.

[EDelValle]

they also use the expression "Make and Take"

that might have influenced the term

[pugmom]

That has been annoying me for quite a while. There was a craft making competition show on TV about a year or so ago and they called the contestants makers. That was the first time I had heard it and ever since, it's like nails on a chalkboard to me

[pat-czap]

I agree Farley, sounds weird and off putting to me. I was in a quilt shop a while back, and one of the sales staff asked if I was a maker. I rather froze, and was trying to find a quick comeback...but in the end I said, I was. I'd rather be known as a paper artist or perhaps a quilter or sewer.

Now, how about that buzz word... Sewist...that is being tossed around??? Combo of sew and artist.

[Monica]

While I'm not personally a fan of the term 'maker', I think with regard to TH it's more to do with him seeing himself as a maker of various things, not simply a paper crafter, card maker, paper artist, etc. For some reason I don't know the term 'crafter' seems to have fallen out of favor, as if people are embarrassed to be using it or something. Or possibly to draw in a larger audience than simply paper crafters, as I do know from first-hand experience that there is some serious snobbery going on.

One time I went to the Stamp and Scrapbook expo in Puyallup with a girlfriend, like 12 years ago, we decided to participate in the ATC swap advertised as an activity. She and I, being stampers, did cards with our stamps and were quite proud of our little works of art. When we converged on the swap area at the designated time, most of the other swappers refused to swap with us because they "were artists, not amateurs". I kid you not. I never wanted to smack someone so badly as I did at the one gal who was very rude about our little ATCs.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand... Companies and people like Tim want to sell their products, so they market them in a way that has the broadest appeal across the board. I think the closure of a huge amount of brick and mortar stores has hurt them as well, so they rebrand to catch the eye of a more diverse population.

All that being said... I proudly tell people I'm a paper crafter.

[pbp908]

As I do a number of things that don't involve paper, I don't necessarily think of myself as a paper crafter or a paper artist. I find the terms maker and crafter a bit off-putting. "Maker" seems pretentious and "crafter" sounds condescending. And "sewist?" Don't even get me started on that one.

I don't call this room a s/crap room anywhere but here on the forum. I refer to it as my studio. As for my creations? I hesitate to call myself an artist because I don't think I've attained that level yet.

Creativist? Nope. Sometimes the only thing I create is a mess. Larval artist? Maybe, because I'm hoping one day my wings will emerge and I'll soar!

Whatever we call ourselves - we make, we create, we craft, we sew, we paint, sometimes we create art and sometimes we create music.

That's good enough for me. No labels. No boundaries.

[mpizzazz]

I don't like the term, my first thought is it's too general. But if you google "maker", you find where the term and maker movement came from. i don't think it applies to us at all. I think being a "creative" would be better but even that seems to have started as an advertising job description.

[pbp908]

I just read the article on Wikipedia about it, if that's the one you read, Marianne. I agree - it doesn't fit us at all. It seems to me that it's a term used more to describe those who are utilizing engineering, in all of it's varied forms and uses, rather than a "from scratch" creativity.

We need to find a new word that actually fits what we do. Maybe "artisans?"

[Monica]

I like artisan, Pam. And I tend to think of myself as a creative soul, which in my case is a family trait. Labels are just that, IMO. Something convenient to the person who coins it, regardless of whether the person(s) it's applied to like the term or not.