{"id":418,"date":"2022-12-14T22:29:50","date_gmt":"2022-12-14T22:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zaraknox.co.uk\/journal\/?p=418"},"modified":"2023-01-19T21:14:48","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T21:14:48","slug":"crit-1-business-and-cultural-context","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zaraknox.co.uk\/journal\/2022\/12\/14\/crit-1-business-and-cultural-context\/","title":{"rendered":"Crit 1: Business and Cultural Context"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Which of your ideas is the one?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Major Project will be a \u2018how to\u2019\/tutorial site on resincraft for beginners. As well as step-by-step tutorials, it will offer starting information for anyone new to the craft, including a guide to the tools required. The site will also offer inspiration for those looking for ideas for their next projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What problem does my project solve?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It should come as little surprise to hear that there is a connection between craft activities and mental health. According to mentalhealth.org.uk<\/a>, there were 8.2 million cases of anxiety in the UK in 2013. Furthermore, in England, women are almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with anxiety disorders as men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Crafts Council website refers to a 2019 BBC survey that came to the conclusion that creative endeavours can \u201cmake you happier.\u201d Over 75% of the 50,000 participants for the BBC Arts Great British Creativity Test stated that creativity could help reduce stress and anxiety, with almost a quarter naming some manner of craft practice as their favourite activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I started learning to crochet, I too found it to be a great stress-killer. Concentrating on counting the stitches, when coupled with a good Spotify playlist, helped me practise a kind of \u2018mindfulness\u2019 that tuned out the outside world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, my urge to take up a craft of some description was not borne out of a need to quell anxiety, but boredom. My job was relatively unfulfilling, and certainly lacking much in the way of creativity. Thus crochet in the evenings formed an outlet and foil to the tedious daytime. As noted in the BBC survey, 69% of participants used creative outlets as a \u2018self-development tool\u2019 to build up self-esteem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The respite crochet offered me diminished when I began trying to teach myself coding basics in the evenings in my hopes of making a career change. Now when I crocheted, I often felt a nagging sense of guilt that I should be learning to code instead. A crochet project could take hours, days, and in some cases, weeks – time that, in my mind\u2019s eye, could have been spent trying to change my future. I felt I should \u2018be productive\u2019 with my free-time, and crochet itself came to become an undeserving source of stress, if done at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the UK, almost 1 in 2 adults feel that they have \u201cvery limited\u201d free time for themselves during the working week, according to a survey of 1000 participants reported on the HR News website. With housework, personal admin, and food prep taking up a busy worker\u2019s evening, it is little wonder some may feel they have no time to sit and do crafts, particular in hourly stretches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this does not mean that people need to give up on learning to make things. BBC Arts editor Lamia Dabboussy said of the BBC survey: “Lots of us lead increasingly busy lives and this research shows that even a small amount of time spent on creative pursuits can really make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A craft does not have to take over all of one\u2019s free time. My proposed site aims to introduce busy people to a creative outlet that does not take too much out of their day. Unlike time-consuming hobbies such as knitting or crochet, resin-making can be done in mere minutes, with the majority of time going into curing. While some may argue this removes the therapeutic aspect of creation, I firmly believe that the acts of choosing and mixing colours, preparing and measuring liquid resin, and selecting extra visual touches allows the creator to give their full attention to a project and immerse themselves. They also have the added bonus of reassurance that they will not lose their evening while doing it, which could otherwise put them off trying a craft at all. Ultimately, crafters are able to create beautiful objects without feeling pressured by time constraints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The website will serve as a general starting point for beginners. It will introduce crafters to the tools they will need to get started, as well as provide tutorials for particular aspects of the craft, such as drilling, embedding, setting jump rings, and do\u2019s and don\u2019ts. It will also include tutorials for particular types of projects, such as working with natural objects. These tutorials will be short and concise. Any videos will be no longer than five minutes, due to the site\u2019s emphasis on time constraints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who is my website for? Who does my project help?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Wunderlabel.com<\/a>, a website that examines online craft sale trends, around 87% of sellers on the craft trading site Etsy are women. Furthermore, the average age of sellers is 39. This is further explored by the Anthony Thomas Agency, who writes in a blog post that the average age of crafters is 35-44, though this age range is decreasing over time. They also point out that the majority are women who live in homes with 2.94 people. \u201cIn summary, if there is a so-called “average crafter,” that person is likely to be a middle-aged woman with children.\u201d Bearing these figures in mind, my site will be primarily aimed at female older millennials, who are statistically more inclined to pursue a new craft. That said, the site will be just as functional to anyone interested in learning a new hobby, as it is important not to exclude groups when making any website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does my project fit into the cultural context? What is its place on the www?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are numerous resources for learning about resincraft on the web. The site craft-resin.co.uk<\/a> is particularly comprehensive, with a series of attractive tutorials labelled as \u2018courses.\u2019 These courses are fairly in-depth, and are made up of several videos of varying length. Their format is similar to that of Udemy or LinkedIn Learning, and often require the user to complete quizzes to move on to the next component of the course. One tutorial, when all videos are watched back-to-back, is 77 minutes in length. While users with fewer time constraints may feel that such courses are beneficial, others may be put off by these somewhat daunting course durations. Furthermore, the more time they are trawling through quizzes, the less time they actually have to make crafts. I therefore do not believe such sites are an attractive option to my users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Youtube videos are also becoming more popular for learning resin, and can be immensely helpful. However, there are similar tropes across a lot of Youtube tutorials that I would like to avoid. These include \u2018cutesy\u2019 music, as well as introductions that can often feature a lot of \u2018waffle.\u2019 Just as I find myself skipping the first few minutes of recipes, crochet, and resin tutorials while the presenter chatters away, I would like to make any instructional material as to the point as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there are increasing numbers of resin craft tutorials and resources across the web, the majority of them are to be found on sites that sell resin supplies, including <\/a>https:\/\/www.craft-resin.co.uk\/<\/a>. There is no mistaking a monetary motive in the tutorials, which often include links to product pages. While some may find this convenient, the majority of new resin crafters will most likely buy cheap starter kits, which can easily be found on Amazon or Etsy. My website will encourage users to start making projects right away, using the tools they have to hand. Projects will be relatively simple, without the need for elaborate items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is therefore my intention to make a concise, informative website that educates busy women on the basics of resin craft. It is as much a website designed for myself as anyone else, both because I am learning the craft myself and because I fall within the target audience\u2019s demographics. In this sense, I plan to curate my own learning for the user, pulled from numerous sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.mentalhealth.org.uk\/explore-mental-health\/mental-health-statistics\/anxiety-statistics<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.craftscouncil.org.uk\/stories\/craft-can-reduce-stress-new-bbc-survey-reveals<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.hrnews.co.uk\/british-workers-no-free-time\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/wunderlabel.com\/blog\/p\/craft-handmade-industry-stats-and-trends\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/blog.anthonythomas.com\/who-are-modern-crafters-demographics-craft-categories-and-more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cognate sites<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.resin8.co.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/resincraftsblog.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.craft-resin.co.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Which of your ideas is the one? My Major Project will be a \u2018how to\u2019\/tutorial site on resincraft for beginners. As well as step-by-step tutorials, it will offer starting information for anyone new to the craft, including a guide to the tools required. The site will also offer inspiration for those looking for ideas for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30,9],"tags":[17,10],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zaraknox.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zaraknox.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zaraknox.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zaraknox.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zaraknox.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zaraknox.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":419,"href":"https:\/\/zaraknox.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418\/revisions\/419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zaraknox.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zaraknox.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zaraknox.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}