Industrial Design faculty member Ann-Marie Conrado published the article 'Crafting Economic Opportunity: Design for Fair Trade Artisans' in Innovation, the quarterly journal of the Industrial Designers Society of America. The article describes the involvement of Notre Dame studio art and design undergraduates who travel to Nepal each summer to work for ten weeks with disadvantaged fair trade artisans to design and develop new handcrafted home and lifestyle products that are more appealing to a global market. By reflecting global and consumer trends, the project has increased sales, attracted new buyers and opened up new retail channels.
The article showcases some of the student designs that have emerged from the project. With support from Notre Dame's Center for Social Concern's International Summer Service Learning Project, selected Notre Dame art and design students for the summer 2012 session are already preparing for their project and looking forward to continuing the successive collaboration.
http://issuu.com/idsa.innovation/docs/innovation_winter2011_issu
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