http://www.bagsmakeadifference.com A quest to make a luxury brand of handbags to empower women all over the world. Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:09:21 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The next step in this project's development in the website that will represent Vala Bags and sell them. I know how to design websites, but I was hoping I could get collaboration from another Vala -someone who is the target market for the bags. I asked around. I ... http://www.bagsmakeadifference.com/2008/07/21/developing-the-website-in-the-woods/ There are lots of wise words out there in the universe. Which words we need depends on who we are. It's like there's a medicine for each illness. I have been blessed and cursed with a gift for strategy and ideas. So in growing this project, I spend ... http://www.bagsmakeadifference.com/2008/07/13/try-to-fail-as-quickly-as-possible/ I finally found a producer of these. What a world we live in - one person can find a small company on another continent and form a business relationship with people she's never seen. I wanted woven hemp labels. But I learned that hemp is too coarse to weave, ... http://www.bagsmakeadifference.com/2008/07/10/hemp-tags/ I stumbled upon a research paper written a few years ago by a peace corp volunteer who was working with a different community of the same people that I am. She was also passionate about the bags they made, focusing on the relationship that they have with the plants ... http://www.bagsmakeadifference.com/2008/06/27/i-discovered-background-for-this-story/ Thank you to everyone who gave feedback regarding the logos. I will keep them as they are, without burning the name into them. http://www.bagsmakeadifference.com/2008/06/19/thank-you/ When creating the logo and designing the button, I asked the Wounaan artists to make a flat sizable area in the middle in which I could put the brand name. I want to keep the natural look and the 100% organic-ness of the bag, so I thought to use a woodburning ... http://www.bagsmakeadifference.com/2008/06/09/developing-the-design-uncertainty/ I have written previously about my struggles to find an expression of the feeling of this brand among the records of human culture. My failure to find what I was looking for lead me to two things: 1. An empty canvass from which to create something brand new that meant ... http://www.bagsmakeadifference.com/2008/05/28/the-birth-of-a-brand/ Here is the website I made for the Wounaan artisans who carved my vegetable ivory logos. There are still a few things to polish, but you are free to peruse their creations! www.carpioarte.com http://www.bagsmakeadifference.com/2008/05/15/my-end-of-the-deal/ I recently received the photographs that were taken with Amy, a former professional model who is dedicating 3 years of her life to service. Part of that service was in the same community that makes the bag. She loves the bag project and vowed to help me. ... http://www.bagsmakeadifference.com/2008/05/12/16/ I tried so hard to find the perfect symbol. I researched legends, dug for stories, looking for something that already had the meaning that I was trying to create. And just as I seemed to hit rock bottom in desperation, I got a lightning flash realization: in creating something new, ... http://www.bagsmakeadifference.com/2008/05/07/the-logo/