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The product line of Ajkem’a Loy’a for F’11
Saturday, September 17th, 2011Summer 2011 in San Lucas Toliman
Saturday, September 17th, 2011We created a new class in the Design & Management program in the School of Design Strategies to run in Fall 2011; Small Business Enterprise: DEED.
The goal of this class is to sell the products of the artisan groups DEED works with. The first challenge to be addressed is to create a legal structure through which the products of the artisans can be imported and sold in the USA. The ultimate goal for DEED is to sustain itself by generating income both for the artisans and for the activities of DEED. The mission of DEED is two fold, one is to support the artisans to develop income generating activities, sustaining themselves through their crafts and secondly, to provide as many real world hands-on learning experiences as possible for students and faculty from all over the New School.
In preparation for the class we provided the women of Ajkem’a Loy’a and Barco with a small stipend to develop a new product line for the students to work with. In August I traveled to San Lucas Toliman for 8 days together with Rachel Young and Shari Diamond to meet with the women, see the products they had developed, further develop their new product lines as needed and create ‘look books’ for both the women and DEED. The ‘look books’ will serve as a tool to facilitate communication between the students and the women about the products.
Rachel Young is a rising senior in the Integrated Design program and was in the DEED Spring class ‘Designing Development’. Shari Diamond is a full-time Parsons faculty member and a professional photographer. Maria Jose, the DEED intern in Guatemala, joined us for one day.
When we arrived on Friday in San Lucas Toliman, we had an appointment to meet with the women of Ajkem’a Loy’a. It was very nice to see them again and to introduce the group to Rachel and Shari. We asked the women to share with us the products they had developed using the stipend. They showed us three new scarves, which were color variations on products they had made before. I was slightly disappointed and expressed my concern that they didn’t develop new designs, which would distinguish Ajkema’s Loy’a products from the products already available on the market? We discussed the importance for them to distinguish themselves. I showed Shari and Rachel the products developed in earlier design workshops with Ajkem’a Loy’a and we all agreed that we would make a selection for a product line based on all products they had made over time. We put together a collection of 10 pieces consisting of bags and scarves. We went over all products together and spoke about price point and how some of the bags could drop in price if they eliminated some of the seams and found less expensive leather from another source. Sandra of Ajkem’a Loy’a was sure we could lower the current price 30%. The price point is determined by adding the hourly fair wage of the women and the cost of materials.
We agreed that we would all meet again on Monday morning. Maria Jose, our intern from Guatemala City would join us to further facilitate our conversation. It was the first time for me to meet Maria Jose and she proved to be a wonderful mediator. We agreed that the women would begin making samples of color variations of the scarf designs we selected. Sandra would finish a weaving she had started to become a simple tote bag.
Selecting products with Ajkem'a Loy'a
Summary, summer 2010
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
Our last few days in Guatemala were so hectic we did not get around to blog and report back on all of the work we were able to accomplish. Now, with a bit of time, and back in NYC, I am happy to share this summary of our work (our team and most of the cooperative’s members are in the photograph below) in Santiago Zamora just a few weeks ago.
With only 9 full work days, this summer we decided to focus our time on supporting existing initiatives. Ixoki A’J Quiemo L’ already had a community tourism program, so we decided to focus on that initiative. We saw three areas for improvement:
- The program needed to be slightly tweaked, so we did what design school does best – we participated in a program (as tourists) and then critiqued the afternoon with the artisan women. They appreciated all of the feedback we shared since they really hadn’t had this kind of external input since they started these activities.
- Their branding materials needed a redesign. Not only did all of the content need to be bilingual, but our student team also mapped out a distribution strategy in Antigua – a map of the city with each location at which they can leave a flyer. Here are the before and after of the flyer they had and the one we redesigned. In the new one (on the right), we added a new logo for the cooperative as well as bilingual information about the program and its cost. Click on either to see larger versions of each. You will also notice they now have a website – a basic blog site which we designed for them (feel free to circulate it if you know of travelers going to Guatemala!)
- In advance of a summer 2011 trip during which we will want to focus on new product development, we conducted a design critique of the cooperative’s current artisan goods, and in particular focused on the fact that most of what they are making (beautiful but highly complex table runners) take too much time to make, cost too much, and are not products for which they can charge a fair price (because it would mean that they cost 10x what they can sell them for in the saturated market in Guatemala.)Â As homework, we asked Ixoki to think more about their new bracelet design so as to come up with a product that will take them just an afternoon to make (and not 300 hours for a table runner.)Â We also ran a workshop with the cooperative as a first step for them to start making their own designs to weave (as opposed to using existing design patterns which are sold all around Guatemala in local markets.)Â In the photograph below you see two of the women of Ixoki working on a new design on graph paper, and with crayons, during one of the student-led workshops.
On our last night in Antigua, some of the women from Ixoki visited us in Antigua to deliver samples of the bracelets they have started designing since our initial critique of their work. We are thrilled to see such motivation from this cooperative, as they are already exemplifying the leadership and initiative needed to run a successful business. We were also very happy to learn that after visiting us, their next stop was the copy shop, where they were going to make dozens of copies of the flyer we designed for them so as to distribute them around Antigua.
Finally, stay tuned to learn about our partnership with the Association of Guatemalan Designers. We had a fantastic meeting in Antigua during which we discussed how they can serve as on-the-ground contacts for our artisan collaborators throughout the year, and most importantly, how they can help our groups connect with a local craft/design market in Guatemala, therefore ensuring long-term sustainability for our projects. Stay tuned!
AJKEM’A LOY’A AND BARCO, SAN LUCAS TOLIMAN
I stayed in Antigua for 6 weeks, studying Spanish intensively. I wanted to be able to communicate better with the women we are working with. I joined the summer team of students visiting the women of Ixoki in Santiago Zamora and I visited the women of Ajkem’a Loy’a and Barco in San Lucas Toliman a few times.
I brought the finished tracksuit to the women of Ajkem’a Loy’a; I wanted them to see the final product. Together with students from the Fashion Area of Study in the Integrated Design program of Parsons, we had cut and hand sewn the beautiful pieces of fabric the women of Ajkem’a Loy’a had woven into a series of 8 track suits, 3 men’s and 5 women’s suits.
Gijs Frieling the director of W139 in the first fully finished W139 track suit
We embroidered all the names of the women and of the students who had worked on each suit in the back panels of the top. The women were excited to see the suits. We drank coca-cola and ate Telma’s cookies as we had done each afternoon in January 2009 when we developed the weaving and the patterns for the initial prototype tracksuit together.
the women of Ajkem'a Loy'a looking at the finished tracksuits. Sandra is checking out the hand stitching by the students
Gloria and Romelia
Ruth and Caterina
Romelia made a shirt for her daughter Lilly from the prototype fabrics
I also visited the women of Barco and was met by a very pleasant and unexpected surprise. Since we (DEED) didn’t have funding this year to continue our work with the women in San Lucas Toliman, it was a great surprise to see the whole new line of products Barco had developed. Eufemia had them stored in a garbage bag in a corner of her apartment. She pulled them out one by one to show me, and I was amazed. The scarves looked so contemporary and unique, they had developed a new way of weaving that was much more loose and combined many more threads in both the warp and the weft. It made the scarves very soft, supple and lush, and extrmely comfortable to wear. I got very excited. I thought it would be amazing if the women of Barco would visit me in Antigua for a weekend, so we could show their products to different shops in Antigua.
Antigua is the tourist capital of Guatemala and it has many high-end textile stores that cater to western visitors. For the women this was a challenge, none of them had ever really stayed outside their village. They had some fear around traveling to Antigua and spending the weekend. I imagined it would be a good step and since I would accompany them and fund their trip, it might make their decision to come easier. In the weekend of July, Eufemia traveled to Antigua with the new product line of Barco. I met her at the bus station and that weekend, we visited all the high-end shops in Antigua. Many shops were interested and one placed an order with the women.
At the end of the day on Saturday, we walked into the shop Colibri and showed the sales women the scarves of Barco. The women were so enthusiastic that they called Vey, the owner of the shop. She asked to speak to me and I spoke with her briefly. Though she was busy, I was able to convince her to receive us at her home nearby the shop. Vey was great! She looked at all the products and talked with Eufemia about the weaving.
The shop Colibri
She asked Eufemia if she could come back to Antigua on Wednesday; she was hosting a buyer from the US and thought he would be interested in their product. She encouraged Eufemia to bring as many products as she could. Vey loves San Lucas Toliman, she has a house there and is exited to work with a women’s artisan collective from there. Colibri is one of the main high-end shops in Antigua and over the course of 20 years Vey has worked with approximately 500 artisan groups from all over Guatemala. Eufemia was delighted, and told me that now that she had been to Antigua once, she had no fear of traveling there again. She would return on Wednesday with as many products as she could carry.
The rest of the weekend we photographed the products together and sent them to some of the other shops that had requested to receive images. We created a first blog and an email address for Barco.
Flor de café
Gorión
Tierra virgen
Matasano
see Barco’s full collection here: http://www.barcotextiles.blogspot.com/
On Wednesday Eufemia returned to Antigua. Vey placed a substantial order with Barco.
Eufemia in Antigua wit the Barco products
At Colibri with Vey the owner
Vey of Colibri and her assistant
Eufemia at Colibri
Eufemia in the shop
Vey paid Eufemia half of the money in advance so they could buy the yarns and make the products. The buyer from the US was extremely enthusiastic about the products and said they could easily be sold at Barney’s, New York. But since DEED doesn’t have a legal structure yet for the import of the products and the handling of money transactions this will have to wait. I am extremely grateful that Vey of Colibri invested in the women for now, and that the women made new steps in their process of growing a sustainable business.
Pascale
The Women of Ajkem’a Loya and their breathtaking creations
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009
Additional view of Mayda’s sizable beach tote
sewing the bags
Monday, August 24th, 2009The women of Ajkem’a Loy’a finishing the bags they designed.
Mayda takes charge concerning the patterns and the sewing
Rebecca sewing Romelia’s bag
Hilda and Gloria finishing their bags,
the women made three sizes of the same kind of bag,
Hilda and Gloria are both finishing the smallest version
Sandra assembling the bag she designed
Muestras Finales de tejidos
Monday, August 24th, 2009Barco
La evolución de los productos esta llendo muy bien en el segundo grupo, Barco. Ahora que tenemos terminadas las muestras de los cubrecojines pasamos a formalizar los tamaños. Hemos escogido dos tamaños de los más vendidos en el mercado americano 18â€x18†y 12â€x18â€. Es una fortaleza que este grupo este trabajando con teñidos naturales porque los colores son muy combinables.
Tenemos aprox 15 muestras que queremos combinar en cuatro cojines, dos del tamanio grande y dos del pequeño. Junto con las mujeres hemos escojido y nombrado las siguientes combinaciones:
- Flor Cafe : pequeño (combinacion de Rosa con Virginia)
- Paz : grande (Combinacion de Eufemia con Mirta)
(more…)
Giving Indigenous Girls in Guatemala the Chance to Reach Their Full Potential by Supporting Their Education
Friday, August 14th, 2009
Mayan girls and young women in Guatemala are triply disenfranchised by their youth, their gender and their ethnicity.
At the age of 12 they are taken out of school to work because their families cannot afford their education.
Given the opportunity of an education, girls hold the key to breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty.
$100 a year can be the decisive factor on whether an adolescent girl flourishes with opportunities or languishes in poverty.
Help us support the education of girls in the communities we collaborate with by donating to our scholarship fund or purchasing a photograph. If you are interested in donating to the fund or purchasing a photograph, please contact me at fberdiel@gmail.com.
Sonia would like to sell her photographs in order to pay for her education. Each photograph is $50 (minimum donation). The sale of two photographs will cover the cost of 1 year of school for Sonia.
Time flying by…
Thursday, July 16th, 2009Time has proven to be a highly treasured element on this trip. In the past two weeks, we have experienced incredible progress with both Ajkem’a Loy’a and BARCO. It has been both a privilege and learning experience working with each group; and equally exciting to see what they have been creating. There is so much to be said about what we have experienced since first here, so I will try and sum everything up as best as possible.
We have been working with the women of Ajkem’a Loy’a on two different groups of bags: the first of which is a circular-shaped drawstring bag in three different sizes and the second, a handheld clutch (“wristlet” I believe is the proper term) and shoulder bag, both in the same size.
We began our work with Ajkem’a Loy’a by introducing a series of “inspiration” images for them to look at. Each of the women selected a few of their favorites, explained to us why they chose them, and began experimenting with their weaving, using the images as “reference.” The outcome was very pleasing: each of the women explained what elements they used from the images in their weaving (most of whom were initially attracted to the colors). Mayda, drawing inspiration from a picture of the ocean, not only incorporated colors from it, but also created a dotted pattern in her weave that represented the rocks underneath the water. Those of which were closer to the surface and thus received more sunlight were translated into brighter yellow dots in her weave, while the other rocks further from the ocean’s surface were more subdued in her design.
As this exercise proved to be a success, we decided to continue the experiments with each of the women over the next few days. Sandra’s experiment was also very impressive…in my opinion, hers was the most daring. You could tell that she was really trying to push herself beyond her limits, which was very exciting to see. From her experiment, we (the students and Pascale) were curious to see what she could do with incorporating leather into her weaving. So, we took a visit to the leather man, Santiago, up the street and brought back strips of leather for Sandra to experiment with. Once again, we were blown away by the progress that was made. Sandra began weaving them in very simple ways, but as time progressed, she began to very intuitively incorporate them as if they were like the rest of the threads.
We were incredibly pleased with the combination of woven and leather, and decided it would also be a nice detail in the two smaller bags (clutch and shoulder). This could very well be the beginning of something really amazing for Ajkem’a Loy’a…
We began our work with the other group of women in the afternoon. We began our workshop by having them show us what they had been making, so that we could have an idea of what kind of products would best sell. We as a group were very, very excited to see what they had been creating, and were especially amazed at how completely different their work was from Ajkem’a Loy’a. After carefully looking over everything and discussing with the women what they would like to make, we all came to the conclusion that pillow covers and scarves would be the best solution. The women were very excited that we were working with them…all of us felt their determination so much that it really felt like a true collaboration.
We were then invited over to Teresa’s home, where the women showed us the threads they used in their weaving. All of us were completely in awe at the beautiful array of colors the women showed us. As amazing as the colors were, what was even more incredible was the story behind them and how they came to be. The women explained to us that all of the threads were naturally dyed. Most of the colors they produced came from a single plant (I am forgetting the name as of now…) they find in the mountains. Depending on the cycle of the moon very much determines what colors are extracted from the plant. The women showed us two different bundles of thread, both of which came from the same plant but at different cycles so that one of them was much brighter in color than the other. Another beautiful color, a brilliant orange, was extracted from “zanahorias” or carrots. All of us were so amazed to hear this…not only were the colors beautiful, but the process in which the women collected them was beyond anything any of us had ever seen or heard.
As we continue developing products with these women (who have decided to call their company BARCO: “bar” and “co” are recurring letters in their surnames), our hopes are very high that we can produce a few different pillow covers to be sold in the states. Also, we are planning on taking back a few of their scarves that are already set for production…
So, very exciting things are happening and it’s going by very, very quickly. We have yet to see what more will come from our time here, but I am positive it will be amazing.
Until then…
One more thing . . .
Sunday, July 5th, 2009
Experiments and Inspiration
Sunday, July 5th, 2009Last year in June, in San Lucas Toliman, we worked with a much larger group of women then the group of women that is currently assembled under the name of Ajkem’a Loy’a.
Students and faculty from The New School conducted workshops in business, marketing and design. The women of San Lucas Toliman taught us how to weave, bead, and dye threads with natural dyes. The group we worked with wasn’t an organic group, it was a group of women who previously participated in workshops initiated by CARE, workshops dealing with (among other things) health, family planning, and the empowerment of women. In the past year, the group of women that we currently know as Ajkem’a Loy’a became a tight group that is now slowly developing their own products. They take pride in themselves as designers and are very ambitious to create their own designs. Their product development over the past year has been amazing !
Nonetheless, there are other women in San Lucas Toliman that are very gifted weavers and that benefited from our workshops last year, but that are not included in the association Ajkem’a Loy’a. We as faculty and students got really involved in the work and the lives of the women we worked with last year, and coming back this year, as an extension of the New School, it didn’t seem right to only continue working with the women of Ajkem’a Loy’a while excluding the other women from the opportunity to learn and grow with us in the month that we are here.
Thursday a week ago we talked with the women of Ajkem’a Loy’a explaining to them that being here as students and faculty of the New School, an institute for teaching and learning, we didn’t want to exclude anybody from the opportunity to work and grow with us.
We already noticed in the first week that the women of Ajkem’a Loy’a preferred to work in the morning, only a few or none would come in the afternoon. In the morning the sun is out and the air is dry, in the afternoon it rains, the air is very damp, which makes it harder to weave. We agreed with the women of Ajkem’a Loy’a that we would continue to work with them in the mornings and that we would invite other women to work with us in the afternoon.
Friday a week ago was our first day to work with two groups. The second group is a group that formed itself around a few of the other women we worked with last year, it is not a real group yet, but they seem very dedicated to working together and developing new products. The products that they shared with us in the afternoon were beautiful, they immediately radiated a very different energy and we imagined completely different possibilities for products then with the women of Ajkem’a Loy’a.
