A customer picks up a cup, and the first question is who made it.
Ceramics have glaze, form and a kiln, yet they often lose their name once they leave the workshop. Sinh Vũ gives a pottery workshop a mark, a box and a story card, so customers recognize its pieces among hundreds of look-alikes.
Three things first: a kiln mark that works on the base and on the box, a set of close-up photos of glaze and form, and a box that gets the piece to the recipient intact. Those three let customers tell a workshop's pieces from mass-made goods.
Simple enough to stamp or print on the base, and still legible when shrunk onto a card.
Same light, same backdrop, so customers see the glaze that screens tend to flatten.
A tray cut to the shape of the piece, handsome and still able to survive the journey.
All are glazed fired clay, but household, decorative and gift ceramics are bought for three different reasons.
Their customersFamilies, cafés and restaurants buying bowls, plates and tea sets for everyday use.
Brand challengeShow customers how this piece differs from factory goods, so they choose it for the daily meal.
Their customersPeople choosing vases, plates and figures for homes, cafés and hotels, who look closely at form and glaze.
Brand challengeLet the form, the glaze and the maker's name come through, so the piece is seen as a work and not just a filler.
Their customersBuyers looking for gifts, wedding presents, and gifts for foreign guests.
Brand challengeThe box and card have to do the seller's talking: say where the gift comes from, and keep it intact until it reaches the recipient.
These are the places where a pottery workshop loses customers and craftsmanship alone can't save it.
A customer turns the piece over and finds no workshop name, so after using it they don't know where to buy more.
A kiln stamp pressed or printed on the base, plus a card with the workshop name and where to find it again.
Start from this problemA pottery market mixes imported and mass-made goods, and a customer walking one round can't tell them apart.
Give the workshop's pieces a mark that is recognized at a glance, with a label and card saying where each piece is shaped, painted and fired.
Start from this problemCeramics shipped far or carried on trains and buses crack easily; a sturdy box is ugly and a handsome one is thin.
A box designed to the exact shape of the piece, with a holding tray, still carrying the workshop's look; sample it through a real shipping route before printing.
Start from this problemBowls and plates come from many firings with glaze shades that drift, so posted photos look like they come from different makers.
Settle a named glaze palette and one way of shooting glaze close-ups, so every piece stands in the same house.
Start from this problemAt Buy. The customer likes the piece, but sees a thin box and no card telling the craft, so they hesitate to buy it as a gift or to ship it far.
Touchpoints are the places where customers see, touch or hear about the workshop. You don't need to do everything at once. These five touchpoints decide most of a customer's impression.
It is the first place a customer turns the piece over to see who made it.
It decides whether the piece reaches the recipient intact.
It speaks for the seller: who made it, what glaze, where it was fired.
It is what customers study most closely when buying on a screen.
How the pieces are arranged decides whether customers see a workshop or a pile of goods.
Listed in the order to do them. A small workshop can stop at step two or three; one selling to restaurants and hotels goes on to the end.
Name, kiln mark, color and type: the base for everything after.
A box with a tray, a label and a card that go with every piece.
A set of glaze close-ups, forms and potters at work, usable all year.
The words on the card and the sales page: telling the craft briefly, accurately and without cliché.
A tight catalog for restaurants, hotels and cafés ordering ceramics in quantity.
Sinh Vũ has not published a ceramics project. The two below solve the two closest problems: a box system that holds a gift, and a storytelling page that travels with the product.
GIFT for LIFE started out in corporate gifting, and needed a brand trustworthy enough to stand beside the biggest names. Sinh Vũ built the identity and packaging system…
Outer box, shaped tray, bag, card and label under one rule: exactly what is needed when ceramics must lie still in a box and still carry the workshop's look.
More than a dozen Tây Bắc specialties once stood scattered across the highland market. Sinh Vũ built the positioning, name and packaging for Quà vùng cao, bringing them under one rustic…
The back of each package is a storytelling page with directions for use and care: a similar approach for the card that goes with a ceramic piece.
The principles behind it
Avoid vases, cups or hands shaping clay, because so many workshops already use them. Sinh Vũ looks for a detail unique to the workshop, such as a pattern, a glaze shade or a kiln mark, and tries it as a small stamp on the base before settling.
The box should follow the exact shape of the piece and have a holding tray. Send a real sample through a real shipping route before printing a full run.
It should have one, and a very short one: workshop name, glaze type, how to use and care for it. For gift ceramics, the card tells the recipient where the gift comes from.
Speak in what can be seen: hand-painted strokes, the small variations in each piece, glaze close-ups, photos of the maker. There is no need to run down other goods.
Not yet. The minimum is a name, a kiln mark, color, one kind of box and one card. The rest comes when the workshop grows.
A few lines about the workshop, the line of ceramics and what is holding you back is enough. Sinh Vũ will read it and reply within one working day.