Painstaking work is only worth something when the buyer can see it.
Lacquerware, wood carving and handcrafted furniture take weeks to finish a single piece, yet often get just one wide shot. Sinh Vũ helps a workshop show buyers the craftsmanship, the source of the timber and the maker's name.
Three things first: a set of detail close-ups showing the lacquer layers, the carving and the joints; a catalog with sizes and how to order; and a plain statement about the timber and materials. Those three let a bulky piece still be chosen through a screen.
Lacquer layers, knife marks, joints: the things customers can't touch from afar.
One page per design: size, materials, time to make, how to order.
Say only what the workshop has papers to prove; leave out what it doesn't have.
All are wood and finish, but lacquer paintings, wood carvings and furniture are viewed and ordered in three different ways.
Their customersPeople hanging paintings and ordering decor for homes, hotels and offices; visitors.
Brand challengeHelp buyers understand why a lacquer panel takes many layers and many weeks, and trust it from a photo.
Their customersWood collectors, restaurants, hotels and places of worship ordering statues and reliefs.
Brand challengeShow the carver's hand and the knife lines, so the work isn't seen as mass-produced woodwork.
Their customersHomeowners, architects, interior contractors and foreign buyers.
Brand challengeState size, materials, joinery, time to make and delivery, so buyers can order without visiting the workshop.
These are the places where a craft workshop loses customers and craftsmanship alone can't save it.
Customers can't touch a lacquer panel or try a chair; a single wide shot isn't enough for them to order.
Photos in order: wide view, detail close-up, joinery, then the piece in a room, with dimensions.
Start from this problemGoods pass through agents; the final buyer doesn't know which workshop made them, and the workshop doesn't know who bought.
A workshop mark carved or written on the back of each piece, an accompanying tag, and a page where buyers can find the workshop again.
Start from this problemA buyer asks where the wood comes from and whether the finish meets requirements; the answer is spoken, and varies from one time to the next.
Gather it into one short file page: timber species, source, the papers the workshop holds. Leave out whatever it doesn't have.
Start from this problemA buyer orders in quantity, the sample is one shade but the next batch is off in color and size; the two sides argue because there is no shared standard.
A standard sample with a code, named shades and specifications written into the catalog, so both sides look at the same standard.
Start from this problemAt Buy. The goods are large and ordered from afar, so buyers need clear specifications, timber source and delivery time before they decide.
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 where buyers look for proof of the craftsmanship.
It is what buyers keep, pass on to others and compare.
It answers once and for all the questions about timber, materials and the workshop's capacity.
So the piece keeps the maker's name as it passes through many hands.
It has a few seconds for a passerby to understand what the workshop makes and what sets it apart.
Listed in the order to do them. A workshop selling at home can stop at step three or four; one going to fairs abroad goes on to the end.
Name, workshop mark, color and type: the base for the catalog, the file and the booth.
Detail close-ups, photos of the making process and photos in a room.
A catalog and a specification page for each design.
A company profile, timber source and materials file for buyers.
A fair booth that tells the workshop's craft in a few seconds.
Sinh Vũ has not published a lacquer or fine woodwork project. The two below solve the two closest problems: making buyers trust that a piece is valuable, and choosing materials with intent.
2009LiuGems sells natural-stone jewellery to people who believe minerals carry energy, a trade where beauty tends to arrive improvised and promises tend to run ahead of proof…
Rigor to the point of being measurable: a mark built on a geometric grid, a three-line certificate card. An approach suited to a piece where buyers need proof in place of promises.
Phúc Linh, a Vietnamese fruit and flower gift brand, had its four home seasons named by Sinh Vũ into one identity system: pick it up and you feel home, open it and you feel care.
One mark set on kraft paper, leather and copper foil: a deliberate choice of materials, worth studying for packaging and display.
The principles behind it
Draw it from the workshop's own technique: polished grain, lacquer layers, inlay, knife marks, rather than the familiar images every workshop uses. Sinh Vũ tests the mark small in a profile picture and large on a signboard.
For every design: a wide photo, a close-up, size, materials, time to make and how to order. If you sell to foreign buyers, you need a bilingual version.
State only what the workshop has papers to prove. Some foreign buyers require timber certification, so leave out whatever you don't have yet, and ask the certifying body what is needed.
One message, a few representative pieces, a catalog and a contact card. A small, clear booth is remembered more than a large, muddled one.
That customers can't touch the piece. You need close-ups, clear specifications and clear delivery and return terms, so they can order without visiting the workshop.
A few lines about the workshop, the product line and what is holding you back is enough. Sinh Vũ will read it and reply within one working day.