Graduation project
In the Making
Scarlett Smith-Petersen-Church
A number of strategies to support small businesses, including a shelving system that facilitates business partnership, and a consumer concept that rethinks ownership.
“We must support local businesses if we don’t want to lose our communities,” says Scarlett Smith-Petersen-Church. She sees online sales and shopping malls threaten the neighbourhood stores that used to be the heart of a community. Using adaptable dividing shelves, Scarlett enables multiple small and start-up businesses to occupy the same space and therefore share costs and responsibilities. With her second graduation project Scarlett places herself in this scenario, where she can start her small business alongside peers, not as business partners but as partner businesses. With this project she offers a choice of leather bags which require customer involvement, encouraging us to reconsider our idea of ownership by making the customer a co-creator.