To be innovative, you must have the ability to see past the average. You must not be afraid to act on inspiration to create something better or something unique. You must be eager to take a risk and act on the spark of invention that sets a brand new idea in motion.
When creating things from thoughts and ideas, we draw inspiration from what has delighted us and what we’ve learned by creating successful products. As a creator of leather horse tack, I was running into some design challenges. I realized it’s not about reinventing the piece of tack I’m creating, as that worked just fine; it was finding out how to make it more relevant and distinctive.
I was faced with the challenge of choosing the right hardware to complete my collection. I was finding old and tired options that were used over and over again. I didn’t want the collection to look like what everyone else was selling. I had a specific look I was going for and I found nothing that would complete it. That’s when I decided to create my own designer hardware. With some inspiration and some sketch paper, I drew up some designs that I thought I would fit the look of the collection.
That’s where it starts, from a yearning to be unique and stand out from the boring, from a desire to be recognized for an exclusive product. When thinking about starting any craft or project, turn inspiration into innovation by thinking beyond the final result. Consider how your product could solve a problem; you might be surprised to find that you will have created a better and more unique version from the original design.
Innovation is thinking beyond the result, knowing each and every idea starts as a spark and develops into something remarkable. As Chuck Dorsett (from Weaver Leather Craft Supply) always says, “Use this idea as a jumping off point,” and there it starts. Good luck with your projects.
-Tanya Ranta
