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Crafting and the "Reset" Generation

Teaching the joy of creativity -- and the process -- to the new, techno-savvy market.

by PC Smart (April 4, 2005)

In my household, creativity comes in two forms. My daughter and I thrive in the world of glue, paper, fabric and paint. She and I use the computer for small parts of our projects, but when it comes to assembly, we are more inclined to cut and paste by hand rather than by mouse.

We see technology as simply a shortcut in the creative process. We want to be able to touch and hold our finished projects and not just view them on screen. We love getting our hands dirty and learning from our design disasters. We cringe when we remember the time we used the wrong adhesive and the wreath fell apart. Or the time we spent days making a set of pajamas only to have them shrink because we did not pre-wash the fabric.

There is a tremendous amount of problem-solving skills in crafts, and they grow with the level of your projects. This is a fact that many industry professionals like to talk about when discussing the importance of crafting at a young age.

For the males of our family, however, technology is the preferred means of expression. Video games, computer-based activities, robotics, and gadgets draw them in like moths to a blinking LCD light. They spend hours creating characters, manipulating scenarios, and fighting virtual enemies.

Many people would say these activities are passive and do not involve any type of creative thought process, but I beg to differ. The amount of creative thinking that goes into getting to the 12^th level of a video game is staggering. You must have to have a great memory to keep all the characters and "lands" straight, recall which button combinations are needed to jump or fly, and think ahead so that the actions you took on level 4 do not come back to haunt you later. All this must be done quickly before you fall off the cliff or become dragon food.

These games are the great problem-solving skill builders, but they have one major drawback: the reset button. The reset button allows you to go back in time, a "do over" in the game world. That monster keeps swatting you into oblivion? Just hit reset and you can fight him over and over until you find his weakness and beat him. Don�t like the quarterback on your fantasy team? Simply go back and select a better one, no harm done, no contract to buy out.

I once watched my husband tackle a mountain slide over and over for nearly two hours before he landed at the bottom in one piece. (OK, I wasn�t watching for two hours; I was crocheting a blanket while he played.)

The reset button can be a sanity saver also. Many a sibling dispute has been settled with a firm push of that little red button. The reset button encourages you to try again and not walk away from the game. It seems on the surface to be a learning tool, an incentive to keep plugging. But the ability to erase the past is not always a good thing.

The idea of a reset button goes beyond the world of video gaming. While browsing the Internet, you have a "Refresh Screen" button. When you make a mistake at the ATM, there is a Cancel button. If you accidentally crop out Aunt May in your photo software, you can go back in the History and undo the mistake.

There are very few permanent mistakes in the world of technology. There is even a system tool that allows you to go back in time on your computer, erasing any bad installations or program errors. This ability to undo mistakes or errors in judgment only exists in the digital world. In life you cannot just press a button and erase the argument with your boss or the wreck your teen had with the family car. In the real world, we must accept the consequences of our actions and learn from our mistakes.

Applications to our industry

By now you are wondering what this has to do with the craft industry. It actually is a key factor in its future success. While we are trying to lure younger crafters, we forget that they have been living in the age of the Reset button. They erase all of their mistakes and go on. They have never had the experience of ripping out a seam or trying to work around something that is firmly glued down. They are not taking chances and making mistakes (a favorite theme of "The Magic Schoolbus"); instead, they are pressing the Undo key and moving on.

So when you introduce them to a new craft, you are also presenting a challenge. They may not be totally successful on their first try. The first few attempts at crochet may be crooked, that first sewing project would be better suited for a doll, and the first paintings won�t resemble anything recognizable.

That is when they discover there is no Reset button in crafting. I have seen that look in the eyes of my daughter when she first attempts a new technique. Those of us who devote our free time to creativity revel in the happy accidents that occur when things don�t go as planned. We enjoy the process along with the final product. Today�s upcoming generation of crafters may not be comfortable with that modus operandi. They want to erase their mistakes and only see the perfect end product.

How do you successfully market to the Reset Generation? I don�t think anyone really has the definitive answer to that question. Simply creating fool-proof projects is not enough.

There has to be education and lots of playtime. Children in school are no longer given the time to create for fun anymore. There is too much emphasis on the final product. Even Legos now come in kits with specified model results; they are no longer building blocks ripe for the imagination. Dolls come with themes and settings to direct how you play with them. The imagination factor of playtime has been lost. Even little league baseball has drafts with points; you are washed up by the age of ten if you don�t have a great arm or the perfect swing. The Craft industry is fighting an uphill battle to reintroduce the concept of enjoying the ride as much as the destination.

The Craft Yarn Council of America is doing a wonderful job encouraging the younger generation to pick up a needle or two and have fun. There is also a new mentoring program in the needlework arena which shows promise.

Teaching new crafters the joy of creativity is our most important job. When they have learned to explore without the safety net of the Reset Button, they become consumers rather than a target demographic on a marketing chart.

(Note: PC Smart writes for art/craft industry consumer and trade publications in addition to being a marketing consultant and designer. Contact her at pcsmart@bellsouth.net. In her previous, non-creative life, she was a database systems designer for a pharmaceutical company. Her main goal in writing about technology has been the marriage of computers and traditional art/crafts. Specializing in consumer level designs, Pamela focuses on the use of graphics software, scanners, and printers to help the average crafter use the computer for more than an expensive email machine. She believes that technology should be used as a tool in creativity and not necessarily the final output. To read previous columns, click on the titles in the right-hand column.)

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