Fair trade is normally associated with products made out of straw or coconut shells in little villages on the edge of the world. This is still part of the truth. But now three Danish designers add e-mail, webcam, blogs and Skype meetings to Fair trade.

The fact that the people involved in Fair trade productions often are illiterate and have very little theoretical training is not an obstacle to the introduction of technological devices and services in Fair trade. Actually it is the reason for it. Introducing technology makes it possible to communicate through photos or drawings of products send by e-mail or shown on webcam. And this solution facilitates and improves the possibilities to develop design and innovate the production.

FairTrade Designers is an initiative of the three Danish industrial designers Pil Bredahl, Henriette Melchiorsen and Liselotte Risell. The design itself is the design process surrounding the products manufactured within the Fair trade concept. In close collaboration with artists and handicrafts people in developing countries, FairTrade Designers work to develop and innovate the production design. The Danish initiative is part of a collaboration with the mission to connect a methodical design process with local art craft skills, traditions and culture. This way, the products that are the result of joint projects, have the ability to survive in a commercial market and thus create an economic foundation that can enhance the local arts craft life.

For each new task the FairTrade Designers develop new communication forms together with contacts in the current country. The process is both product-oriented and strategic, taking into account both economy and sustainability. But the goal of the design concept is to move beyond production, and one of the next steps is to establish buildings where the women can get education in both practical and theoretical subjects as sewing, reading, calculating, hygiene and public health. In this phase of the project the Internet will play an important role, too, as part of the education will hopefully happen on the Internet using the blog of FairTrade Designers.

FAIRTRADE DESIGNERS
ISSUE:	The objective of FairTrade Designers is to help improve living standards for some of the world's least privileged and often illiterate workers.
INTENT	The solution to the problem is development projects built on a strong work relation between manufacturers and workers in developing countries. The projects benefit from technology and communication via the internet and are based on effective and fruitful collaboration across boundaries and time zones, cultural and religious parameters - which can contribute to lifting workers out of often deep poverty.
WHO:	FairTrade Designers consists of the three Danish industrial designers Pil Bredahl, Henriette Melchiorsen and Liselotte Risell. www.fairtradedesigners.com