Selling product blueprints to crafty consumers

Tapping into the make-it-yourself trend, London-based SomeRightsReserved offers a range of downloadable blueprints for objects that consumers can build, adapt and personalise. Products on offer include everything from cardboard Tetris furniture to children’s mittens. Some can be created using hand-cutting and home-printing, others may require laser cutting or rapid prototyping. Prices range from free to GBP 10, and physical objects tend to rely on affordable everyday materials such as cardboard, acrylics and fluorescent tubing. The estimated costs for materials are displayed before the purchase is made. The concept should benefit designers who have more ideas than they know what to do with, providing them with a way to profit from their ideas without the stressful investment in production runs, if not letting them use the site as a live test before signing a run off. Whatever the final outcome, it’s an interesting experiment in creating a marketplace for intellectual property. Meanwhile, if your brand already caters to crafty consumers, or sells products that your customers could make themselves, it’s time to add something similar to your offerings. (Related: Shirt sold out? Make it yourself.) Spotter: Matthew Cua