If you are looking to Craft your Career as an artist in 2021 it can really help to get an idea of what things are likely to be popular this year.
Of course we cant just jump onto every trend if what we make does not fit, but it is possible to gain some inspiration about styles and it may even change how we photograph our items for the year. For example one trend this year is still cottagecore - could our items be photographed in a room that has more of a nod to that style rather than a minimalist themed space. Or even being aware and sensitive to the world situation could mean that just now photographs of big gatherings of people might not be very good lifestyle images and it may be better to have singles or couples.
Of course there are always things in the future that we cannot predict but we can make educated guesses
And of course Hobbycraft and Etsy both have the power to make the trends become a reality as they can feature items and listings that follow these trends and as people see a similar style more often they start to love it and are more likely to buy it.
eRanks trend buzz is a good way to time travel to past months to see what buyers were searching for in any given month and the Keyword Explorer shows us the search trend over time for any keyword phrase, did you know for example that even though Christmas obviously has a peak in searches at the end of the year but all through the year it has thousands of searches and Etsy tell us that last year sales for Christmas gifts actually started in April!
Looking at Etsy and Hobbycraft reports I can clearly see some ideas that we can think about.
Firstly thinking of styles Etsy has mentioned that its colour of the year will be sky blue. They say the feeling is to evoke freedom, health, vitality and hope. Something I think we can all get behind.
Looking at the reports I think we can break it into 4 trends
Fabric
Home
Care
Handmade to last
and as a bonus
Carer Change
Fabric
Fabric trends for 2021 are in 3 themes really, cozy nesting, handmade and make do and mend - but also luxury fabrics are showing more and more as people want to buy a quality item once rather than cheep items again and again
Both hobbycraft and Etsy mention Macramé and on eRank we have been seeing a steady 11k searches a month so this is a very popular style. Other top mentions are weaving, crotchet, dressmaking, knitting and embroidery
Home
New home, improved home, work from home, home schooling, inside activities and nesting with fabrics
Also with this cooking and baking along with anything personalised especially to do with this - think personalised wooden spoons or chopping boards. Cake decorating was in Hobbycrafts top 3 crafts
Care
Showing people you care with care packages, cards and luxury gifts. Of course these trends all overlap with the styles so the gifts could be kits or personalised baking goods for people who have just started cooking in the past year.
Also Etsy is planning to start promoting Valentines day around now, and that is not just gifts for partners but can be for friends or even pets!
Handmade to Last
This trend is about personalised luxury and most importantly who the maker is. Think of yourself as a master craftsman and show yourself making the items. The minor imperfections but greater quality of handmade over mass produced
In Etsy your about me section is a great place to add more about you as the maker and you can include in your listing photographs or even listing videos
Carer Change
Sadly this next year is still likely to be difficult with people losing jobs and some perhaps wanting to start selling arts and crafts.
This is not a bad thing and can actually have us in a positive place as we could sell supplies, kits or monetise tutorials.
Also crafters are way more likely to be buyers and understand the quality of the work - and of course their friends might buy crafty gifts for them
I hope this has inspired some ideas for the year ahead. We cant and should not put them all into practise but what things can you take away from this?
