A Month Flew By

A month flew by and I didn't even realize. I have been completely consumed with everything I have been doing for Indego and all my semester long projects coming to fruition that I have not even noticed the month passing.  The 4 massive projects I have been working on are expected to be send to the printer on May 7th.  Everything : the look book, the annual report, the social impact report and the whole sale catalog. It has been particularly rewarding working on the social impact report.  In this lengthy document I have been putting together statistics to show the improvement of life of the 542 women in the Rwandan cooperatives. I will post more information as soon as it is done!

Busy, Busy, Busy

The weeks are consistently busier than the weeks before.  This week I somehow managed to complete new business cards for the company, an email save the date reminder for an upcoming event call the "Social Impact Sundowner" while continuing to work on the look-book, website updates, invitations and the annual report.  The upside to all this work is I am finally beginning to see my work in its context.  The postcards I helped recreate for Indego Africa finally arrived in the mail this week.  It was the first thing that has been sent out to get printed (and payed for) so needless to say I was anxious and a little worried that they would not be what I expected!

Change in Pace

Indego Africa welcomed aboard a new member of the team this week- a new CFO.  There is definitely a change in pace in the office now.  The new CFO is eager to get Indego Africa on an exponentially growing path.

While I was taking a break from my graphic work on Monday, I sat and continued to add tags to the 9,000 bracelets for JCREW.  As I was doing this we began to discuss how much the bracelets are being sold for vs. how much they cost to make and how much JCREW is making off of it.  Each bracelet will be sold for about $25 and Indego Africa will be receiving approximately $8 dollars of that.  I found this to be particularly interesting because JCREW is benefitting greatly from this partnership which I feel is not normally what people think of when they see a not for profit product. 

However, the money that Indego will be receiving for the bracelets is HUGE and rather than giving the woman in Rwanda a significant bonus they have decided to create an incentive plan for the Rwanda woman artisans to be sustainably shopping for their materials to create products (i.e. there will be a bonus for artisans that shop at local markets ect.).

There is so much more than what meets the eye this not for profit.  One typically thinks that the money that is made is given the artisans and that is it, but Indego Africa is committed to creating a sustainable system, and that does not mean mindlessly pouring money into Rwanda.

 

Ongoing projects that I am working on include putting together the annual report, product photos (as always) and creating new hangtags to be attached to co-branded products with Flutter NYC and Pamela Love.

Overwhelmed.

As the excitement of a new semester and internship settles reality sets in.  I am beginning to find it increasingly harder and harder to balance an internship, four classes, and a job (particularly in the last semester of senior year).  Although I am only at work two days a week it feels like I am there seven.  There is always something I could be working on.

I am currently focused on the lookbook for the spring 2012 collection and it needs to get done soon.  I had to start the book from scratch because there was so much to be changed on the previous one that it just made more sense.  The next focus of mine will be the website (a daunting task for me).  And in between all of this there is always product photographs to be taken and edited.  I am still enjoying the environment and my tasks at hand very much, despite me being so overwhelmed.

The First Few Weeks

Indego Africa is a non-profit social enterprise that is committed to improving the lives of Rwandan woman artisans.  The name stands for INdependace, DEvelopment, GOvernance... IN DE GO.   Woman in Rwanda make products from pillow covers to necklaces that are then sold at high-end retailers in the U.S.

This Diagram Explains it Best!!

Check out the Indego Africa Website  to shop and learn!

I began my internship as their graphic designer in January.  Since then I have had an abundance of projects for them and I have been enjoying using my creativity.  My projects have included updating wholesale catalogs, redesigning postcards and doing some product photography.  Here is a sneak peak at some of the work I have been doing:

 

  

  

The Indego Africa team has also been working hard to add tags to 9,000 rope bracelets to be sold at J.Crew.  It is going to take a while to do, but with everyone helping it will get done!

In the office with everyone to get the tags done