#00 What You'll Find in the Ingenuity Journal
Trying to build a place where we can grow together.
Welcome,
you may be wondering why I decided to include an Article Zero. Partly as a general introduction, but also as a practical explanation of why I'm creating this journal.
When I decided to start the FUORIEPOCA project, partly out of passion, partly out of frustration, anger, and a desire to prove something to the world, the first thing I did was try to understand how to move forward. I had an idea in my head, but far too many paths to follow. I hadn't yet defined my style, where I wanted to begin, or where I wanted to end up once the time came to bring my work to market, even on a small scale.
I know it sounds almost ridiculous: imagining a big project condensed into a market stall on wheels, with just two metres of display space. Everyone dreams big. I've always preferred dreaming small, pushing back against the artificial reality and inflated numbers constantly blasted across our screens, with the idea of creating a place where people stop by to say hello, stay for a chat, and where a small act of community helps us reconnect with one another.
In any case, the problem I ran into from the very beginning was that books, forums, and blogs about artistic craftsmanship, hobbies, and related subjects are, on the whole, highly theoretical and rarely practical. Often built on flawed assumptions. Incorrect methods for calculating prices, questionable advice on market stall layouts, product development, all mixed together with conflicting views of the craft market in a historical moment where everyone has the opportunity to express an opinion.
Although my experience is still limited and I'm only at the beginning of this journey, I'm building it step by step, exploring different aspects of manual work firsthand, out on the street, through direct experience. The best training ground in the world.
The purpose of this journal is to reflect together on the many aspects of this work—things that can become either overwhelming obstacles or difficult realities that simply have to be accepted and digested if you want to move forward without constant frustration. It's meant to offer anyone starting a craft or creative project a different way of thinking: analytical, but firmly grounded in reality. The goal is to help you shake off the fears that undermine your confidence and make you feel as though you're always moving forward with the handbrake on. Between us, these are exactly the topics and conversations I wish I had found before embarking on this adventure myself.
If you've already read the introductory articles—#01 #02 #03 #04—I hope you've gained a broad understanding of the landscape, picked up a few useful mental tools, and feel more confident about taking your first steps without anxiety. I'm not offering an unquestionable solution or a formula for solving every problem. What I want to offer is a different way of looking at reality. This isn't just raw material for people who make things. If you're simply curious, passionate about craftsmanship, or someone who wants to support it, I hope it also gives you a new way of seeing artistic craftsmanship: as an expression of human ingenuity.
I'll probably repeat this endlessly: to me, terminology is simply the best tool we have to define something. So throughout these articles you'll come across words like artisan and craftsmanship again and again. Even though they seem to have become the new taboo words in Italy, avoiding them only makes sentences incomplete or harder for readers to understand—especially when talking about small independent makers.
For now, you'll find APPUNTI SPARSI DA UNA BANCARELLA (Notes from a Market Stall).
This is the official blog, freely accessible online, where you can read the articles and follow the journey as it unfolds. The newsletter is hosted on Substack, where you'll find the special articles. (With a free subscription, you'll always stay up to date.)
If this is the first time our paths have crossed, let me briefly summarize the articles you'll be able to explore in more depth later, so you can understand the sequence behind everything I've built.
The first article explores the very definition of what it means to be an artisan, moving beyond the labels that are so often used superficially. Being an artisan is not simply about making something with your own hands; it's about building a coherent relationship between skills, design, responsibility, and personal identity. Defining the word also means defining yourself and the role you choose to occupy. And remembering that identifying with more than one definition doesn't necessarily mean there's a problem that needs to be solved.
#01 Craftsmanship or the Art of Making?
The third article shifts the focus to the product itself, asking what truly makes an object craft-made. The answer goes far beyond whether it was made by hand. It takes into account the entire system behind it: the design process, the choice of materials, the production methods, the coherence with the maker's identity, and the intention that guided its creation. In this way, the product becomes a reflection of both its creator and the system that brought it into existence.
#03 –How do we tell if a product is truly handmade?
The final article broadens the perspective to the craft business as a whole, examining the risks of relying on a single sales channel for your future. Markets, shops, online platforms, and social media are all valuable tools—but they can quickly become sources of dependency when they are the only foundation supporting your project. Building a sustainable business means developing autonomy and maintaining control over your own path, rather than allowing others to determine its stability or push tools and strategies that don't align with the economic or personal reality your project is currently facing.
#04 Do You Really Need a Niche?
If you're taking your first steps into the world of craftsmanship, I hope these introductory articles will give you enough perspective to observe the bigger picture, rather than simply handing you a list of things you should or shouldn't do. To give yourself permission to stop for a moment, catch your breath, and think: "Alright... who am I, and what am I actually trying to build?" Without guilt, and without letting frustration become part of your daily routine.
If, on the other hand, you're simply curious or someone who appreciates handmade work, I hope they encourage you to look beyond the object itself. Behind every workshop, market stall, or craft fair table, you'll find people who have studied, rolled up their sleeves, and invested years of experience trying to turn a passion into a profession. Not something to see as the finish line, but as the beginning of a journey—one where you can discover thoughtful, well-made products at a remarkably fair price.
Finally, in the weekly Travel Journal newsletter, you'll find notes, reflections, and observations. Sometimes they'll be light-hearted thoughts, other times my own attempts to reshape reality just enough to end the day with a smile. Perhaps they'll offer you an insight gathered from the street, or simply keep you company when you're feeling alone and a Sunday at the market hasn't gone the way you hoped.
Access to these articles is free. I genuinely believe that craftsmanship grows through the sharing of knowledge and by educating customers. Not as the achievement of a lone hero, but as a collective effort—one where we move forward together, shields locked. If you know other makers, artisans, or independent artists and think this publication could be useful to them, I'd be grateful if you shared it with them.
I'm also looking for people willing to share their stories. Not to promote themselves, but to anonymously talk about their own experiences: what worked in their project, or what made their confidence collapse before they had even begun. I hope that one day I'll be able to dedicate a section of this journal to those voices, so we can learn from one another's mistakes.
Future articles will also explore topics such as pricing, product development, production times, and, ultimately, how to build a sustainable income without exhausting your resources in the process. Access to those sections will be limited, both for ethical and professional reasons. I'll decide, case by case, how best to make those contents available.
Now, though, enough talking about this journal. It's time to put it to the test.
Thank you for taking the time to read what I write.
I hope you'll enjoy subscribing. And if not, then—as always—we'll cross paths somewhere down the road, when the time is right.
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