Firefly Handmade was founded in 2010 as a way of uplifting the beauty of local handmade craftsmanship. Its presence has brought exposure to a variety of Colorado artisans, transporting their love for their work into thousands of homes worldwide.

EPOP held its first sale during Firefly 2022 and has continued evolving since. With each academic year, EPOP gains new elements of a well-established business, offering students increasingly meaningful experiences in entrepreneurship and design alike.

Designing for EPOP provides us as students with an exceptionally appealing series of challenges:

1. Designer’s Responsibility - This project was the first time I truly believed that the work I produced would leave a lasting legacy, something I prioritized from day one. My design could be what draws shoppers into EPOP, or the reason they one day decide to return. It also begins setting the tone for next year’s students, and thereby supports the growth of our studio’s brand image. Internalizing those notions throughout the design process yielded a product rooted in passion and care.

2. Market Evaluation - This project required us to holistically consider the public’s interests rather than focusing on a narrow prompt or client. However, to hold successful sales, we designed around questions such as: What are the interests of people in Boulder? What design trends can we see around existing locally-made products? What markets seem oversaturated? Which demographics does it make most sense to target? Most importantly, what makes a good gift?

3. Sustainable Focus - All groups were encouraged to incorporate diverted materials into their designs wherever possible. However, we quickly learned that sourcing and reprocessing most climbing equipment was unrealistic within our timeline. The true challenge lay in selecting materials that were workable enough to function, yet distinct enough to still tell a story.