Startup Idea: Easy-to-use Design Software for Handmade Leather Goods

Startup idea to develop a user-friendly software for artisans and crafters for designing patterns for their handmade goods. The software should allow for creating and modifying simple shapes, as well as scaling and printing the designs for physical use. This could potentially revolutionize the way artisans create patterns for their products.

I am the owner of a small leather goods business. I make all of my items by hand and sell them via the web. I work out of small basement workshop in my Brooklyn apt with limited space.

I have found my patterns (tracing shapes for pieces to make final item) take up a lot of flat space and have been in an ongoing mission to fix that.

The design world is lacking a user friendly accessories design program. I have made a few patterns on Adobe Illustrator that turned out okay, but the process to get me there was not nearly as efficient as a pen and vellum. There are also other CAD programs out there, but again the use-ability is like learning a whole new trade.

The software i'm proposing (and i know nothing about this stuff) could get its start off simple shapes and ways to merge and cut. I find the beginning if a design is the most tedious, if your initial shape is uneven the whole end product will be.

So if there was a simple way to design a basic, base shap, to be printed to scale and worked off of, man that would be great! I feel like this would gain great popularity in todays crafter market, and really has alot of different markets it could help as it grows.

I have searched, there is nothing I have found personally. I googled, "accessory design software" in many different variations adding easy and simple. I still make physical patterns for items the old fashion way.

Submitter: James Allen, (view contact info).