A Makers Seal That Means Something.

[tboyce]

Has there been any thought to creating a Master's Guild for leather workers? In ancient time, guilds guarded the secrets of the craft and the older masters taught the young learners. When someone in the guild wanted to become a master, they submitted a work that showed off the quality of their skill to the masters of the guild who would then judge it and vote on whether or not to bestow upon that worker the title of 'Master'. If the piece of work that was submitted for judgement passed muster, it was referred to as a 'Masterpiece'

If a person failed to pass the judgement, the masters offered critiques of areas he or she might work on.

I happen to think it would be really cool to start such a guild, as a group, select from the 10 or 15 best on this forum, elect them masters and ask them to serve as the judges. We could design and come up with a seal that would identify the maker as one who has passed the process and is entitled to call themselves a master leather worker. It could then be stamped onto their products and displayed on their websites as a sort of seal of approval. We would protect the seal with copyright.

I certainly don't think my skills are anywhere close to master status but I know there are several here who are. I'd love to get there some day and I think having this sort of special craftsman's seal is a sort of goalpost.

Edited July 15, 2015 by tboyce

[J W Craftsman]

I think that's a great idea!

[TRADERnel]

I think that's an awesome idea

[WolfFlower]

Sounds good to me.

What about a master patternmaker position?

haha, just looked you already got it in your info

[EmbossingDieCompany]

It's a great idea, but it's only as good as the money you have to enforce the copyright.

Although the 5-10 stampmakers on here would likely agree to honor the copyright, you KNOW that someone, somewhere would find an unsuspecting stampmaker to reproduce the stamp.

[terrypen]

That sounds like a great idea! Isn't Nigel or @Dangerous Beans in one of those in the UK?

Edited July 25, 2015 by terrypen

[Wyeman]

That sounds like a great idea! Isn't Nigel or @Dangerous Beans in one of those in the UK?

He is in http://www.guildmc.com

[MonicaJacobson]

That's a cool idea, even if it's only enforceable on this site. I'd be interested in a reasonably-proficient-seal. I think I might get there, given time.

[cgleathercraft]

To help offset some less than desirable stamp maker from duplicating the stamp - A public list of approved Stamp Makers and approved Master Leather Crafters should be made easily available so anyone can fact check before making a purchase. Educating the consumer would be the next step.

I would also be interested in making it to that level. Though it would take considerable time!

[JRDill]

This sounds really cool! I can't wait to see where it goes.