The Future of Scrapbooking

Two Peas had an interesting thread today about the future of scrapbooking. I shared my two cents there, and I thought I might put it here as well.

I think part of the reason that scrapbooking has gotten so large is because of our renewed need to slow down and create with our hands. Couple that with our need to embrace family and make our marks in this tumultous world, and you have modern scrapbooking.

Of course digital scrapbooking has major appeal in this techno advanced world, and people who otherwise never would have ventured into the realm of scrapbooking, now have a venue to preserve their own memories. But many of the future digital scrappers won't be coming into the hobby to fulfill a need to manually create art. They will be enticed by either speed or the creative ingenuity that comes into play with the digital medium. So really we are looking at two different sets of people.

Furthermore, the market is just starting to expand. Suburban housewives (a cliche example of course) may be entrenched in the hobby and find many things old hat, but younger singles, men, and people of different cultures are just starting to embrace this art form. I think the industry will try harder to market to this untapped segment. You can see it already with the interest in youth and rock/music culture in some of the newest manufacturer's lines.

I also think that the community aspect of the hobby will continue to be popular. Crafters outside of paper arts have been really getting into holding craft-a-longs, quilting bees, and stitch and bitch sessions. I think the internet has fostered this need to connect on a physical level, since many of us have been enjoying the relationships we have forged in the virtual world. So I think there will be more scrapbooking and craft clubs emerging. And I think these clubs will be in urban centers and appeal to a more diverse range of people than ever before.