A rise in the number of financially independent women has given a boost to the handicrafts market, according to a design artist nicknamed Yallisa, who specializes in gift wrapping and packaging.
“Financial independence enables women to choose how they spend their money, either on themselves or as gifts,” she said.
“Giving gifts conveys the esteem in which the gift giver holds the receiver, and any gift-wrapping designer should understand that their work is an important part of how successfully such a feeling is conveyed,” she said.
Photo: CNA
When asked what motivated her to open her own studio and take up this line of work, Yallisa said it was an inner calling, adding that she has enjoyed working with pretty things since she was a child.
Yallisa said that her father worked at a Japanese company when she was young and he often received exquisitely wrapped boxes of wagashi snacks as gifts, adding that she used to peel off the wrapping paper and packaging layer by layer, take out the snacks, and repackage the box.
Though she was always interested in the art of gift wrapping, Yallisa said it is an art that has not received much attention in Taiwan, with little formal education or books on the subject available.
Using fashion magazines or books published abroad, Yallisa worked alone for many years, relying on her eye for color and design before formulating a more developed sense of aesthetics and design quality.
Despite her passion for gift wrapping, Yallisa said that her first job was at Citibank while she also taught a night class on gift design at the Chinese Culture University’s department of further studies.
Yallisa said that for a long time she worked in the bank by day while teaching classes at night, and although holding down two jobs was a burden, the teaching felt more like the pursuit of a hobby than work.
An offer from a department store, via the university, asking her to design a package for it led her new career to take off, Yallisa said, adding that after that first commission, she received a number of other orders.
That was the catalyst for her to open a workshop, Yallisa said, adding that soon after she quit her job at the bank and opened a studio catering primarily to corporate clients.
After starting her workshop, Yallisa said, she came to realize that her craft depends significantly on understanding the finer details of her clients’ needs, especially with regards to the person they are sending a gift to.
Designing gift packages or wrappings is a highly customized process, and knowing the gender, age, preferred color and style of the receiver, as well as what relationship they have with the sender, is crucial, Yallisa said, adding that these details enable her to fully convey the sincerity of the giver.
“Sending a gift is a positive action, and people like that action to resonate so that both sender and receiver are happy,” she said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard