craft show displays

[Peter Skellenger]

I am starting to really get into the craft show scene and have a fairly big show in 10 days or so and then its crazy through Christmas with shows and such. I am struggling for good ways to display stuff and I cannot find anything online in terms of pictures of booths, etc... I just want ideas of how people display bowls and such both indoors and outdoors under a tent (which I have). I have made some displays but they are pretty lame really. The sites I have come across are selling displays for big bucks and they are a bit to "manufactured" for my taste. Anyone have pics or links to anything that might help? thanks!

 

[George Guadiane]

I am starting to really get into the craft show scene and have a fairly big show in 10 days or so and then its crazy through Christmas with shows and such. I am struggling for good ways to display stuff and I cannot find anything online in terms of pictures of booths, etc... I just want ideas of how people display bowls and such both indoors and outdoors under a tent (which I have). I have made some displays but they are pretty lame really. The sites I have come across are selling displays for big bucks and they are a bit to "manufactured" for my taste. Anyone have pics or links to anything that might help? thanks!

Peter,
If you can, go to a show and or some shops and look at their displays... See if there is some way that you can adapt their ideas into something LIGHT, AND STURDY, and something that you can carry in whatever vehicle you have, no matter what the weather.
That isn't a specific answer to your question, but it's so personal, that I'm not sure what else to offer.

 

[ThePenSmith]

A lot will depend on your budget and how long you plan on being on the show circuit. If you are planning on being out for a few years, then invest in something nice, it will pay off in the long run. I have Pro Panels, http://propanels.com/ and I could not be happier. I started 'cheaply' and it showed, my work was fine but my display detracted from my work. I improved my sales significantly when I changed my display to something more professional. Customers are more inclined to purchase from someone with a professional looking display.

 

[waltben]

My wife and I have been vending at shows for over five years now. For certain, don't go cheap, but you don't have to go expensive either. Some folks use wood shelving which looks good, but I think wood objects tend to blend into a wood background rather than be highlighted. I've been using black metal grid wall with black plastic shelving for several years, but that's because my wife also can use it with hat display hooks. It may not be what you want. I also use clear acrylic riser stands on tables (with tablecloths) and have used covered riser blocks on tables as well. Straight legged tables can be lifted with sections of PVC pipe slipped onto each leg (jewelry people do that a lot) - just be certain to have a tablecloth that goes almost to the ground. You can get clear acrylic bowl stands, etc. at Potomac Display, a manufacturer (http://www.potomacdisplay.com/) and there's dozens of places that sell store display things (KC Store Fixtures, etc.)

 

[pencheff]

In the same boat

I am struggling for good ways to display stuff and I cannot find anything online in terms of pictures of booths, etc... I just want ideas of how people display bowls and such both indoors and outdoors under a tent

I'm researching the same thing Peter as I'm participating in a couple shows between now and the end of the year.

The PA Guild of Craftsmen show this summer featured the works of five woodturners. Although it was an indoor show everyone had set up the same 10' x 10' tent or pole framed canvas booth arrangement they'd use outside. Most had typical canvas/sailcloth walls but one guy's booth had hard walls and he attached shelving around the perimter at eye level and hung pieces on his walls. Most used high tables with additional shelves or platforms on the tables. Surfaces were covered in cloth or carpet. Not much was displayed below waist level. Most had additional lighting to highlight pieces.

Labor day weekend we attended the Long's Park Art & Craft Festival here in Lancaster. It's an outdoor event, one of the top 5 juried shows in the country and at this level the price of the pieces range from the hundreds well into the thousands. The five woodturners at this show had a variety of high end displays. No simple table with a shelf here. A favored display is a sort of "English Library" look with hardwood panel case walls with lighted alcoves inset. Another look was carpet covered pedestals of differing heights artistically lighted. A different league all together.

While researching this topic I came across these web sites. I hope you can glean something useful from them.

Good luck!

http://www.craftshowyellowpages.com/display8.html

http://www.borsheimarts.com/booths.htm

 

[Peter Skellenger]

Greg- these are good sites to check out. thanks and thanks for the other replies. I was hoping people would be able to post pics of their booths since so many shows require shots of the booth for the juries! I am interested in the layout as well as the actual displays and what people have found works for them. Does everyone really use their tent indoors??? I am going to an indoor show in 10 days and they provide the tables, etc... I never even thought about bringing the tent along! That would mean all sorts of lighting, etc... which I do not have yet. I can see whay you would set it up indoors, if you have a real system in place for your set-up. I guess I have not been to enough shows to know these things. You guys would all cry if you saw the set-up I use right now!! It is very amateur... very crude. Actually, it is terrible but I sure did have success at my first ever show a month ago. I know it takes time to build the booth. The lack of opportunities to go to shows in this area for ideas is kind of a drag right now. I cannot believe I can't find booth pics online! Is it taboo to ask for booth pics or what people do for displays?

 

[Steve Worcester]

I started out with tables and shelves, cloth draped here and there. Most of how and what to display will depend on the venue. A craft show, where you compete for dollars with "santas on a stick" and foam iguanas would have a real different display (and buying crowd) than another show where you are competing with $10k bronze sculptures and high end gold and diamonds.

You want your booth to convey the feel you have for your work. I have come up with a display that conveys and intimate setting and draws and captures the customers attention. Seems getting them to spend is another talent all together....

This is the beginning of what I started with (from scratch). Fabric covered pegboard panels. I then made plywood shelves that attach via pegs and covered the front of the shelves with different veneers. Made feet. The whole setup takes up a bit of room, but over the years has earned me best of show and best of category awards multiple times at juried art shows.

 

[Sean Troy]

http://www.aftosa.com/platforms.html

 

[pencheff]

This is the beginning of what I started with (from scratch). Fabric covered pegboard panels. I then made plywood shelves that attach via pegs and covered the front of the shelves with different veneers. Made feet. The whole setup takes up a bit of room, but over the years has earned me best of show and best of category awards multiple times at juried art shows.

At the PA Guild show all the artisans either had a high stool right out front or stood behind a tiny counter in the back. All were friendly and willing to talk to me. At the high end Art and Craft show over Labor Day weekend many of the artists had a little escape hatch out through the back of their display and didn't really interact much with the patrons.

Steve, where do you position yourself in this booth? Do you hang out and chat or stand back and hover?

 

[George Guadiane]

I started out with tables and shelves, cloth draped here and there. Most of how and what to display will depend on the venue. A craft show, where you compete for dollars with "santas on a stick" and foam iguanas would have a real different display (and buying crowd) than another show where you are competing with $10k bronze sculptures and high end gold and diamonds.

You want your booth to convey the feel you have for your work. I have come up with a display that conveys and intimate setting and draws and captures the customers attention. Seems getting them to spend is another talent all together....

This is the beginning of what I started with (from scratch). Fabric covered pegboard panels. I then made plywood shelves that attach via pegs and covered the front of the shelves with different veneers. Made feet. The whole setup takes up a bit of room, but over the years has earned me best of show and best of category awards multiple times at juried art shows.

Steve,
THAT is a VERY nice setup (and VERY much like what I came up with, also from scratch). Have you posted pictures of this setup before??? I really thought mine was an "original idea" (just wondering if I need to give you credit when people ask). I use pegboard on covered tables. I decided that black paper would work to hide the unused holes, I just change it after each show, I bought a 1000 foot roll, so I'm pretty committed to the design and concept. I don't really have enough inventory, so these two six foot tables do it for me, for now, but I already have a design for an island table on the order of what I already have.
Like yours, mine allows me to change the layout according to what I have to display and what kind of show I am doing. What kind of cloth do you use, and does it need to be replaced often?
Since it is my first year of actually selling at shows, I still have a lot to learn, but...

 

[mkart]

Booth Slide

Hopefully this works, first time to post a pic in response.

I was recently in the same situation as you. 6 days to a show and no booth. I built knock down panels of 4', 22" and 19". This allows me to fit within a 10' X 10', 10' X 8' or 8' X 8'. I made the corner shelves, the back shelves and the table. It all stacks nicely in the bed of a truck. The panels were made from 2x3s and 3/8 plywood. It's a little short at 6', I am now working on a cap to extend it. The shelves on the side walls were bought. The lights were $10 each at Office Depot. It worked well in a pinch and I hope to continue to improve it. I have about $450 in it. My first show went well with many positive comments (required size was 10'X8'). I have my second show this weekend (required size 10'X10'). Looks like rain so I may be in for a long one.

Matt

 

[Steve Worcester]

I posted it on a few boards a while back. I have been using them for about 5 years.
What I did is cover the pegboard in thin packing foam and then use a pretty thick fabric over it and it is stapled on and the frame is screwed (pocket holes) around the whole unit. The foam helps give it some thickness and hides the pegboard holes.
The fabric is like a drapery or upholstery fabric, which is pretty good at self healing and hiding holes. In my case though the shelves go back in the same spot each time, but there is a little room to move them around. I did have to get ingenious and route and drill spots for the hooks so they would only show a little bit of the bottom with the shelf installed and so the shelf fits flush. I am looking at redoing the outside edges in aluminum channel so that I can take some of the physical size (thickness) down.

I like the shelves on yours though, it looks like they are floating.

 

[Steve Worcester]

Hopefully this works, first time to post a pic in response.

I was recently in the same situation as you. 6 days to a show and no booth. I built knock down panels of 4', 22" and 19". This allows me to fit within a 10' X 10', 10' X 8' or 8' X 8'. I made the corner shelves, the back shelves and the table. It all stacks nicely in the bed of a truck. The panels were made from 2x3s and 3/8 plywood. It's a little short at 6', I am now working on a cap to extend it. The shelves on the side walls were bought. The lights were $10 each at Office Depot. It worked well in a pinch and I hope to continue to improve it. I have about $450 in it. My first show went well with many positive comments (required size was 10'X8'). I have my second show this weekend (required size 10'X10'). Looks like rain so I may be in for a long one.

Matt

Are the shelves screwed on from the back?

 

[Steve Worcester]

Steve, where do you position yourself in this booth? Do you hang out and chat or stand back and hover?

I always hover or sit across from it. I find that most (wood) people want some connection to the piece they are buying and the artist. I tell them stories about the wood, where it came from, the process (damn woodturners) development of ideas and the series... offer them water or a soda, that kind of stuff. A good tall chair is a big plus too (and sunblock for outside shows where it isn't going to rain a few inches a day (lots of rain this year)

 

[George Guadiane]

I posted it on a few boards a while back. I have been using them for about 5 years.
What I did is cover the pegboard in thin packing foam and then use a pretty thick fabric over it and it is stapled on and the frame is screwed (pocket holes) around the whole unit. The foam helps give it some thickness and hides the pegboard holes.
The fabric is like a drapery or upholstery fabric, which is pretty good at self healing and hiding holes. In my case though the shelves go back in the same spot each time, but there is a little room to move them around. I did have to get ingenious and route and drill spots for the hooks so they would only show a little bit of the bottom with the shelf installed and so the shelf fits flush. I am looking at redoing the outside edges in aluminum channel so that I can take some of the physical size (thickness) down.

I like the shelves on yours though, it looks like they are floating.

I was using curly maple discs for the "shelves," my wife thinks that the shelves should be black to make the PIECES look like they are floating... I'm gonna try it (SWMBO), but I'm thinking that the curly wood is better. I had already talked about making some shelves similar to what you are using, so that I can get larger pieces an/or groupings up off the table.
Now that I have looked at your booth and that of Matt, I might use tall panels to create my "island" instead of putting something on another table... Do people bend over to look at stuff, or does the low height on some pieces cause them to pick up the turnings?

 

[mkart]

The shelves hang on french cleats and have one screw from underneath to ensure they don't pop up and off.

 

[Peter Skellenger]

awesome

Wow, this is great! Lots of ideas to think about. The peg board is straight up peg board, as in the brown masonite type of material? I see how Steve's walls are held upright but what about the others? I kind of need to be able to break this all down and throw it in my truck bed right now. I probably will have to buy a trailer now too huh? Damn. I guess its the initial layout for all this stuff (including lathe, tools, etc..) that makes turning so expensive! Once you have it, it lasts a long time. Thanks a lot for all of this!!!