The Crafts Report - Leading the Crafts Industry for 35 years

Q: I’ve been wondering about this for a while now and haven’t figured out how to handle it. I sell beaded jewelry and have my pieces on consignment at a number of shops. Occasionally, a show owner will call to tell me a customer has broken her piece of jewelry and she’s asking me to fix it. Am I responsible for these repairs for the life of my work? The breakage isn’t due to any manufacturing problem on my part. Part of me wants to do it for the PR. Where do I draw the line, or do I just suck it up and do it? - Barb Lippert, via e-mail

It takes approximately 1,000 watts of bright white light to illuminate a 10-by-10-foot space and properly knock out the shadows and make the art for sale dazzle.

It continues to amaze me that many artists do not utilize this valuable tool in visual merchandising to its full advantage. At the shows I attend, most artists simply do not have enough light—they don’t have enough fixtures and bulbs to do the job. Keeping in mind the 300 to 400 watts from the overhead lights in the exhibit hall or natural light from nearby windows, chances are good that you need more.

Hall lighting issues

Some halls are bright and well-illuminated, while others are dark as a tomb and you need to rent or provide lights to lighten up your booth. The light quality in exhibit halls is often lacking as well. Many use low-cost lighting, the quality of which will distort the colors of your creations (perhaps an additional white light in your display will keep your colors true).

Light placement

Another common problem I see at shows is the placement of the lights. Light from most bulbs does not travel well, meaning the farther the bulbs are from the objects you are trying to illuminate, the less bright the objects will appear. Getting those bulbs closer to the objects will yield a brighter, more attractive display.

A general rule is that if the light fixture is over the customers’ heads when they are looking at the objects, then the lights are in the right place. In doing this, you have eliminated the possibility that the customer’s head or body would come between the light source and the art (casting a shadow over your work).

Poor light placement can also result in the bulbs shining into the customers’ eyes. When you look into your booth, there should be no blinding bulbs visible.

See what the customer sees

After you have set up your display, walk out into the aisle and see what the customers see. Are you blinding them as they walk by or are your lights properly focused so the art is shining back at them?

Properly illuminated booth spaces are not something the customer really notices or ever comments on, but if there aren’t enough appropriately placed lights, it will have a negative affect on your sales. If customers cannot see it, they will not buy it. Don’t make them work to see your work.

Quality lighting

Good lighting always makes me want to pull out my camera and take a picture. That is literally what happens in the customers’ heads—they want to remember what they are seeing. And to do so, they will usually pick it up for closer examination. When customers touch what you make, they are much more likely to buy it. Touch is the first step in owning something and if you can get to this step, your sales will go up.

Good lighting renders your products so alluring that customers cannot resist touching them. This, in turn, gives you subliminal permission to talk to them. Customers with your work in their hands will listen more intently to what you are saying about it.

I recently attended the new One of a Kind Show and Sale in New York City and was treated to a delightful group of artists. There were many exciting booths at this show, and mostly artists I had never met before. I was specifically looking for examples of good lighting and I found some excellent examples.

Keep in mind that good lighting doesn’t need to be expansive, it just needs to show off your work to its best advantage and make people want to touch (and buy).

An excellent example of low-cost but highly effective booth lighting at the show was in the booth of Lemon Park (www.lemonpark.ca). Using simple underlighting, they dramatically displayed their amazing art/fashion jewelry line (see photo at _____). (figure 1) Notice how the light coming up from the bottom makes these resin bracelets and earrings look like candy! They are almost irresistible to the customer—who could not touch these?

Another example of their excellent display and lighting choices were the bottom-lit low pedestals, in multiple levels on their tables. (figure 2) These low-tech risers were created with a ring (made of cardboard, metal or plastic) and painted to give a finished look. A piece of frosted glass or Plexiglas was placed on top, with a simple light source underneath the glass (inside the ring).

These lights could be low-voltage halogen, LEDs or even inexpensive battery-operated lights if electrical power isn’t available (as is the case at many outdoor shows). This underlighting technique made all of the transparent gemstones in the lovely necklaces glow! Notice also the black boxes in the upper right. Each of these boxes had a light inside it to make the jewelry visually “pop.” The lighting was stunning and drew almost everyone who walked by into the space. So alluring and accessible, this was one of the best booths I have discovered in years.

Another fine example of using lighting to amplify his art was Bruce R. MacDonald of Burlington, Vt. He uses both white and colored light to make his arresting stainless steel wall art come alive. His work is large and impressive, just what art should be in these times. By using not only ample overhead white light, MacDonald employs a spectral colored LED device that is battery operated at the show, (figure 3) but he also will supply and install them in the clients’ home if they desire.

Perhaps this is not as low-tech as the “Lemon Park” example, but it gave the art a lot of bang for the buck. His cold silvery grey stainless piece came completely alive when an element of colored lighting was added. See figure 4. More examples of fine lighting can be found on his website: www.brmdesign.com.

Lemon Park and Bruce MacDonald both had fantastic booths that displayed their art to its best advantage, each method being just right for the art it was illuminating. When I stood back and evaluated it, once again I was reminded that good display and lighting have nothing to do with how much money you spend—they are the result of how creative you are!

Boredom is a problem that Heidi Hammel rarely has to deal with.

In addition to running her highly successful, one-of-a-kind wearable art business, the Media, Pennsylvania, artisan oversees Heron Crest Studios, Inc., a 4,500-square foot space for studios, and is an active partner in another artisan venture, Hometown Collective, which provides an annual showcase for the wares produced by a group of talented artisans.

Both of the newer ventures grew out of Hammel’s nearly lifelong love affair with textiles, which she says began in her childhood. The obsession began when she first laid eyes on the vivid, hand-woven Norwegian sweaters worn by the students of her research scientist father.

“They had the most gorgeous sweaters,” says Hammel. “They were obviously knitted by their wives, and they employed the most amazing colors and patterns. I remember thinking how beautiful they were. Then, when I was about 10 years old, we went to Norway for a month, and my appreciation for that work grew, especially when we came to realize that the sweaters were made with vegetable-dyed wool, which produced the most incredible colors.”

Since that initial discovery, Hammel learned to sew her own clothes, master embroidery, reupholster furniture, and craft imaginative costumes. In 2000, she cemented her relationship with textiles when she decided to devote her full attention to her company, Reclaimed Creations, which produces fanciful hats, scarves, and gloves from recycled and up-cycled wool.

“I aim for creating something that is beautiful, well made, and functional, and people definitely seem to respond to my work,” she says. “I have a very happy booth whenever I do a show.”

Her path of creative discovery paralleled a long and productive career in education, where she taught in the United States and in the People’s Republic of China, and served as an administrator in several other educational ventures. Those accomplishments alone may be enough to satisfy most, but the University of Pennsylvania honors graduate seems to have the energy and drive to manage several successful ventures in one lifetime.

Rather than draining her of creative energy, Hammel finds that the varied pursuits have the opposite effect.

“I am now surrounded by all sorts of creative people, all working in different media,” she says. “And I love being able to bounce ideas off other artists. It’s helped expand my vision, even if we don’t always share the same sensibility.”

With little formal art training – she has a bachelor’s in Chinese studies and a master’s in the supervision of outdoor education – Hammel said she’s learned a great deal through the years just by being in the presence of other artists.

“And if I do get stuck every once in a while, it’s nice to be able to visit with one of the painters and say, ‘How about this?’ I’m certain I’ve broadened my perspectives through the association,” she says.

Fortunately for Hammel, those spontaneous and fruitful interaction discussions are a regular by-product of her work with Heron Crest Studios, where she currently serves as president, controlling partner, manager, and resident artist. In addition to sub-leasing 14 other artist’s studios, Hammel now runs her own business in space she occupies in the restored mill along the west branch of Pennsylvania’s Chester Creek.

“I had completely outgrown my home studio, to the point where I had sweaters piled up everywhere and I could barely walk,” she says. “I literally had a 12-inch path to walk through in my studio. A friend of mine learned about this old cotton spinning mill, which was built around 1809, and it seemed like an ideal setting for this type of venture. We signed a lease in the fall of 2006 and had a couple of months to convince some artists to lease space and get going.”

Hammel has found that the studio space outside her home not only prevents her from being “distracted with other virtuous tasks, like laundry,” but it also encourages a more productive focus. “I just come here and work, and when I go home, I don’t work. It is such a relief to have that delineation.”

While in her studio space, Hammel is surrounded by noted and accomplished artists from fields that include portraiture, fiber, leather sculpting, printmaking, and mosaic murals. As important as her own evolution has been to her, Hammel is also gratified to see the growth in her colleagues.

“They’re not hobbyists,” she says. “I’ve seen them blossom just by having a studio space of their own, which has helped them adapt to the concept of themselves as artists. They’re in a place where they can feel free to experiment and grow and to take advantage of this incredible community of creative people.”

Hammel has been equally encouraged by the evolution of the Hometown Collective, a group of artisans who meet monthly to support each other’s work, and who produce an annual event to showcase their work each autumn. This year’s event, which will feature the work of up to 13 Philadelphia-area artists, will be held at the Providence Friends Meeting House in Media, Pennsylvania, on the weekends of November 11-13 and 19-20.

On those same days, other artists’ groups will also be offering shows, so visitors will be able to view the wares produced by 25 or more local artists, according to Hammel.

“Our location takes you off the beaten track, but it’s a great area, and well worth the trip to see the work of so many incredibly talented and accomplished artists,” she says.

Hammel’s success, though well-deserved, did not come without hard-earned lessons. She shares the following advice for those who would hope to duplicate her success: 

• Seek the input of other artists. No matter what level of acclaim you reach as an artist, there is always something to learn about the work, the challenges of running a business, marketing, or networking.

• Find a group of “kindred spirits” who can sustain you during productively down periods, help you reach a broader group of potential customers, or contribute to special projects. “I can work alone, but I also like to have a steering committee for specific events or programs,” Hammel says. “Usually, no fewer than four people, but no more than eight is ideal.”

• Release your inner “control freak.” Hammel admits to struggling with this bit of advice, but she’s grown to appreciate collective efforts. “You do need a leader to make things happen, but it is so much more productive to solicit opinions and ideas and then figure out a way to implement them,” she says. “It always makes for a better end result.”

• Don’t overlook the power of social networking. “In this day and age, it’s a must,” she says. “You’re just not going to reach a broad enough customer base under the age of 40 if you don’t have a web page, or aren’t on Facebook. You have to have a web presence.”

• Bring in the pros when you need to. Hammel’s group learned how to self-promote, but there is no substitute for professional experience when it comes to targeting a specific demographic, or generating the kind of buzz that launches successful careers. Professionals also helped her cross-pollinate efforts with other local businesses hoping to reach the “cultural creatives” that largely support the work of artistic communities.

Q: I manage a retail gallery, and we’ll be updating over the next few months. We want to light it in a way where we can rearrange the pieces and be able to either move the lights or have the lights work with every arrangement. Right now we mostly stock wall art and ceramic pieces (pots, vases, etc.). What types of lights do you recommend? We’ve left a fair-sized portion of the budget for this. - Sophia Barthow, Lexington, Kentucky

Since the financial collapse of October 2008, artists no doubt have been more challenged to sell their work than any time since the Great Depression. The recent financial collapse was a low blow to all businesses, but was particularly damaging to the business of selling art. Unfortunately, this happened in combination with the first wave of aging boomers deciding to downsize. Many of these boomers are moving into smaller dwellings, while others are ridding themselves of their acquired possessions from the last four decades. These factors alone would bring the sales of art objects to an all-time low, but add the lethal punch of the annihilation of the middle class. This is the demographic that has carried the United States economy for the past 40 years, and with its demise comes dismal art sales, mostly because consumers have been forced to shift their spending away from art purchases to pay for basic necessities. Many “middle-class individuals” are more concerned with hanging on to their home or putting food on the table, paying for healthcare or funding a retirement plan. All of these priorities trump buying art for the home or personal adornment.

Q: I have had to flee New York City in order to continue my life as a craft artist. I am now located in southwest Virginia. Although I am concentrating on wholesale, it is imperative I include retail shows in my schedule. Previously, the kind of shows I did where Artrider, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and high-end fine crafts shows. This is my customer base, as my product is a somewhat sophisticated artisan candle. Recently, the Renwick Gallery has purchased them, as well as Fallingwater. They have become a staple at the Taubman Museum of Art store in Roanoke.

I have just done the Crozet show near Charlottesville and found it to be a good show.

Could you recommend some other shows that might give me a discerning client and charge reasonable prices for exhibitors? I can now travel to surrounding states, including Virginia; Pennsylvania; Washington, D.C.; North Carolina, etc. I look forward to hearing from you and would gladly supply you with any additional information that might be helpful. - Jessica Lauber, via e-mail

There is nothing more you could do to add power and punch to your merchandising scheme for increasing sales than to use a point of purchase (POP) display. I can guarantee that using this merchandising method will increase your sales, for retail and particularly for wholesale. The POP is an unpaid and silent salesperson that gets your customers to notice your products. A well-designed display and engaging graphics will tell your story and help give you brand recognition better than any method I know. Plus, customers will buy more when they buy from a POP. This is particularly true with items that need to be explained or demonstrated for the customers to "get it!" Point of purchase displays are not right for all types of merchandise. But, generally, lower-end items, such as cards, soap, mugs, and toys, will fly out of your booth or the stores you sell to.

Time for a Change

Q: I've been working in warm glass, creating mostly jewelry, for about 17 years. Originally, I sold mostly wholesale, because I had a young child at home and didn't want to be out on the show circuit away from her. Now that my daughter is 15, I'm heading back to doing retail shows more and more. More than that, I want to move away from production work and into larger art objects, such as glass paintings and castings. My question is, how do I move from selling jewelry to selling larger and more expensive art objects while still maintaining some of my current customer base so that I don't go broke? Nancy, via e-mail

If you have, or wish to have, a home craft business, sooner or later you will want to do a craft show. Craft shows can range from the tiny (small-town celebration, six booths, outdoors) to the enormous (large city, 500 booths, convention center).

Q: Recently, I had professional photography done of some of my fiber art pieces. They were special pieces done for Habitat for Humanity’s fundraiser auction. The photographer I used informed me that he is trying to get all of his business paper work in order and issued a licensing agreement concerning copyright issues. He has pretty much given me a blank license agreement so that I can use the images for jury purposes, website and social media networking, and advertising image reproduction. However, on the disc that he gave me, he has copyrighted the work. When I went to have printed photos made from the disc of the work, the technician noticed the copyright on the disc and said it was odd to have this on the disc and was wondering if I was able to produce these images. Should I suggest to the photographer that he not put copyright on the disc, or do I need to produce the licensing agreement every time I have these images printed from the disc? Is this a growing trend for photographers? Who does own the copyright on images? The photographer who took the photos, the person who made the work, or both? Judy Jones, via e-mail

Q: Last year, I took my jewelry products to a couple of outdoor shows for the first time. The jewelry, I feel, is of good quality and priced accordingly, but I didn’t have too many people stopping to look. Many of those who did, however, purchased a few pieces. I suspect that my booth isn’t doing enough. What can I do to improve my presence? – Charlotte Hayes, via e-mail

When running a craft business, there are two basic divisions in sales type: retail (selling directly to the customer) and wholesale (selling to a middleman, who sells to the customer). It's entirely possible to do both, of course. But, the common element in both types of sales is marketing. How else can you earn money if you don't market your products to people who want to buy them?

Of the two selling options, retail sales are more immediately dependent upon marketing. How does a beginning business go about marketing its products to the customer?

I talked to a number of craftspeople to learn what worked for them. Just as important, I wanted to know what didn't work. If a craftsperson is going to spend time and money marketing his products, it's nice to learn what retail ventures bring in the best bang for the buck.

Marketing at Shows

The most obvious place a craftsperson must market his products is at a crafts event, directly to the customer. There's an underappreciated science to this. Casey Robbers of Casey Was Here (www.caseywashere.com) explains what works for her:

• I have a good-looking display that invites the customers in. I have items at eye level and group products by color and type. I have signage outside my tent to attract people from across the festival grounds.
• Once people are in my booth, I have items clearly priced, and there are interesting facts to read about the products so they have a reason to stay.
• I give the customers space, but make sure they know I am attentive to their needs.
• If I am at a show alone, and I absolutely must leave my booth unattended, I leave a note saying "Back in 5 minutes; 10 percent off if you wait!" There are always customers in my booth when I return.
• I have a mailing list sign-up sheet in clear view, as well as a "find me on Facebook" sheet.
• I have an eye-level sign that reads, "Made in New York. Locally made gifts are the best!"
• I have a candy dish. Customers always come in to grab a piece of candy!
• After they have made their purchase, I give them a card and a list of upcoming shows I'm attending so they can shop with me again.

She also explains what does not work:

• Talking too much. I have talked customers right out of many sales.
• Unnecessary family members. Having extra people sitting around in folding chairs looks unprofessional.
• Standing outside my booth making my sales pitch to passers-by. It just made us all uncomfortable!

Marketing's Three Legs

Small business consultant Denise Beeson (www.denisebeeson.com) notes that many craftspeople do not see their marketing efforts as a whole picture. "Think of a three-legged stool," she advises. "Those three legs are mass selling (advertising and public relations), professional selling (one-to-one customer interaction, especially customer service), and sales promotion (trade shows, social media, etc.). Many craftspeople concentrate only on one leg of the stool, and what happens? The stool will fall over, because it is not balanced properly. But retail failures do not happen if the craftsperson is consistently using all the marketing tools in balance."

The Power of the Web

Understandably, nearly all successful marketing in our electronic age includes selective use of the Internet. The key word is "selective." Not every Internet tool will work for every craftsperson or every business. Benjamin John Coleman of Origami Bonsai (www.origamibonsai.org) advises, "I do extensive marketing via the web and have had great success. I call my art ‘origami bonsai,’ and if you type those two words into Google, you'll see the results of my labors. I dominate the search results. This can be done by any craftsperson." Here's what you need to do:

• Decide on a group of two or three words that describe your craft.
• When you write a blog, upload a video, etc., put those two words in quotes in the keywords section of the post.
• Create a video on YouTube with the keywords in the title and in the keywords section.
• Wait patiently, and add more content with your keywords to the web daily or weekly.
• Google’s search engine will re-categorize your keywords based on the new content. In essence, Google will detect that there is something "new" on the web.

Social media can also be powerful, offering artists the opportunity to interact personally with customers. John Greco of Greco Woodcrafting (www.grecowoodcrafting.com) notes, "I've had some success with Twitter, but I feel so many people try to ‘follow’ too many feeds that it often leads to my messages being lost in the crowd. My Facebook fan page (www.facebook.com/grecowoodcrafting) has been really great, though. Not only does it help highlight my work, but it also gives me an opportunity for more direct interaction.

"I personally send a Facebook message to each fan when they ‘like’ my page, thanking them and encouraging them to comment on my posts or wall. That alone generates great feedback, with people actually thanking me for taking the time to thank them.

"Once they are a fan, I watch for who comments or ‘likes’ pictures or links I post. Those individuals are invited to be friends with me on Facebook through my personal account, and it is a great way not only for them to get to know me, the artist, better but also for me to get to know the people interested in my work. People who like to buy handmade items largely seem to enjoy that connection to the artist, making the pieces they buy that much more special. I've also made sure my fan page shows my personal account as the page owner, helping people see I'm not a faceless corporation."

The Numbers Game

Toymaker Jim Beachler of Hollow Woodworks (www.hollowwoodworks.com) notes that marketing venues that are supposed to bring in lots of sales often don't. In his words, he lists:

• I've done ads in baby, children, and weekly national magazines. The response was only half of what was needed to achieve minimum break-even on the costs.
• I've tried retail trade shows (such as home shows, baby shows, and children’s shows) and not even made half the minimum break-even on costs.
• I've been involved with companies that mail product literature to families with babies. Again, I did not make near the minimum break-even.
• I tried Groupon. The response was okay, but I noticed about 50 percent were current customers, so, again, the numbers didn’t work.
• I've given away products on radio shows across the country. Out of over 250 products given away, only one has become a regular customer.

Because Beachler's products are higher-end, he's learned what works for him:

• Doing arts and craft shows with more than 100,000 people, as it is a numbers game. There are a certain percentage of the people interested in my products and a smaller percentage who will buy. It's like a funnel, and the bigger the number on top, the bigger the number on the bottom.
• Have an 800 number for customers to get back in touch with me.
• Have phone calls forwarded to me when I am doing shows. Then call back all people that day who left messages. • Have a functioning e-tail website that is promoted on every page of my catalog, on the back/bottom of every product. • Permanently stamp my company name, phone number, and website address on the back of all products sold.

The Advantages of Small Businesses

Vanessa Coppes of enV Jewelry (www.envjewelry.com) points out how small businesses have some advantages over larger businesses while marketing:

• Agility and adaptation: We can quickly move to adjust to changing market conditions.
• Improvisation: We aren't afraid to experiment.
• Customer connection: We have a deep and personal relationship with our market and our customers.
• Passion: We are personally invested.
• Resource limitations: We are already creative, but these limitations also nurture an innovative mindset.
• Collaboration: We rely on each other to share information.

A Good Marketing Fit

Not every craft product fits into a tidy slot. Some artisans create alternative products and must, therefore, cater to those specific alternative markets.

Steampunk fashion and crafts artist Jane Faye of Gaia Noir (www.gaia-noir.co.uk) learned to tailor her marketing efforts to her specific customer base. "Marketing to fellow craftspeople doesn't work well for me," she notes. "Although I use the same techniques as many craftspeople (felting, knitting, dressmaking, millinery, crochet, etc.), what I produce looks a bit unusual, since it's aimed at the steampunk/alternative fashion market. Eventually, I solved the problem by marketing directly on places where people who would use my crafts were likely to be – alternative fashion magazines and steampunk forums and blogs. Marketing directly to your customer base sounds like a straightforward principle, but I think many craftspeople, myself included, often don't follow it."

The Personal Touch

The most recurrent theme craftspeople mention over and over that contributes most heavily to successful sales is nothing more mysterious than the personal touch.

Lindsay Obermeyer of Lindsay Obermeyer Studio (www.lbostudio.com) notes, "When you sell a product you make, the buyer wants to meet you, learn about your inspirations, and better understand how the product was made. When I opened my Etsy store and started selling at craft fairs, I placed ads on a few blogs with large followings and the demographics I felt matched my product. I received a ton of traffic, but very few sales. Advertising can only supplement one-on-one, personal sales and a mailing list. Believe in your product, educate your customers, let them see the process on your blog, and talk about what inspires you." In the end, advice doesn’t get much better than that.

Q: With gasoline prices rising so substantially in recent months, my transportation expenses for attending shows and fairs this summer and fall will be exceeding what I had projected in my 2011 operating budget at the beginning of the year. Is there a way of attending these events without breaking the bank? – Mark Hursdahl, via e-mail

Life’s Unexpected Moments

Q: Life and self-employment are filled with unexpected personal medical and family emergencies. As I run my small crafts business, how can I prepare for those times when, because of possible poor health, hospitalization, or my assistance with a loved one, I might not be able to work? I’m basically a one-person operation, so such events worry me. – Julie Hammer, via e-mail

As a child, David Ellsworth was always the “maker” who charmed and delighted playmates by producing typical Baby Boomer toys: bows and arrows, rifles, pistols, swords, tomahawks, and blowguns – all fashioned from wood and leather.

Q: I'm a mature craftsperson who has been making fashion jewelry for 25 years. I'm beginning to feel that my ideas are wearing out. Going to the studio feels too much like work. How do I get myself going again? Martha Safe, via e-mail

Q: I overheard a conversation the other day, and it intrigued me. They were talking about designing jewelry for a company, eliminating the need for doing art fairs. I make one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry and love the creative side, but the selling side, not so much (and as I get older, those shows are getting tough to do)! Designing for a company sounds as though it'd be right up my alley, but where in the world do I start? Any thoughts? Thanks for any help you can give. Barb Lippert, via e-mail

Elsa Mikus spent decades in the corporate world, working in what she describes as a “dizzying array of jobs, ranging from file clerk to software tester.” However, it’s her most recent incarnation as an artisan that has brought her the most success and the greatest fulfillment.

“I was always making something from the time I was a kid – first doll clothes, and then graduating to making all of my own clothes in high school,” says Mikus, who runs Tempest in a Teapot with longtime friend and business partner, Barbara C. Ryan. “In 1985, I discovered tole/decorative/folk art painting and got hooked on it after my first craft show in 1989. I also made primitive dolls for a couple of years.”

Thank you to everyone who applied for the chance to have your booth made over. Though their were many entries, I could only choose one. Some of yours were actually too good and didn’t warrant the changes you desire!

I chose Kelly Morgan Jewelry for this year’s booth makeover for many reasons. One is that Morgan’s jewelry is wonderful! You can see the skill with which it has been crafted, and she has a great sense of design and a strong artist’s identity. She uses fine materials and brings them together with style and flair. On the other hand, her booth is also a work of art, but it is not showing her work to its best advantage. I am sure if Morgan were to change her booth to incorporate my suggestions, she would see a dramatic increase in sales. I believe even though this is a jewelry booth, there are so many things to learn from this display that would help artists from all mediums.

The booth is attractive, and I am sure she gets many compliments on it. There is the conundrum! How can a booth that people compliment all the time be laden with bad choices? Artists can actually become dependent on the comments that customers make about their booth and see these comments as a good thing. I will assure you that any compliment a customer gives you as an exhibitor feels good but the compliments should be about your work and not about your display. If customers are noticing your display then they are looking at the wrong thing and sales will suffer as a result. The booth is neat and tidy for sure, but there are so many distractions taking away from the visual appeal of her jewelry that the jewelry has taken a back seat to her interior design.

I believe this booth is over designed and over draped, layered, fringed and vined. Some would love this booth but then again they would be noticing the booth. For many customers it may be too much—overly complicated and fussy. We are in an era of new simplicity and simple elegance. Though Morgan’s booth is elegant, it is far from simple. More and more customers are moving away from the more is more look in their environments, and if the customer does not relate to your booth they will not relate to the work. When you look at Morgan’s booth you will notice a lot of detail in the draping and the fringe and layers of the table covering. What you notice is fabric, the last thing your customers should be looking at. What they should notice first and foremost is her lovely jewelry! The jewelry has been upstage by the display and it should be the first thing a customer notices. Look hard at this photo, and you will see the jewelry is barely noticeable, especially, the intricate details and her ability to draw and translate these drawings to metal. This is what gives her jewelry its punch but that is lost because it is dominated by her display.

Here are some suggestions I would make to improve Morgan’s booth to showcase her jewelry and to improve her sales.

1.              First, this booth needs a floor covering; booths without some type of floor treatment just don’t look finished. It doesn’t have to be expensive or heavy: foam flooring gives a great finish to a booth and works both inside and outside. It is lightweight, affordable and easy to clean.

2.              The branding banner that goes across the front of the Morgan’s booth either needs to be moved to the back wall of the booth or repeated again on the back wall. Customers don’t necessarily care about who you are and where you are from, until they have engaged in your art. Once they do, they want to look up and find your branding statement. I do think this branding sign is a good look for her line and this banner does more to show her jewelry from the aisle than any other element in the booth.

3.              The vine in front of the booth should be removed, as it distracts from her jewelry. The way this vine is hung, a customer must enter only in the middle of the booth or it makes it necessary for a customer to duck under it. Artificial flowers or greenery should always be avoided for art and craft shows. The nature of art dictates the use of real flowers (of an unusual or artistic choice). Ordinary flowers can make your work look ordinary. Some booths can use accessories and they work great, other booths the accessories become more of a distraction then an attraction.

4.              The most distracting element of the display is far and away is the deep olive colored fabric panels suspended on the walls. I believe this is what a potential customer notices first and I don’t feel it is the right look for her product line. Her work is rich and details and it needs no distractions in the form of pleated, textured or fringed fabric. A smooth, (wrinkle free) flat (not patterned), neutral background, (in just the right color) would make her jewelry pop.

5.              Overall the look of the booth is very polarizing. Some would love it some would not like it at all. You need a look for your merchandising that is more universally appealing. Her jewelry is not polarizing, it is very appealing and therefore the merchandising must match the merchandise and be more harmonious.

So far we have only addressed the elements of the display. Now let’s consider ways to actually display the jewelry so it has maximum impact.

1.              One of the most striking things about this display is how even though her table heights are higher than the norm. Morgan’s jewelry is still displayed too low. There is nothing like displaying art at eye level. (Jewelry and small items especially) One reason is that eyelevel is where you actually see jewelry on a person, and the customer doesn’t have to bend over to appreciate it. To accomplish this I would suggest wall cases. Very few artists use wall cases but those who do realize the power of this visual merchandising technique. Necklaces and earrings sell best from a wall case, while rings and bracelets can be displayed on the bottom of a wall case or on a glass shelf in the case. NOTE: If you use a wall case to display your jewelry or other small precious objects, make sure the case is accessed with split glass. Meaning that half of the glass slides to the right and half to the left. In this way it doesn’t require floor space to access the case. In other words if your cases are accessed by a hinged door to open the case it swings out into the foot print of your booth and to open a hinged door customers will need to back away from the case in order for you to swing the door open. This is particularly difficult if the show is crowded and your booth is busy. I would suggest putting wall cases on both the right and left sides of her booth, near the aisle to attract customers in as they walk by. I would use much or the entire back wall to show models (of different age demographics) wearing her jewelry and large individual blow-ups of her lovely pieces to further draw customers in.

2.              I would remove all neck forms in the booth and find better ways to display these necklaces. Neck-forms are the most over used of all jewelry display techniques. Customers get so anesthetized by neck-forms that they don’t even look at the jewelry on them having experienced them in just about every jewelry booth they come to. Find new and exciting ways to show your necklaces and break the mould. Leave the neck-forms behind and sell more jewelry as a result.

3.              Morgan’s small counter cases: The clear one on the center back table and wooden one on the right side of the booth, (low and crowded) do not project the ambiance and price point of her jewelry. Consistency in your merchandising elements are always best in a booth, the more your merchandising echoes your art, the more upscale your overall presentation appears.

4.              A large mirror or two (for when you are really busy) are conspicuously absent from Morgan booth display. A mirror sends the message “try it on!” People will try on more wearable products if a mirror is visible, especially if they see other customers trying things on. Get a good mirror of an appropriate size and quality and you will find it pays for itself the first day you us it.

Speaking with Morgan about her booth, she was considering moving her displays to the aisle and not letting customers come into her booth. I think that this move would be a mistake. In the current economic slump that we are experiencing, people who have money to spend are shy about doing so. If you don’t give them a semi private place to spend money they might not!

I am not aware if this is a shot that Morgan ever used as a booth shot for a jury. But if it were to be used as a booth shot, the chair should be removed from the image. Chairs always send the wrong message to a jury. I believe it is better to avoid having any chairs in your booth shot. If you leave the chair at home at any show, your sales will go up. When you are sitting in a chair at a show, you are sending a lot of negative messages to your potential customers. It is a proven fact that if you are up and standing in your booth and moving about, more people will enter and more customers will buy your art.

There are no doubts that a toned-down booth, that deemphasized the booth itself and ramps up the work in that booth will increase your sales. You will know when you are on the right track when people stop commenting on your display and start commenting on your art.

Thanks to Morgan for taking the time to send in her booth images. I will look forward to hearing how her sales improve after she has made some of these changes.

Spotlighting can add a touch of drama to your images, but it doesn’t work with all types of crafts. This lighting technique can easily be used with matte and flat-surfaced work, while shiny surfaces can be nightmares to get just right.

Let’s start by looking at how to create a circle of light in the darkness; the simplest way is to use a snoot over the light’s reflector housing. The snoot is simply a tapered metal cone that fits over the light and creates a small circle of light instead of a large area of diffused light. With your object on a black background, the circle of light will appear as a light gray area without well-defined edges. For a tighter circle with a better defined edge, you need to use a spotlight (a light source with some sort of lens in front that focuses the light into a better circle). You can get all sorts of spotlights, and for small jewelry pieces I’ve found that you can successfully use focused halogen table lamps for this effect.

Both a snoot and a spotlight produce harsh, hard light. This type of light works well with matte surfaces but is not the kind of light to use with shiny or metallic finishes. The spotlight produces hard, bright glare spot—essentially ruining your image.

Additionally, these highly directional spotlights create deep shadows that record without details. To soften these, you need to bounce light into them. You can do this several ways. One simple option is placing white cardboard “reflectors” around the object, just outside the picture frame. Or you can crank up the “ambient” light level by adding a second light bounced off of an umbrella aimed at the subject. Move the second light until you can clearly see the circle of light against the background. Move it until the background quite a bit darker than the circle of light.

Other methods of creating a circle of light are more complex. They require a lot of adjusting and fussing but produce lovely results. One of these more tedious methods requires using a large panel of translucent white acrylic or a “shooting” table with an acrylic surface. Support the panel about 30 inches or so above the floor (with a shooting table, the surface is already at this height). Next, place your work in the center of the panel or table. Place the spotlight or “snoot” light under the table. Warning: Never place tungsten lights directly on the floor—they get very hot. The safest way to use one of these lights is to attach it to light stand legs or a small tripod. Make sure that the light (or the end of the snoot) is as far from the acrylic as possible. Turn the light off often to give it—and the panel—a chance to cool off.

Adjust the diameter of the circle by moving the light up and down. Since this is an under light, it creates a circle of light without illuminating the work—you’ll still need to light the work from above. The trick then is to set up this light or lights so that the work is well-lit but the circle of light is not washed out.

Another, perhaps simpler way to create a circle of light is to place your work on a dark, shiny surface. For the photo at ____, I used a piece of ¼-inch-thick black acrylic as my background. I set the acrylic background on a table and inclined it toward the camera at a slight angle. I used a spotlight, but a snoot on the reflector housing would have worked just as well. I pointed the light toward the ceiling so the circle of light would be reflected on the acrylic panel. I placed the necklace on the acrylic and focused the camera on it. Then I turned on the spotlight and turned off the room lights. Looking through the viewfinder, I watched the position of the reflected circle of light on the acrylic surface. I moved the light until the light projected on the ceiling was just over the necklace. Then, while looking through the camera viewfinder, I moved the camera until I was sure that the reflection of the circle of light on the ceiling surrounded the area I wanted illuminated.

Notice that in the photo I positioned the light so that only a section of the necklace was lit. I did this by changing the height of the light stand. Raising the light toward the ceiling made the circle smaller. On the other hand, moving the light away from the ceiling made the circle bigger (completely surrounding the piece with light). For this piece I felt the smaller circle was more dramatic and worked best.

Because this light is bounced off a smooth white surface, it is very soft and will work well with both matte surfaces and most glossy surfaces. Polished or mirrored surfaces with still show glare, but otherwise most glazed or shiny metals will look great.

If you are lighting a piece the way I lit the necklace, you need to pay attention to the difference in the intensity within and outside of the circle of light. If the difference is more than two stops, the area outside the circle of light will be too dark. As with the spotlight, you can increase the ambient light level to lighten the “uncircled” areas.