Craft Shows: Designing a Display

One of the hardest parts of the craft show business is displaying your wares. After all your hard work in creating your product, whatever it may be, you must now decide on the best way to create an appealing shop. For those who’ve never worked in the retail merchandising world, it’s a full time job to keep store displays beautiful and shoppable. But creating your display can be a chance to finalize your vision of what your business will be. To help you with the task, I’ve assembled a host of ideas and tips!

For Tips:

Check out this fabulous blog post over at the Etsy blog. The pictures demonstrate exactly what you want in a display, everything from clean lines to quirky, with links to items that might help you build a similar display.

For a more technical look at building your display, check out the detailed tips compiled by the Retail Packaging blog. This is a must read for crafters serious about building a professional display. Broken down into 5 essential elements, the article includes tips even seasoned crafters learn from.

Another good list of tips with pictures is Indie Fixx’s 14 Display Do’s. Use this one as a quick reference or a checklist after you’ve compiled your design to make sure it meets all the criteria.

The advice and actual day of checklist compiled by Becca of Making Room in her tips and tricks post are perfect prep read. Believe me, you’ll need more small things–a calculator, string, scissors, paper clips–than you think to make your booth work.

And over at Meylah, you can learn all about how to set up a craft booth “customers can’t resist.” My favorite part is the tips on how to keep your display cheap, something to keep in mind if you’re hoping to make money selling your wares.

For Ideas:

The visual nature of Pinterest makes it perfect for picking up display ideas. Check out this board and this one to get started. And use Pinterest features wisely to find more. Once you’ve found a pin you like, scroll down and check out the pins by others who liked that image too.

And don’t forget about Flickr. There are several groups on the site that specialize in images of craft show displays. Show Me Your Booths is a great place to start.

And lastly, don’t forget to check out store displays and magazine photoshoots for more inspiration. Learn from the experts of merchandising and display by scouring shops that sell items similar in nature to yours. And check out craft, fashion, and home décor magazines for images to inspire you or provide a possible theme to your work. Both places are also great at demonstrating the type of balance you need to make a display look clean and inviting.