Hello everyone,
I've been fine tuning my booth shots each year. I've narrowed down to these 3 to decide which one to use for all my juried applications for 2020. May I get feedback on which of the 3 pics you like the best, especially from anyone who is or has been on the jury committee.
Unfortunately I cannot retake pics until summer and by then it will be too late for application deadlines. I live in MT and snow is on the ground until late June :-(
Thank you so much for your help.
Chau
Replies
3 - depth of color adds so much interest - everything looks neat and organized.
I like image #3 the best. I find the distortion of #1 distracting. Sorry Larry. Looking at your profile, your booth fits the shows you are doing. However, if you want to get into better shows, you will have to upgrade your booth. Look around at other jewelers booths to get some ideas. Based on what you have, you could rearrange your display to look more professional. It wouldn't take much. I, also, don't like the open back.
In your picture, are you the woman or the man? Logic tells me you are the woman. You can't tell that in your picture. The guy is in the center of the shot and out front. You seem to be off to the side and back. Retake your artist image without the guy and with you front and center. It sends the message that you are the artist.
Kudos to you for putting your display inside your booth instead of right up to the front, where your customers will be blocking traffic flow.
I'd like to suggest that you apply to the Ann Arbor Guild show. It's one of the four shows during the Ann Arbor torture fest. We are trying to upgrade the quality of our show. Your work is pretty creative. Ask to be next to me on Main Street. That's the booth on my left if you are in the street facing the front of the booth. For those of you who are weirding out from what I just said, I need a buffer between me and the two booths next to me who are a couple of unfriendly, arrogant twenty somethings. Your work fits in well with our customers on Main Street.
Last but not least, I wonder if you have trouble with theft? You pieces are out there for the picking. You need to have a system where you can watch everyone and keep anyone from getting into your back area where you keep your money, credit cards, etc.
Dear Barry,
Thank you for taking the time to look at my booth pics. I need all the help and input I can get :-)
I am the woman in the pic. Usually I am the photographer for all our family pics so of course not many pics have me in it. I just replaced my artist pic per your suggestion with a more recent and better image :-)
I redid my booth displays in 2019 to make it look more professional in the hope of simplifying my setup time and without adding more weight and huge cost. I had 7' ProPanels which I have used before and they did make my booth look professional. The downside is I'm only 5ft tall and unless my husband or daughter helps me to setup, it takes forever for me to do them by myself. I don't always have their help especially for out of town shows. Right now I can't afford professional glass display cases (plus the weight), and I prefer my viewers to be able to touch my jewelry. I find most people are reluctant to ask to see the jewelry if they are inside a case.
Thank you for suggesting the Ann Arbor Guild Show. I'll look it up. I'd love to try out some shows in the northeast of our country. But the cost and logistic of getting there, bringing all my stuff and lodging expenses, etc. have prevented me from even considering. I have ventured as far as Breckendridge and Estes Park in Colorado for shows and basically broke even at these shows so...
It's awesome to hear that you think my work would fit in well at your Ann Arbor Guild Show. I'll keep your suggestions in mind; just have to work out the cost and make new friends so I can bunk with them.
Thank goodness I've been lucky to not have issues with theft. I know it can easily happen with my jewelry being out and easy for pickup. I'm super outgoing and friendly so I always try to say hi & engage with every person who comes in my booth. I think that helps because people know I'm looking at them. And I try my best to keep an eye on all my displays (I know this is not foolproof). Sometimes I have a friend who hangs out with me to help but usually I'm by myself during sale hrs. Yes, it's a dilemma but people seems to be more willing to buy if they can easily touch and look at my pieces. I did have some higher priced items inside a glass cube but never sold any of them. People seems to think if it's in a case then they can't afford it. The only time I have my back tent opens is when it's super hot and usually it's only opened a little for cross ventilation. As for my $ and such, no worries, they are in a small purse that I wear across my body at all times.
For 2020, I have decided to stay closer to home and do less shows. I plan to devote more hrs on my new website to cultivate more followers and buyers (check it out at snoworchiddesigns.com and let me know what you think; I'm still working on adding more products to it). I did 12 shows in 2019, about the same as in 2018 and the same shows. Unfortunately, 60% of them didn't turn out to be profitable. I sold about half the amount I had sold in 2018. Hopefully this is not a trend and it was quite discouraging. I wonder if other artists had the same experience with their 2019.
I posted my answer on the booth shot before I saw Larry's fix of booth shot #1. I have problems with all three, but, after Larry fixed #1, I would go with that one. The Guild show is the Summer Show. I would avoid State Street like the plague. It used to be great. I did it for years and wouldn't go near it now. You probably wouldn't get into the Original and I have never done South U. What you need are shows that have a lot of traffic. Since your work is low end, you need a lot of sales. You only get that with a huge crowd. The summer show has the most traffic. Based on your comments, the Ann Arbor shows are expensive. They are also tiring, 11 hour days. It could be worth the trouble and expense. It's a loyal crowd. Once you develop a clientele, people come back every year and buy something. It's the reason why I keep doing it.
Don't let my comments go to your head. Getting into an Ann Arbor show is not as hard as it once was. In fact, there's some God awful crap there. A lot of people can't take the heat, the long hours, the Ann Arbor attitude and the lack of sales at the high end. However, if you have the right stuff, you can make some money. If you do a search there are plenty of old reviews of Ann Arbor. Read my old ones and Nels old ones. Most people have a love-hate relationship with AA.
Thank you Barry, very much appreciated.
This is a little better.
Larry Berman
Thank you Larry.
It's a lot better. That's the one I would go with. Larry helped me straighten my booth shot out, also. It helped me get into a couple shows that I got into last year.
So Barry, you are voting for #1 and not #3?
Oh by the way, which Ann Arbor show are your recommending for me:
1) Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair
2) Ann Arbor's South University Art Fair
3) Ann Arbor State Street Art Fair
OR 4) Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, the Original
Love your raku pieces! I used to do pottery a long time ago before jewelry. I would be honored to have my booth near yours if we ever find ourselves at the same show.
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