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40 Questions Blog Series: Question 1&2 – Developing your Booth Display Style

To kick off the Blog Series called 40 Questions, the first several questions will cover the area of boothdesign. Booth design covers style, function, cover/protection, andso on. The following questions are all about finding your ownpersonal style which should flow into branding your art/craftbusiness. Do follow along, using a piece of paper or journal andwriting down the questions and answer them as honestly as you cantaking your time when answering them.

Question 1: Picture yourself with a limitless amount of funds to spend however you want.Using that money describe how your ideal booth would look like?Think about color, texture, fixtures, what you have seen atshows that stood out, whatever...

Question 2: Because we all budget our money, are there still ways you can make your dream booth become areality?

I first did this exercise when I worked for Starbucks. I was goingthrough a management program and in efforts to attract more peopleinto the store we were asked how would your ideal store look. Withworking with others in this exercise ideas ranged from having agarden like courtyard cafe seating, aesthetic aquariums, messageboards to promote a local dating service, live entertainment areas,and funky furniture. I still use this exercise and have applied itin designing my own booth display. My current booth design beganwhen I looked at my logo, a dew kissed green leaf with a light bluebackground – tranquil colors. The name of my craft business is Bythe Bay Botanicals and focuses around products that promotetranquility. Staying with this theme it was clear the design neededto be natural, showing off my craft, but still be true to theme. Ishopped for natural pine shelving displays and incorporated two tables, whichI already had. I bought white table coverings that went to theground and a short table covering of ocean blue as well as covered the pine shelves with patio furniture fabric that matched my theme colors. With the additionof some silk flowered vines and lighting I created a display thatmatched my products. This new display not only allowed customers to shop freely and allow more room display my craft, people remembered my business name better and could easily find me at shows at it stood out from the crowd - all that was accomplished through a little bit of change into my booth display.

As you look at your current display you may find you are happy withits design, but need to tweak it a little. Working with dimension, having your work visible at different eye levels can be a great solution. It is a great remedy if you find customersfeeling cramped in your booth. Shelving or stacked crates are just two ideas that can createdimension and doesn't have to be expensive. Think about color –customers are attracted to color and if every booth is acookie-cutter white booth with white table covering (one after another)you will loose to those that embrace color.You want to create an identity that is all your own. I have seensome great ideas where one used tulle in 1-2 colors wrapped about thepoles of their canopy or incorporated astro turf into their displayto sell garden art.

My final thoughts. In designing your booth, it is important to havea booth that regular customers will recognize, but at the same timecreates a buzz that your items are fresh and that you do offer newart/craft work at each show or it varies from season to season. Think back to past shows and booths you have seen. Are there booths that seems stale because it doesn't change.Don't you get the impression that they sell the same thing over andover, year after year because their booth display is the same year after year? Don't be the owner of the boring booth! The next question in this series divesinto developing a booth theme as well as how to find booth displayfurniture and what kind is ideal for each medium. Stay tuned...