by Carolyn Edlund
A recent trip to a Florida arts festival revealed artists using signage in different ways.
Have you ever had trouble standing out in a crowded show? Using signs in your booth is a great way to grab attention and make a statement. Signage can be used in a variety of ways to help share your work and increase customer engagement and sales.
Make your work visible
Jewelry is too small to make impact at any distance, so using blown-up images of your work can reach across the crowd and pull in people who never would have seen you otherwise. Leon and Eva Oziel hang multiple large images of their collection in the back of their booth. They move the signs depending on booth setup. Placing these images on the side walls near the aisle can also often catch the eye of attendees as they walk toward the booth.
Share your story
Stacy and Bill McLauchlan use a complex process in their 2D art that starts out with batiks and involves digital technology on various substrates. Most people have no idea about their medium. The signage they use starts the conversation. How did they develop their technique? What makes it so special? Stacy mentions that the sign intrigues shoppers, who stop to learn more and then become collectors.
Show your process
Glassblower Henry C. Duquette could demonstrate in person or use a video to show how he creates each piece, but signage on the back of his booth wall illustrates his studio process very well. He is also easily recognized as the artist, and the expert glassblower!
Highlight your selling points
Handcrafted? Check. Made in USA? Check. Repurposed and Recycled? Check. These are all buzzwords that connect with what many people care about. And with the crowd pouring into her booth, it appears that artist Mariangela Marshall has used her sign quite effectively.
Have you used booth signage in these or other ways? How well did it work for you?
Great ideas how to use signage for shows. I like the idea of telling your story was just reading up on Branding last night so seeing this again today hits home for me & gives me some ideas. Thank-you!
Yes, I used signage in my booth in March…in 3 places, in large letters (Hand-Drawn Pet Portraits) and yet most people came into my booth and thought I had photographed the animals, some asking me if I could do it right away…ugh! So clearly that did not work. But I like the idea of the glassblower…maybe I’ll try some large photos of me drawing to help get the message across!!!
I have some ideas off the top of my head for you~
Yeah most people just don’t pay attention to what we’re offering! Perhaps you could take a big image of a cool vintage style hand, and then have the text written inside the hand image Hand-Drawn Pet Portraits Here!
Also maybe a couple of 5 x 7 hung up-done portraits with a actual photo tucked in one corner of the frame, so people could see that a photograph was used to draw the portraits. I know it’s frustrating at times but using images helps relay a message as people don’t slow down enough to read things, so have to spell it out for them 🙂
Kathryn, I think your idea of showing the process is wonderful. Pet portraits are a very personal thing, and seeing the steps of the commission should give people an idea of the complexity and time involved – it will add value to your work, justifying any hesitation they may have had about price.
This type of signage also tends to keep people in your booth as they learn more, and it’s never a bad thing to have an existing crowd!