SF Renegade Craft Fair July 2012 (Part 3)

In addition to my research on craft show booths, I took a couple pictures of booths I simply admired.

I loved Mahar Craft's colorful and simple booth. He let his art speak for itself.

The booth for Eri Sugimoto's work was beautiful. The displays and complementary found objects  and artwork really turned this into more of a little store than just a table at a craft fair.

Cutesy But Not Cutesy was another booth that I thought smartly let its goods sell themselves.

And Fabric Horse just looked so professional to me.

Again I'll say, there were so many other great booths at the fair this time around, these are just a sample of the ones that stood out to me :)

SF Renegade Craft Fair July 2012 (Part 2)

Welcome to Part 2 of my tour through the Renegade Craft Fair. As I noted in Part 1, my comments on each of the booths is fairly critical because I'm using this as a learning experience. I have nothing but respect for people who put their work out there for the world to judge.

Back to the booths...

Lady Alamo made good use of their booth space and did a wonderful job displaying their bags. I also like the name of their company posted on the table skirts instead of the banners. However, if someone were to stand in front of the table, you wouldn't see the signs--something to think about.

Even though The Bocket Store was a pottery booth, they made good use of a quilted banner.

I loved the Monstertracity booth set-up idea, although the execution was pretty rough. Anyone taller than 5' 7" (as I am) had to bend over to communicate with the lady running the booth. And she could see only one or two people at a time through the little window. Cute, but not a very efficient layout.

I think Horse and Anchor was a shared booth, but it was so cluttered I didn't bother to find out. Also, the tent felt claustrophobic with the event already being held inside.

I feel like people will wade through clutter if there's a deal to be had, but if you're charging art fair prices for screen-printed t-shirts, it's just not worth the headache.

Made By Michelle Brusegaard figured out a good setup. It wasn't fancy, but they successfully displayed samples of their wares on lines around the table and kept all the stock folded up on the tables.

And finally, Petit Collage had the great idea of creating an attention-getter for kids. A little stand-up photo opp that the little ones can stick their faces through. And now parents have the Petit Collage name on that cute photo they post on Facebook.

Of course, these were a fraction of the booths at the Renegade Craft Fair, but they were the ones I learned the most from.

In Part 3, I'll post the pictures of the booths I just though were pretty.

SF Renegade Craft Fair July 2012 (Part 1)

I'm gearing up to share a booth with my friend Dana for the Pacifica Fog Fest. So I decided to do some recon at the Renegade craft fair. Not only did I get some great photos, but I learned a few lessons about what to do and what NOT to do with our booth if Dana and I get accepted to Fog Fest.

(Side note: my comments on each of these booths gets a little critical because I'm using this as a learning experience. I have nothing but respect for people who put their work out there for the world to judge.)

Willow Ship had a great booth with lovely products and the woman was nice enough. However, her husband or boyfriend was sitting behind the tables looking bored. When I walked up I felt like I was intruding, not something you want your customers to feel.

The Love Stitch was a simple and well put together booth, but the woman running it was not friendly at all. She didn't smile at anyone who walked up, and she really didn't like me taking photos of her booth.

A couple of great take-aways from this booth: she used big clear vases full of balls of yarn to decorate her table, and she had a mirror for people to use when they were trying on hats and headbands. I think Dana and I should have a couple of mirrors.

I also learned--here and at a couple other booths--that I'm underpricing my hats. The Love Stitch was charging $40 for basic, acrylic fiber beanies. They were well made, but $40 seemed like a lot to me.

Mama's Little Babies had so much great stuff and the layout was great, but there was one major drawback: not one price tag in the whole booth. And when I asked the lady running the booth the price of a pair of earrings, her response was "I don't know, everything is priced differently. Let me check my price sheet. [checks her sheet] Prices range from $25 to $40." She never gave me a direct answer and I left wondering if she expected me to name a price and haggle with her. No thanks.

Usagi Team and Tina Produce shared a booth, and while the use of space made sense the booth design wasn't cohesive. Which I guess is fine, but I'd rather Dana and I had a more "partnered" look to our booth.

Anna Todaro worked on a painting in her art booth while the fair was going on. I think this was a good attention-getter, but it would have worked better if she had someone helping her with the booth. As it was, no one wanted to interrupt her painting to make purchases. Maybe she made some online sales later.

The Souldier booth from Chicago was utilitarian, while the goods did the selling: Belts, headbands and guitar straps made from recycled seat belts. I only made a couple purchases that day, and my belt from Souldier was one of them. One downfall: no mirror. Although the proprietor knew that was an issue, but he said it was difficult to travel from Chicago with fragile objects.


To Be Continued in Part 2...