CraftsFor the Home

On craft show displays and why mine’s so easy

Gangbusters Cards

I have a little jewelry business. I hoard old comic books, ancient magazines and busted up games that no one wants anymore, take all the coolest parts, and make it into jewelry. It’s a fun hobby, it salvages things that I love a whole lot and gives them a future they wouldn’t otherwise have, and it makes me a little bit of cash on the side. I call it Gangbusters.

Gangbusters just got a little branding redesign. I gave it a new logotype and new signage and stuff, but I kept my existing display—the only display I’ve ever used at a craft show, because I love it so. And for the first time outside hushed conversations between vendors, I’m about to reveal what my display is and how I put it together. Because it’s really simple. And very effective.

This is the display I set up at my last big show, shortly before Christmas (and long before I finally figured out my graphics):

And this is my current display at the Beehive here in Atlanta, where I’m phasing out the old logo and phasing in the new look:

Gangbusters display at the Beehive, Atlanta, GA

As you can see, it’s just a miniature version of my craft show display, which you may be interested to know folds right down flat and weighs, oh, maybe five pounds tops. What is it, you ask? No, it’s not some crazy custom whatsit that I paid a million dollars for. It’s just a set of closet organizers that I picked up for $10 at a garage sale and a bunch of neodymium magnets.

DisplayPieces

I designed a hang-card to be the size of a business card, had the business cards printed very inexpensively (having worked with a number of printers professionally, I recommend PrintPlace: their system is just as easy as VistaPrint, the final price ends up being comparable, and the print qualify and paper stock are both nicer), punched holes in them, and attached each pendant to a card with a twist tie. That’s it. It took some fiddling to get my display to where it is, but it really couldn’t be simpler and although it’s continually evolving, I definitely couldn’t be happier with it. I recommend it to anyone with a ton of different designs to display all at once. (That is, unless your product is geared toward kids, because strong magnets within reach of a child are dangerous.)

Just for the fun of it, I photographed one of my pendants on its little journey from being a comic book to being on the display. You can see it live its whole life!

Heaven

Heaven

So that’s that. Uncomplicating my display has been a big deal, because I hate to waste my early-morning energy setting up at shows. I want to throw my stuff in the car, haul it inside in two or three trips, and be ready to sell inside of an hour, including tent setup when necessary. I’m not one of the vendors that asks if we can start setting up before 7:00 for a 10 a.m. show.Better I should roll up at 9:30 and still be straightening up when the customers start to arrive. They’ll like me better if I’m well-rested.

Kristina Ackerman

Kristina Ackerman is a busy freelance web designer, living and DIYing with her fella and their little fella in a cute old house in Atlanta, GA, USA.

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