Craft Show Booth

© by Rena Klingenberg; all rights reserved

A craft show booth that's professional, artistic and memorable will stand out at crowded venues.

A professional, pulled-together look makes
Patty Lakinsmith's craft show booth stand out beautifully.

Try these tips for pulling together your own outstanding booth display - without spending a lot of money.

For years my jewelry booth was cobbled together from an ever-changing variety of complicated elements that really didn't serve my needs.

Finally I sat down and made a list of what I need from my display setup.

I came up with a list of 10 important points - such as the facts that I need my displays to double as storage for my inventory between shows, and that I need a system I can easily handle alone when I do solo shows.

Once I'd listed all of my requirements, it was much easier for me to devise display elements that fit my needs perfectly.

When you've brainstormed what you need from your booth setup, you'll be able to pull together the display of your dreams!

Lighting is one of the most important elements of your display setup.

Don't avoid bringing your own lights because they sound like a pain. They can actually be quite easy and affordable to include in your display setup.

And lighting makes a world of difference in the effectiveness of your craft show booth!

If people can't see your work clearly and in true colors, they won't buy it. Often they won't even glance at your booth in passing if it isn't well lit.

When I added lights to my display, my sales increased dramatically.

There's a huge variety of options for booth lighting. You can get lights that hang, lights that clip onto things, cool tabletop lamps - even battery powered or solar lighting for shows with no access to electricity.

Whatever type of illumination you choose, be sure it casts natural-colored light onto your items so they're accurately represented.

A lovely professional touch is to have a design theme, color, and logo running throughout every aspect of your business - from your booth to your packaging.

Your business cards, product tags, boxes, pouches, bags, table coverings, booth signs, website, etc. all should carry out this look.

This distinctive visual impression creates your recognizable "brand".

See more about developing your brand / visual identity in your packaging.

A banner is an important tool in promoting and branding your business:

A lovely custom banner lends a professional air to
Cassie Gray's Clementine Jewelry booth.

It also makes it easier for your established customers find you at a show, and helps new customers understand right away exactly what you create and sell.

You can get custom vinyl banners very cheaply online to attract attention and give your booth a really professional look.

If your booth is outdoors in a tent or canopy, you can mount your banner just above your booth's "front doorway" (the best choice), or up high on the back wall.

At an indoor show, you can hang it across the front of your tablecloth or up high on your back wall.

See how a digital photo frame can enhance your display.

You can use a digital frame to run an ongoing slideshow of:

• your work


• your raw materials


• your previous shows and events


• you creating your art in your studio


• answers to frequently asked questions about your work.

People naturally gravitate to images that move and change, and they become mesmerized watching them. Your digital photo frame slideshow can draw people in while educating them about your work.

Sometimes - especially at indoor venues - your craft show booth space winds up being smaller than the standard 10' x 10' size. Or it's a strange shape that's hard to use fully.

So having some sort of vertical booth display lets you show more of your items no matter how small or oddly-shaped your allotted space is:

It's always a good idea to have a way of going up,
especially when you have a small booth space.

Vertical displays also put your work right up at your customers' eye level - making it easier for them to see and buy it.

You don't have to buy professional display units to show your work to its best advantage.

Instead, with a bit of time and creativity you can source and repurpose all kinds of discarded odds and ends to pull together a really clever craft show booth display - without spending any money.

Remember you can repaint or refinish your upcycled odds and ends to give them a fresh, artistic look - and to create a unified color scheme if you like.

Your resulting one-of-a-kind booth will make a fresh, memorable impression on your customers.