Designer Showcases

Part of my preparations for each CHA show involves putting together a Designer Showcase. I've written about these preparations on previous occasions but you might be wondering exactly what a Designer Showcase is.

Well, it's an event where CHA Designers showcase their services and design skills to potential clients in a table top format. Essentially it's a room full of some of the most amazing three-dimensional craft portfolios from some incredibly talented designers.

Well that might explain what a Showcase is but the next question is, what do you include in a showcase?

Well, that's up to the individual designer. There are no rules and what works for one designer doesn't suit another. For me, I'm still formulating my idea of what a good showcase for me is.

I laugh when I think back to my first showcase which had SO MUCH going on in it that it looked more like a craft stall than a Designer Showcase and all that was missing was price tags! It was still successful but I learned that sometimes less is more!

Each of my successive Showcases has improved and for my last one, I created a colour theme. It really helped me decide what to take and what to leave at home. I chose red and white because it was just before Valentine's Day and it has been my most successful showcase to date.

For the upcoming Summer CHA show, I've designed my Showcase around a theme again. But this time I've chosen a strict colour palette as well as a theme. The theme pulls a Showcase together. It's not essential, but for me it keeps me on track and makes the Showcase look cohesive.

I had a trial set up last night to see how it's all coming together. Here's a little peek.

As you can see, it's black.... with a little bit of white.... and a touch of pink. What you can't see is that it's themed as a DIY wedding, with lots of beautiful bridal paraphernalia at the other end of the table. Most of that is new so for the time being it's not on show.

It's also a mix of old and new projects... some papercrafting, some home decor projects and some jewellery. My local beading shop is loving me - I've visited them almost every day this week in the quest to find just the right beads to finish the new projects. I'd love to earn Frequent Visitor points to go with the loyalty points I've earned this week!
 
Doing a trial set up also gives me the opportunity to photograph it so that I have a plan to work to when the time comes to do the real set up. And of course, you can see whether or not it works. I have to admit that I wasn't sure that a black backdrop and a black cloth were a good idea as black is notorious for sapping the life out of everything. It might look a bit dark in the photo (which was taken at night in poor lighting), but in daylight everything is popping against the dark background.

There are still a couple of gaps to fill but soon my Showcase will be ready to pack up for the trip to Chicago. So right now, it's back to the work table to complete another project or two.

'Til next time.....

If you can't get enough of My Tutorials and you want even more inspiration, click here to find my books and printable pdfs