4 Expert tips to get selected for a design trade or craft fair

Are you struggling to get selected for a design trade or craft fair? Are you looking to apply for a juried selling event for your creative products? Do you want to know what it takes to get through the selection process? Let me help you!

Throughout my career I have been involved in the selection of various design and craft fairs. From the famous Chelsea Crafts Fair to One Year In at New Designers, and supported many new designers for group stands at international and UK trade fairs including Top Drawer, International Contemporary Furniture Fair in Milan and others.

I have worked very closely with many of the organisers, and have got some real life insight that might help you too.

Here are my 4 top tips to get selected for a design trade show or craft fair …

Tip 1: Read the craft fair application guidelines

This might sound obvious but many people manage to overlook this simple step!

Check exactly what the organisers are looking for in terms of products, type of companies etc.

Most craft fair applications are exactly the same: Contact information, some background/CV or artist statement, and images or publicity material.

• Make sure that you fill in all the questions and sign and date the application form (a common mistake!)
• If the organisers ask for 5 images, don’t send 10 JPEG’s or a link to your website. Send 5 images!
• Check exactly how they want you to send your information and in what format.

Popular show organisers often get 100’s of applications, so they will not take the extra time to look for what they need because you couldn’t be bothered.  Make their life easy!

Tip 2: Show your work off with your best pictures

Your application will be much more likely to succeed if you provide professional pictures that show your work in the best possible way.

Many selling events will select mostly on the images provided and less on the written information or your reputation or education.

It used to be fine to provide some ‘quick images taken on your phone’. But these days most of the craft fairs and design shows are very competitive to get in! And often the images you submit for the show will be used in promotions, the press and for the exhibition catalogue. Your images need to be of a professional standard.

They need to show what your work is like through a variety of detailed and overall image shots and a through a variety of products. Look at the selection of your images and see if this is a good representation of what you do.

If you didn’t know your work, would you get a good idea of what it looked like through your images?

• Make sure that the selected images together form a consistent overview of what you do, but that there is some variety in what you offer.
• Your pictures need to represent what you want to show or sell at the fair. 
• Your photos must be high quality, and ideally taken by a professional photographer.
• Make sure you show off your skills and the quality of your products with detailed shots. Show your exquisite craft skills by showing detailed images of your stitches or soldering. Show the thickness of your paint or the transparency of your glass. The softness of your mohair scarf or the thinness of your thrown pot.
• You can use highly styled images within a context or lifestyle setting (but make sure that it is easy to spot what and where your product is!), or you can provide an image with a white background. It really helps if all your images have got a similar background (ideally just plain white) so that they can later be used for PR purposes.
• You can show single products or create a collection. The latter will enable you to show more products within your limited allocation.
• Use natural indirect light. An overcast day is actually a good to photograph your work, but do it next to the window. Avoid harsh shadows.
• Use props such as flowers to bring your creative products alive. And also use props cleverly to show the actual size of your products and to add some connection to your ideal clients. But always make sure that your work plays the main role in your images!
• Using models can be really great, but if not done well than it will look very amateurish.
• Show your packaging or labels if relevant. Or showing an image of a previous craft fair or trade show stand can work well too.

Great images will not only get you selected for shows, but will also help you get into the press associated with the fair!

Professional photographs really are an investment and not a cost for your business.

Even if you have been selected before, or are a bit of an established name, make sure that you use your best images.  Even high profile creatives will not be selected if their images are not up to the right standard. I have seen it happen on many selection panels myself.

PRO TIP: Research how other designers and crafts people take images, through researching online portfolios or directories, or check out the website of the shows you are applying for.  A great place to start your research is the Crafts Council Directory of Makers, or look for popular Instagram or Pinterest accounts by fellow creatives.

Label your images with your (business) name and short description e.g. John Smith blue vase, John Smith grey pot (instead of JPEG 1, JPEG2, …) .  This will help the organisers when sorting out images with the selection, and also later when looking for press images.

Make sure that you update your website or other online portfolios with your new images too.  Firstly, that will keep them updated too, and secondly, very often smaller fairs will check you out a bit more and will look at your website too.  If your work has dramatically changed from the images on your site, or it looks like you can’t be bothered to keep your promotional information up to date, then they will be less likely to select you.

If you want to learn how to create great pictures of your crafts & jewellery read this blog post.

Tip 3: Return your craft fair application on time

Again this might sound really obvious, but you will be surprised how many fair applications arrive late.

Check if there is a deadline for the shows that you are interested in. Many of the popular Christmas shows have deadlines in March or April, so make sure that you are on time.

Most popular craft fairs have got deadlines and only do one selection (often with external panelists). So if you send in your application too late, then you will be … too late!

Don’t leave it until the last moment as it often takes time to get the right images and texts together.

Tip 4: Get feedback

You then get the anticipated email or letter from the organisers and you didn’t get selected for a design trade or craft fair. What now?

If you have been rejected, take a moment to check what went ‘wrong’ and what you could do better next time.  Check if you can find out in the rejection letter or on the website how many people applied and how many got selected to give you an idea of your chances.

The most common reason that fair organisations reject you will be because they had too many applications and or your products didn’t fit in with their show (don’t apply for a contemporary show if you work is traditional) or because your images were not good or clear enough in explaining what you do.

Many organisers really don’t mind if you contact them in a friendly manner (!) to ask for some feedback about your application. Some courtesy can go a long way here!

Sometimes they are unable to do so, or they might need to check specific notes about your application.

Alternatively ask them for some tips on how to improve your chances next time.

But above all … stay friendly and professional and they will often try to help.

And you never know … if you give the right professional impression and show that you really want to be part of their show then they might change their mind.  Especially if you are on a ‘waiting list’ they might check you out and if you are known to the organisers then you might be one of the first to be allocated a place.  I have seen this happen more than once.

Good luck!

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