Sunday 13 December 2009

Maker status


This display of beautiful woods by my friend Chris Burgess got me thinking about presentation. The way our work is displayed is so important. Sales depend on it. The customer must feel comfortable that he or she is buying into something well made and reliable. Some galleries give out a sheet of information about the maker with each purchase. Sometimes there is information about the maker displayed next to their work.
A carefully thought out display, like the one above gives the customer confidence that they are buying something sound. While a display that looks as if it has been thrown together with no prices and no information gives the customer no confidence and however desirable the product they probably will not risk buying from that person. I think there is a right balance. For example the maker can try too hard and I don't like the enormous dangling tags from work often much bigger than the work itself which look as if the maker is desperately trying to draw attention to his or herself. But better that than torn scraps of paper with scant information on them.
Some work is much easier to display than others. I find my work which is so varied from buttons to dolls to jewellery and mostly small pieces very difficult to display well. Sometimes I am pleased with how it looks but more often I am frustrated that it could look so much better.
Do you find presentation easy or difficult? Are there any rules to help us? I want to know what you think.
Posted by Picasa

No comments: