Preparing My Collections for a Trade Show

Now that the trade show is behind me, I have had time to reflect on the preparation to present my collections in person, it involved far more than gathering fabric and wallpaper samples. It required me to think carefully about what I wanted interior design professionals to understand about my work—and how every part of the display could help communicate that story.

I create original fabric and wallpaper collections for my shop, but custom design is also an important part of my studio. I work directly with homeowners and interior design professionals to develop patterns around a particular story, setting, palette, or project need. As I planned for the show, I knew that this personal, collaborative service needed to be visible. It could not feel like an afterthought.

The preparation became an exercise in editing, storytelling, organization, and learning how to translate an online brand into a physical experience.

Step One: Deciding What I Wanted to Communicate

I wanted visitors to understand that my work begins with more than a decorative motif. A design may grow from one of my photographs, a cyanotype, an architectural detail, a meaningful place, or a client's personal history. The finished fabric or wallpaper carries that source forward into the home.

My goal was to suggest the atmosphere of a thoughtfully collected home rather than create a display that felt overly commercial. I brought a small lamp, a doily that was my grandmothers, a tray to display some custom fabrics and a small basket to display my small give away. 

Step Two: Selecting Custom Projects That Tell a Story

One of the most important decisions was choosing custom projects that would make the service understandable.

Among the work I selected was a design created for a homeowner who wanted her New Orleans heritage reflected in her interior. I also included designs created in response to requests from interior design professionals.

Those collaborations often begin with a designer who has a clear vision but cannot find a fabric or wallpaper with the right motif, scale, palette, or character. My role is to understand the larger direction of the project and create the textile element that helps complete it.

Together, these examples showed the two sides of my custom work: translating a homeowner's personal story and supporting an interior designer's professional vision.

Step Three: Showing the Patterns at a Meaningful Scale

A small swatch can introduce a color or motif, but it cannot always reveal the movement of an entire repeat. For the show, I wanted designers to step back and see how the patterns work across a larger surface. I brought along a hanging rack for the large flags to invite the visitor to look and browse.

Large fabric lengths and wallpaper samples made it easier to imagine a design across a wall, window, chair, pillow, or bed. 

This part of the preparation required careful editing. Bringing every design would have been tempting, but too many choices could have distracted from the larger story. I selected pieces that represented my artistic point of view while also demonstrating the range of applications and collaborative possibilities I offer.

Step Four: Creating a Brochure to Continue the Conversation

Trade-show conversations are often brief. Designers have many vendors to visit, and even an interested visitor may not have time for an extended discussion. I wanted to provide something that could continue the conversation after the show, so I created a bifold brochure devoted to my custom-design service.

The brochure introduced my process, included examples of completed custom work, and explained how I collaborate with homeowners and interior design professionals. Most importantly, it helped a reader imagine what we might create together.

Step Five: Making a Giveaway That Felt Connected to My Work

I wanted to offer visitors a small gift - I created bookmarks featuring one of my cyanotypes and finished them with tassels made from scraps of my own fabrics.

Cyanotype is part of my artistic practice and one of the ways I explore botanical shapes, silhouettes, and the beauty of deep blue. The fabric tassels added another layer of my work to the piece. Scraps that might otherwise have been set aside became a useful and colorful detail, and the variation among the fabrics gave each bookmark its own personality.

Step Six: Gathering Information To Follow Up

That meant making it easy for interested designers to request samples, take information about my custom services, and allow me to reconnect with them.

I prepared a register on a clip board so that every sample that left my table would have a record of what designs were given and the designer's name and email contact. This makes it easy for me to follow up and continue to keep in touch. 

The trade show was a wonderful experience where I learned a ton! Met other vendors and made some very good business connections with several small business that will add to my product line...More on that soon!

In the next post, I will share how visitors responded, why the handmade bookmarks became such a hit, and what the experience taught me about custom design, preparation, and building new professional relationships.

Any designs in my shop can be customized - Fabric can be ordered on wallpaper substrate and wallpaper can be ordered on fabric. Color customization is also available. That is the best part of a small business - my passion is to serve my customer, providing a design that is perfect for the space.