Single Weird Maker looking for neat vending display ideas!
Bonus points if they fold up with little break down effort.
What do you use? How do you get people’s attention? Have you made your own? Or did you buy it?
I’m asking because I’ve done the gridwall thing, and the grid cube setup, but as my health began failing, I find it increasingly difficult to haul big bulky displays to and from the floor. I have a show coming up in November, and I’d like to restructure for it so I can get back to doing this thing I love more regularly. Any ideas help.
Is it for tables, or hanging from canopy frame?
I’ve tried lots of things, making myself, and focus is easy to transport & set up, too. But what you use will also depend on the product!
For some items I have a couple wood frames that are hinged together, and clamp/screw to the table, and provides some vertical dispaly for wrist bands–but it needs replacing, and experimenting with slatted wood shelving I have left over from a closet project.
For a while I tried using PVC or ABS pipes and screwing to flanges screwed to the table to make a vertical display–wasn’t ideal for my goods, but fairly easy & light weight.
I have also made some frames and stapled plastic “chicken wire” to it (and spray painted it off white to hide the green) and those I hang from my canopy frame to get display walls. It’s pretty light weight. And the first two I have hinged together, so I can close them up and keeps my items hung on it fairly safe, so I don’t have to pack & unpack them from separate totes & set up display again. I use “s” hooks to hook on the display board & then hang my items from.
I’ve also seen another vendor who made large wood frames and had athletic mesh stapled to it for their display/side walls on their booths. You can modify size/hinges to make screens that can fit on the table–but if so, need a good base/way to clamp or screw it to your table.
On some tables, I got nice boxes that I turn over, and sometimes put an old street sign across two of them to create a shelf to get extra height. Sometimes even stacked my storage totes & covered with a nice piece of fabric to add more display area.
For this weekend’s show I am trying a couple ventilated shelf sections (about 18" high) for a theme display of a few small pouches & key chains & small stuff, and made my own “s” hooks yesterday from acrylic & med ply. I just used scrap leather to make the hinge–if needed I can tack to the table w/ a screw. But I had to give up on my idea of redoing my wrist band display for this show w/ more of these–ran out of time to make it work. (I can send a pic of this if you want!)
For many years I have used a tri-fold room screen I got at World Market–metal frame with a few horizontal rods, each section broke into 2 pieces, and a canvas cloth for each section–not as cumbersome as gridwall, and nice way to get hanging space & a neutral background.
But how heavy/large the items you are trying to display will drive what works.
I’ve seen cute displays using wooden ladders and shelves.
I’ve seen another vendor at the neighborhood market I do… her storage of her products (ceramics) IS her display. She uses wood boxes. Makes the most sense to me, and she’s always set up long before I am even when she arrives well after I do.
I do use my storage boxes as “elevation” on my table, but because I put them UNDER the table cloth, I have to empty the items out before setting up the table… so it’s a time consuming and space consuming process. I’m working on figuring out better ways, as you are… hence my Pinty searches.
I’ve started to think about designs for a few modular, nesting/stackable display-shelf/tote boxes, I’ll be sure to post them here if I ever get something built… or at least down on paper for someone else to run with.
That would be a good starting point… haha, and it is where I started when I made some bins using their “stacking base” function, and then used the grip holes to display t-shirts… that’s what got me thinking about a unit/series of units that would be more versatile and a lot more sturdy!
The ones I made were just meant as decorated space-fillers for the back of some deep shelves, but I ended up using them to carry and store shirts… they are not really strong enough. Approx 11"x11" 1/8" thick and simple finger joints with a little CA glue along the edges. Have to be very careful when lifting them not to twist the whole thing apart. Pretty sturdy when stacked, considering.
Yeah, you’d need a lot more glue and joints to make those even close. ( I was thinking more about the various open-front bins and shelf trays , but those might not be big enough for anything useful.)
This worked out well for my Italian themed items for this show–I even made “s” hooks, some in blue acrylic, others in med ply wood. Left it to the last minute to try it for my wrist bands & need more work on it before I get that one working, though.
(All the acrylic items are cut & etched on the GF & hand dyed/painted, as are the Ciao pouches, etched & hand painted “cells”).
The plastic version I have shows up in the photo–I spray painted it, but a lot of the green still shows on this one. The original wire version can be a great look, too, though I was going for more neutral, and the plastic version easier to work with Light weight & adds vertical display via hanging items! And hinged the two frames together, so I can close it up without removing the items, so makes setting up/tearing down the booth a lot faster (critical for a farmers market I do sometimes with only 1 hour to tear down!).
Light weight & adds vertical display via hanging items! And hinged the two frames together, so I can close it up without removing the items, so makes setting up/tearing down the booth a lot faster (critical for a farmers market I do sometimes with only 1 hour to tear down!).