It's Right There In Black & White!

Tradeshow booth design by Rosanna Inc. is, in one word, Brilliant!

White fomkore panels, a few black felt pens (okay, okay, they probably had it printed), and some creative brains - and you get this incredible concept for a booth. Simple, graphic, easy up/down, easy transport, easy easy easy. Those panels are affixed to the front of the huge rolling boxes that transport product. Unload, put against the wall, pop on the panels, and arrange products. The backdrops wedge between the base boxes and the top rail of the pipe-n-drape around the booth.

And effective: All of the marvelously playful colors of Rosanna ceramicware show up perfectly against the white. There is ample space for traffic flow. This photo was taken during show setup a few years ago - I do beleive they added some kitschy chrome & naugahyde kitchen table sets in the center of the space, providing an area for order-writing and sticking with the theme of a kitchen. And speaking of theme, what is more perfect for this product than a kitchen?

(hmmmm...maybe a candy shop or soda fountain.....)

I wanted to share this idea with you in case you are racking your brains trying to come up with a display idea for your show booth or showroom for the summer show season. Sometimes, simple is the most effective route you can take. Plus it gives you more time to sneak outside and catch some rays!

Also, in finding the correct link to Rosanna, Inc. for this post, I also found her blog. O dear....on it, she announces her summer warehouse sale which is being held Tomorrow and Saturday. If you are in Seattle, get thee to an ATM and hustle down to SoDo to see what bargains Rosanna has cooked up! (PS: right around the corner from her warehouse is the Seattle Goodwill Outlet - you could score some cool furniture for displays there! And don't forget to head over to Sand Point on Sunday for the long-awaited reprise of the Sand Point Antique Market...)

Sunshine and bargains in Seattle....is there anything better?!

Product photo: Rosanna, Inc.

Seasonal Color Forecasts

Pantone Color Forecast Fall 2007

I am preparing the style plan for some product displays that I'll create at the summer San Francisco International Gift Fair in late July. There is only one place to start this kind of project, for me, and that is the Pantone Insitute's Color Forecast. If you click on the link, you'll go straight to the page on their website that details the fall 2007 forecast colors, moods, styles, and inspirations for fashion & home. Leatrice Eiseman, one of the principle designers for Pantone, lives here in my neck of the Northwest woods and is a brilliant colorist. I love hearing her speak on color trends.

The Pantone seasonal forecast is an invaluable tool for retailers, trust me. No, you may not want to order every product in these colors - but you sure can paint a wall or display backdrop or even one single prop in one of these colors to make your displays relevant to current trends. And that catches your customers' eye, which sells products...amazing how that works!!! You can SO easily rev up even old merchandise by slipping in a touch of 'THE hot color' of a season...add some solid pottery or linens in one of these colors to existing neutrals, and you've upped the ante considerably.

I pulled colors directly from the forecast, and divvied them up to form two palettes: one Autumn, one Winter. I am creating two separate displays around those seasons at the entrance to the Moscone South Hall. Here's a sneak peek:

Autumn

Espresso Brown, Persimmon Orange, Saffron Yellow, Royal Purple, Moss Green, and Gold metal. It's an exotic, rich, textural, layered, Earth-friendly, Eco-conscious, and 'Green' main course with a Moroccan side dish.

Winter

Espresso Brown again, Deep Slate Blue, Ocean Teal, Periwinkle Blue, Chili Pepper Red, Moss Green again, and Silver metal. Urban, contemporary, minimalist Swedish design aesthetic, simple living, artist-made/high-art craft look. Holidays with panache, not kitsch: Cocktail party Christmas.

Exhibitors will receive this information from the show producers, and then choose & send in products that I will use in the display setups. (And I DO so love not having to run all over Moscone gathering them, I tell ya....) If you will be attending the San Fran show as an exhibitor, make sure you come by during setup and say hello! (Bacchus, this means YOU! Bring the baby!)


An Added Note: Kate commented that she likes the way I used the Pantone forecast palette to create my own....that is really how they intend you use it. It's supposed to be a tool for your business - if you have an ultra-modern store, some colors won't work well. Ditto if you're a shabby cottage style home store. You need to be judicious, and choose what works for your style, your brand, your customer base. Take that royal purple and pale it down to a grayed lavender & pair it with the moss green, or rev up the chili red by adding gray with it in groupings. Make color trends work for YOU - not the other way around! It's your store, and you're the expert that your customers listen to & follow.

SFIGF Link: http://www.sfigf.com/
Pantone link again:
http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/Pantone.aspx?pg=20367&ca=4

Sign of the Times

So we just ran to the local grocery store to grab something needed for dinner prep. The store has been undergoing a MAJOR remodel for months now, with departments being relocated and new structures, departments, prep areas, flooring, decor - the whole shebang - and they have been open all the while. I cannot even FATHOM handling the logistics of a redesign project on this gargantuan scale! It's a bit of a test of one's perserverance to go there, as merchandise moves every day to a new location. Yes, EVERY day. The coffee has been moved about six times now. That may sound utterly frustrating, but this company has truly worked hard to make sure that they have ample staff on hand, walking throughout the store, to help customers locate what they need. I still think they should give those employees pith helmets since it is such an adventure, but that's just me....hmmmmn, maybe the CUSTOMERS should get them......

So anyway, tonight I saw that the heavy plastic wall that had closed off the new 'Food Court' area had been taken down, allowing a full view of this newly-created space. I drove my little half-cart (have you SEEN these? Darling little things!!!!) at top speed to get over there. It's gorgeous in there - VERY hi-tech. VERY user-friendly. I smiled at the rows and rows of EMPTY plastic deli containers lined up in the cool cases: they are using them to categorize & create the planogram for stocking practices. I reached into my purse for my handy-dandy camera to get a shot - and no camera. It was at home, still hooked up to the computer. O yay.

And then it got even BETTER: I looked up. Up at the overhead awning above all of those shelves-in-process. Where a series of stainless steel letters had been installed to clearly label this area. 'DelicatessAN'. sigh. No camera. No camera phone, either. Yep, the Diva is prepared. Uh huh.

I told the gal at the customer service counter about the miss-spelled word. She looked at me like I was purple or something. We got home, hubby looked up 'Delicatessen' on Webster.com - ahem, excuse me, dear, but did you not trust me and my silly spelling-obsessed brain??? - and then he called the store, asked for the GM, and told him about it. That poor man said that he has heard about that sign more than anything else all week - but the company hasn't come out to fix it yet. He's being bombarded by spelling-obsessed people!!!! I feel kinda bad now. But I'd feel worse if I saw 'DelicatessAN' everytime I walked into my local market.

I'll go in tomorrow and try to get a shot before it's changed..... I'll post it here if I get it. I'll also send a copy to Rick Segel. He's 'MISTER signs' in the retail biz - be sure and catch his seminars at the San Francisco & Seattle Gift Shows this summer, and check out his website at www.RickSegel.com.

Tip of the day: "Spell Check: It isn't just for computers anymore."

Edited to add: I went back - WITH camera - and they had already fixed the sign. Darn. But at least they fixed it....