Photo 7 Feb 1 note Continuing the theme of packaging and presentation: this is the default packaging we’ve started using at craft fairs now. These cardboard fold-up boxes are designed as gift-card holders, and their footprint at the base is about the same size as a gift-card. We’ve found they make nice jewelry boxes. The logo on the side is printed at home on an oval-shaped sticker from Avery labels. The company that makes these packages  can also do hot-press stamping which would put the logo right on the package itself. The initial cost is high, though, so I’m holding off on that until I’m 100% sure that I’ve got a design I want to stick with. I’m really happy with the look of these, and they’ve been well received at the craft fairs, too. I’m not sure if they accomplish everything I set out to do when I started planning out my packaging, though. I’ll explain: the packaging used at a craft fair can serve a couple of different purposes. Obviously at its most basic it’s a container and thus a way to protect the merchandise while your customer carries it around. It also adds an additional layer of visual and tactile experience to your product, since the customer will see it and hold it. If the customer is buying the piece as a gift, then it’s also potentially going to be the recipient’s first layer of contact with your brand. Finally, the package can act as a kind of roving billboard, attracting the attention of other shoppers and exposing them to your name, your logo, and at least some aspect of your aesthetic identity. Ideally I’d like the packaging I use to perform all of these functions really well. Currently I think we do a good job with everything but the last one on the list. This is frustrating, because when we were planning out the package design, this final item on the list was one of our foremost concerns. The package makes a stong visual impression and the customers love it. I think it conveys a lot of what I want to convey about Zoa Chimerum: it’s elegant, a little edgy in a way that you can’t quite identify, and unique. The  problem is that the package is so small that customers don’t carry it around with them in a way that other potential buyers will see it and become intrigued by it. They just put it into one of their other bags. I’m not sure what to do about this. The first idea that comes to mind is to offer conventional plastic shopping bags which are larger and which the customer might carry around with them at the fair and even put purchases from other booths into. This bag would have the logo and name on it and serve as the “moving billboard”. The problem is that it’s boring, so what’s the point? A variant of this idea would be to use clear plastic for the large bags and to put the existing packaging into the clear bags. This way all of the benefits of the existing package design would be preserved while still getting the benefit of the “moving billboard”. Additionally, other shoppers would be able to see the small black packages inside the large clear bag. A totally different idea would be to add an additional length of ribbon to the small black bags which would serve as a wrist or shoulder strap. This way the customer could carry the small bag and “wear” it as a sort of accessory. This would probably have the strongest visual effect because other shoppers would start to notice more and more people with these little black handbags dangling from wrists and shoulders, and they’d wonder where they are coming from. They’d notice the spiky logo on the bag and eventually find the banner with the same logo. The main problem is I’m not sure if people would actually wear them as intended. I guess it would be an easy enough thing to experiment with. (can you tell that I’m making up a lot of this as I go along?) Also wanted to mention that I’m going to be vending at the Independent Designers Market (IDM) in Harvard Square this Saturday. It’ll be my first craft fair of the new year and I’m going to try and make it worth coming out to. There are some new things I’ve been working on that I’m oping to showcase at this event. If you’re in the Boston/Cambridge area please stop by and say hello.

Continuing the theme of packaging and presentation: this is the default packaging we’ve started using at craft fairs now.

These cardboard fold-up boxes are designed as gift-card holders, and their footprint at the base is about the same size as a gift-card. We’ve found they make nice jewelry boxes. The logo on the side is printed at home on an oval-shaped sticker from Avery labels. The company that makes these packages  can also do hot-press stamping which would put the logo right on the package itself. The initial cost is high, though, so I’m holding off on that until I’m 100% sure that I’ve got a design I want to stick with.

I’m really happy with the look of these, and they’ve been well received at the craft fairs, too. I’m not sure if they accomplish everything I set out to do when I started planning out my packaging, though.

I’ll explain: the packaging used at a craft fair can serve a couple of different purposes. Obviously at its most basic it’s a container and thus a way to protect the merchandise while your customer carries it around. It also adds an additional layer of visual and tactile experience to your product, since the customer will see it and hold it. If the customer is buying the piece as a gift, then it’s also potentially going to be the recipient’s first layer of contact with your brand. Finally, the package can act as a kind of roving billboard, attracting the attention of other shoppers and exposing them to your name, your logo, and at least some aspect of your aesthetic identity.

Ideally I’d like the packaging I use to perform all of these functions really well. Currently I think we do a good job with everything but the last one on the list. This is frustrating, because when we were planning out the package design, this final item on the list was one of our foremost concerns.

The package makes a stong visual impression and the customers love it. I think it conveys a lot of what I want to convey about Zoa Chimerum: it’s elegant, a little edgy in a way that you can’t quite identify, and unique. The  problem is that the package is so small that customers don’t carry it around with them in a way that other potential buyers will see it and become intrigued by it. They just put it into one of their other bags.

I’m not sure what to do about this. The first idea that comes to mind is to offer conventional plastic shopping bags which are larger and which the customer might carry around with them at the fair and even put purchases from other booths into. This bag would have the logo and name on it and serve as the “moving billboard”. The problem is that it’s boring, so what’s the point?

A variant of this idea would be to use clear plastic for the large bags and to put the existing packaging into the clear bags. This way all of the benefits of the existing package design would be preserved while still getting the benefit of the “moving billboard”. Additionally, other shoppers would be able to see the small black packages inside the large clear bag.

A totally different idea would be to add an additional length of ribbon to the small black bags which would serve as a wrist or shoulder strap. This way the customer could carry the small bag and “wear” it as a sort of accessory. This would probably have the strongest visual effect because other shoppers would start to notice more and more people with these little black handbags dangling from wrists and shoulders, and they’d wonder where they are coming from. They’d notice the spiky logo on the bag and eventually find the banner with the same logo. The main problem is I’m not sure if people would actually wear them as intended. I guess it would be an easy enough thing to experiment with. (can you tell that I’m making up a lot of this as I go along?)

Also wanted to mention that I’m going to be vending at the Independent Designers Market (IDM) in Harvard Square this Saturday. It’ll be my first craft fair of the new year and I’m going to try and make it worth coming out to. There are some new things I’ve been working on that I’m oping to showcase at this event. If you’re in the Boston/Cambridge area please stop by and say hello.

  1. ianart posted this

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