How To: Be Accepted by a Craft Show Jury

We found a helpful post from Tina Seamonster at  Hello Craft: “Wowing a Craft Show Jury“, and wanted to share it with you. The more I thought about the post, though, the more I knew it needed more meat.

I’ve been on all sides of all kinds of juries – organizer, jury member, artist in craft shows, juried fine art events, requests for proposals, you name it. Thousands of entries have passed in front of me, and so many of them have made me wish I could fill out a little suggestion card to send back along with the jury’s decision. It can be difficult to understand how your entry will be read – you’re so intimately familiar with the information that it can be unclear whether or not you’re saying all the the essential stuff and only the essential stuff.

Let’s start with Hello Craft.

Vendor Statement.

If you know who you are and make something awesome, your vendor statement shouldn’t be too difficult. Sometimes the vendor statement will have a character limit, which means you have to make every word count. Let’s break down my vendor statement from last year:

Tina Seamonster silk screens shirts and cards in small batches at her kitchen table with a Print Gocco. She is inspired by her life as an urban mom of twins in DC. Her designs are mostly about overcoming fears (of zombies, etc!), dealing with stress and living life with humor above all else.

The first thing that I do in my vendor statement is establish my brand identity. This is who I am. Then I immediately tell you what I make and how I make it. One former judge thinks that explaining how you make your items is very important. He says: “One tip that I have is to explain, explain, explain. We received more than a few applications that didn’t really specify the crafter’s role in their work. For instance, if you sell screen-printed shirts, explaining that you draw your own art, burn your own Gocco screens, source your own t-shirts from Africa, and hand mix your own inks from natural pigments is much better than leaving it up to the judges to guess. ‘Cause they just might assume you sent an image to the screen printer and — viola — 2 weeks later 400 shirts show up. And that isn’t gonna win you fans. Explaining why you’re all DIY is good.”

So, I explain first who I am, then what I make and how. Next I tell you where I am coming from. This might not matter for everyone, but for me, my crazy lifestyle as a twin mom living in the city is key to what I do, so I mention it. If your crazy lifestyle as a traveling lion tamer is important to your handmade flutes, then let us know! And lastly, I explain the style and subject matter of my work. This is not at all a hard and fast rule to creating the perfect vendor statement. We all have our own style. Maybe your statement will be funny or provocative or memorable in some other way. Just make sure you make every word count!

What a great breakdown! The most important part is that bold bit in the middle. On our Market Day application, we ask makers to explain, in four sentences or less, what they do. We want to be wowed here, and so many of you are wowing us. Go ahead and get sassy, just make sure that the essential info is in there. What parts do you do? Are there any parts you don’t do? (Not necessarily a deal-breaker!)

You do often have to limit your character count. Even if you don’t, choose words as if you can only fit so many in. Make every word impactful and keep it truly related to what you do. What does this mean? Stay away from words like unique, whimsical or great, which don’t tell me anything. It’s also wise to avoid overused words like handmade or original – of course they are. If they weren’t then you wouldn’t be applying.

What about photos? Hello Craft?

Photos.

The dreaded photos. I hate this part. I truly do. But it is so so important. My first advice is to send new photos. Don’t assume that because you got into a show last year or every year that you can send old photos. I nearly made this mistake a few years ago. Don’t do it! As much as you love or are still selling a million of the same items from last year, do try to show something new. That said, a former Crafty Bastards judge, Liz of Trees can say the rest better than I can:

First off, and I can’t stress this enough, submit bright, clear photos of your work! Judges look at hundreds if not thousands of photos when jurying a show. Not only do you want your work to stand out, you don’t want to contribute to their eye strain! You are being judged by your submissions and if the judges can’t see how great your work is because the photos are too dark or too fuzzy, you won’t get into the show. Also, if your work is highly detailed with say 10 different decorative stitches on a skirt, make sure this comes through.

Second, show variety in your work. If you make hand-knit scarves as well as kitten booties and iMac cozies, send in a photo of each so the jurors can see the breadth of your work. Don’t just send in three separate photos of scarves.

Third, I’d recommend showing your work in action. If you make pottery, take a photo of someone enjoying a steaming cup of cocoa in a hand-thrown mug or if you make pillows, take shots of them on a couch or with your cat napping on them. It gives the viewer context.

Fourth, inject your personality and style and vision into your photos. If your craft consists of making fun, irreverent clothing, take photos of people wearing the clothes doing fun, irreverent things! If your artwork is somber or goth or melancholy, take your oil paintings to a cemetery on a cloudy day and stage a photo shoot.

Thanks Liz!

A few more photo tips. If you make shirts for the whole family, I suggest that you show that in your photos. Many indie crafters only make shirts in standard sizes. But if you make stuff for plus sizes, as well, try to convey that in your photos. If you make stuff for babies and kids, too, make sure you have a whole family wearing your gear. You don’t need models, just use your family!

In the end, you do not need professional photos. All you need is good light, interesting backgrounds and a little imagination.

Also helpful tips. I’d add: Frame your photos well. It’s fine that you just went into your backyard and took a photo against a backdrop of foliage, but it’s distracting if I can see a tiny swingset in the distance.  Take a moment and make sure that you mean for everything to be in the frame that is in there.

Other advice:

• Don’t burn bridges. If you aren’t accepted, emailing or calling to press your case won’t help. Do keep lines of communication open – you never know when you’ve been placed on a waiting list and might be called up later.
• Do ask for feedback. Personally, I’d love to give a reason to applicants who don’t make it in. Sometimes it simply doesn’t fit the scope of the show and we can say that without ruffling feathers, but otherwise we usually keep quiet unless asked to expand.

The most helpful tip? Find an honest friend – not a Nice friend. An Honest friend. Ask them to look over your materials with fresh eyes and see how they’d review your work.

I hope these help you out! Submitting applications is nerve-wracking no matter how long you’ve been doing it, but it does get easier with practice and research.