We briefly walked the NSS on Wednesday morning before flying back home. Some quick notes and impressions from the show are that we didn't notice anything particularly new or different from last year but saw more of the same, such as beautiful hand drawn/painted art as well as fancy lace-lasercut and trendy chalk art. Sophisticated and fun letterpress is still big.
We also chatted with a couple of fun sales people on the floor who shared some insights into what is selling well and what isn't - owls are still hot along with deer and birds. It depends on territories. Soft lines, circles and round shapes are also trendy. Craft materials such as burlap and wool felt were also present. In all, it seems the there is an increasing interest in an artesinal style.
As for other curious insights, I was offered freelance work by one of the sales personnel while I was looking at some ribbons I liked! Another artist, who was selling cards at her booth said she licensed her art with three manufacturers right there at the show. I am sure other blogs and articles covered the Stationary show more in depth. Next year I will try to get more time to see what's going on there.
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| Some of the many inspiring artist Surtex 2013 press kits |
But here is the real deal – the truly fun part of Surtex, aside from exhibiting and making connections with great companies, was to hang around with some really nice and helpful neighbors. It was an incredible and unexpected pleasure to see how a great, spontaneous mini-community developed between our neighboring exhibitors. We had a great time together with Mark Gonyea, Pimlada Phuapradit, Kim Gann, Eric Comstock, and Audrey Hopkins – openly sharing experiences, tips, and insights when not working with visiting manufacturers.
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Colorful cards dropped off by artists at our booth; many of them
will be featured on this blog throughout the year! |
And, for us a special highlight of the show was the fantastic opportunity to meet so many new and veteran artists who took some of their precious time to stop by our booth and say hi and to those who also shared a doodle with us. I know more exhibiting artists wanted to add their magic touch to our doodle board but didn't have time to come by.
The Moon From My Attic Doodle Board was a real hit and will be made into a permanent feature at our booth in future shows.
We also had a Guest Book where artists and other professionals left kind notes to us and we want to thank everyone again for being so nice and supportive and for reading this blog!
In the next 2-3 months we will be publishing interviews and articles with many of you who we met at the show, including agents, attorneys, consultants, and manufacturers. The list of names is too long to publish here but watch out for their so ever inspiring stories!
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