Combination Design Banner

I've been ravenously reading posts here and other places about design boards for PPF events and I came up with a mock-up of a compromise banner that I will put up on my tent and I wanted your feedback and to see if anyone had done something similar and problems/suggestions they might have.

What I'm trying to do is combine the list format with a sample of each level/price. I was finding a huge overlap in the categories (ie: butterfly or dragons) so I like the idea of a list board...but then I wanted something that would show off my work and let them know of the quality they'd be getting. (Of course, ignore the pictures I have now, they aren't mine yet...I'm taking pictures of my kids on a black background when I get the chance.)

Anyway...what do you think? I know that 120 designs seems like a lot, but it's not so much different designs as different levels of completion and time they take to finish. So I'm envisioning someone saying "I want a rainbow" and then telling me they want to spend $5.00 and I take 5 minutes doing a rainbow design. I also figure my best advertisement will be the clients walking around the fair.

If you see any obvious category I've missed tell me, this is my first PPF event.

Denise

I think that it is a neat idea if you can come up with 3 versions for each thing.
It took me a few minutes to figure it out but I am sure once you have your own pictures (possibly keeping the same persons face for the 3 different versions) it will seem a lot clearer...

hmmm...not bad
Similar to something I came across some time ago where the facepainting booth at a festival?? used a scanning barcode system for the designs.
Choose, scan, pay, paint. Looking at your 'system' reminds me of that.
I've never been able to locate that again. I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has.

I like it!

Love it 2

Here's the final version. The actual template was a little smaller so I had to modify that and I changed it to 3 levels x 40 themes = 120 possibilities instead of saying "prices".

I think it does help to have the same person three different ways. I think it will help people understand the concept. It will give me a little leeway on the completeness level and keep people from comparing their design with my board.

I'll give you an update after the fair.

Denise

Here's the Glitter banner for the other half of the tent. I used "Glitter Art" for a couple of reasons...conservative parents that clinch at the idea of a "tattoo" and also I'm combining face painting and glitter tattoos as I learned in Pashur's class.

Denise

This is really nice where do you create banners like that?

I think this is a creative idea. I would ALSO LIKE TO KNOW HOW YOU DO THE BANNER. wHEN i USE VISTAPRINT, WHICH i LOVE, EVERY TIME i ADD A PIC IT IS $4.99, NEEDLESS TO SAY, i DON'T ADD MANY! Sorry, I had the caps lock pushed down, LOL

you create the banner as ONE image, then upload it.

Was discussing this with someone yesterday... what I'm wondering is, how do you do a "cheap" version of Iron Man? Certain designs to me can't be simplified or it'll look like crap and I don't want that walking from my booth just because they're cheap.

I am so computer illiterate Perry, but I will figure it out I'm sure. LOL Thanks.

Jody,

I did create it as one image and then uploaded to Vistaprint. I have a reseller's account and so they actually have free uploads. It would be worth it to check into that.

I have Adobe Photoshop Elements and I think it's only about $70 at Costco. I've found that it has most of the features of Photoshop that I use like gradients, clone tool, stroke, drop shadow. I don't need all the fancy features...and it even has some of the cooler ones like "watercolor" and shape tools (like I created the butterfly shape and then put the glitter background behind it.)

If you are regularly doing marketing materials it's probably worth it...even just to edit pictures for a website.

The other advantage to being a reseller is the freebies they send out regularly. One of my banners was free, I ordered another free t-shirt, I got a free car magnet, free removal instruction cards....basically just had to pay shipping.

Oh, I forgot to mention Vistaprint also has templates to download that have the measurements on them so you know exactly what size you need and they even show the border so you don't cut off the text.

You can email me if you have other graphics questions...that was my last job.

Perry...I'm hoping that by putting "superhero" that I will be able to cut down on specific Marvel type heroes...I'll still have the reference pictures but my plan for the cheaper ones was a simple forehead mask with the colors of the hero in different shapes. Might try a little cheek art head for the $3.00 one...maybe that's too much work.

Denise

Denise, I am wondering how this worked out for you. I'm toying with so many different ideas for our design board, I know it will keep changing as time goes on. I really like this idea but I have found that kids ask for what they see pictures of... I'd love to do something like this but actually have pictures of every option which I know is kind of crazy... hmmm...

On the other hand, I did use a word list for a long time and I loved the freedom it gave me... I just found that some kids had no way of imagining what I could do without pictures.

If you haven't printed these yet, I would suggest removing the word free at free hand. I know what you mean, but people are going to ask, which one is free a lot.

Maybe the word "custom"

-Meitna

Great work Denise. I think it should work well to explain your rates and I'm sure the parents will 'get it', but I was wondering how it worked for the kids, who rely heavily on their visual sense? Do you have a flip book portfolio/gallery or something similar handy, in case of emergencies? I only have a limited experience in fp, but very quickly it became obvious to me that the kids like to see what they get. I admit, this can be frustrating when they want something EXACTLY the same as what's in my gallery... and I'd like to try something a bit different... but they really enjoy browsing all the images. Parents just want to know how much it will cost them!

But I really like your idea. I showed it to hubby and even he understood how it would work.

Would love to know how it's working for you. Thanks so much for sharing your idea.

I was just talking to a fellow face painter about this type of signage a couple of days ago, I like the idea of offering the three tiered design for 3 different price points. I too was concerned about how to sell the tiers to the KIDS who would be the onces to convice their parents that they need the more expensive option. I know that if it were MY dad, he would've just told us to get the $3 design even if he understood that more money meant a more elaborate design; he would've totally banked on our lack of perception to save a few bucks.

How big would a sign have to be to feature images of the three tiers of each design? How much sleep would I have to lose to paint all of that?

Have you been reading my mind? I was just working on this same 3 version idea last week. It seems like the perfect way to organize to me.

For the odd design that doen't fit, I just won't do them or have a Premium board for them....and they cost more of couse.

I also like someones idea of having a special on a particular design I need to practice.

It does work really well for explaining the pricing system. People really do "get it" quickly but I still had to use a book with examples....I was actually really surprised. I think it is a little more fear based than lack of imagination. They are afraid of the unknown factor.

I'm also frustrated with trying to match previous pictures, I've literally have a mom watch every stroke I made and compare it to the picture on the poster...she looked like she was watching a tennis match!

So, the short answer is I use the poster to explain pricing, show that I can paint and then we use the book to draw people into the tent and get them "invested" and excited in the idea of being face painted.

We are going to organize the portfolio book better though either by price or by key word (the three different designs on one page) it will take a while to create it but it might be worth it. I think it's a lot easier to change what's not working too.

Metina, thanks for the heads up...I'll change the next version.

D.

PS: In my new poster I'm going to make the prices bigger.

As I was reading this post I was thinking - hmmmm nice poster but I don't think that's gonna help the little kids who see a picture and go " I want that Mummy"...... it helps the parents work out how you are pricing it and gives them a huge varity of choice - but I could see myself as a parent standing there reading them all out to the kid and then offering different combos like "well do you want a rainbow and a frog?"... and that's where it starts to get confusing .... for me and the kid.... if the kid could see a rainbow and a frog then they are more likely to pick it.
In a perfect world all kids would use their imagination and none of us would ever have to paint spiderman again.... but in reality only perhaps 1 in 20 kids wants something original or unique and an even small percentage will just sit there and say " Give me anything you want - I trust you".
I've found the only way I can get around painting hte same design over and over is change up your designs... the more often you cahnge them the more varity you get to paint.
yes yes yes I am more then acutely aware that redoing your boards is a massive pain in the rear end after the 10th time you have done it.... but well we have no choice really - well not untill we have been doing this for like 5-10 years and we have our designs all down to what we like to paint and don't need to change it up perhaps?
I do really really like your Glitter Tattoo board - we are reworking ours at the moment to included pic with them on skin.
I would be very interested to see how people display the stencils they have on offer for glitter tats and airbrush tats.
This has been a huge pain for us...
The way we have been doing it the boards look similar so people ask for glitter on the airbrush ones and vice averse..