Exciting, dizzying, inspirational, hard work and fun – a few of the descriptions that come to mind when I think about the Atlanta show experience.
We had around ten appointments set up. In between them and early in the morning, we stopped at showrooms where we wanted an appointment. In one case we were lucky. In others, we at least made contact with the creative directors. I had taken lots of photos as usual; but on Friday while I was charging my iPhone someone took it. There’s a good lesson there. Don’t take your eyes off your devices.
Today a mild and sunny Sunday finds us in Arlington, Va with our dear friends Irene and Wayne, and I am finishing up this post. Irene should get credit for proof reading each post before it is published.
High School Friends
You may remember that Irene and I have been close friends since our freshman year year at Music and Art High School.
That’s me on the left and Irene is second from the right.
Back then we learned a lot of our art history and drawing skills when we went to the Metropolitan Museum every weekend.
- Irene’s Ceramics
Irene Wittig is one of the most multitalented creative artists I have been privileged to know. In brief she has been a potter whose work was charming and whimsical, a quilter, and a writer.
- Wayne’s photo of the Bay Bridge
Irene’s husband Wayne Wittig has been developing quite a creative talent himself for abstract visual imagery combining photography and photoshop skills.
We had several new collections that we took to Atlanta. Of these the most popular was the Salty Air Collection. More than half the companies we saw asked for this.
- Crab Shack
Island Bay
Coral Reef Sea Turtle
Sandy Cove Egret
Manufacturers of pillows, rugs, wall art, paper product and home decor were all interested in this collection. .
Trick or Treat Owl
Boo witch hat Halloween design
We showed our Halloween Cupcake designs and companies showed interest in our creating garden product designs.. They mentioned that they were especially looking for new designs for spring and garden owls.
If a company shows interest it is a good thing to follow up with designs as soon as possible – even the next day.
Doing whimsical designs, as in the cupcake designs, is a new direction for me. I have found that it’s fun and refreshing to move in a new direction now and then.
It’s always a good thing to do trend spotting at the shows. Here are a few of the things we saw.
Owl clocks, Transpac
OWLS, OWLS, OWL, OWLS AND MORE OWLS………everywhere and in all product categories and seasons.
Don’t necessarily be led by hearsay. A year or so ago I began checking out the owl trend by talking with with gift shop owners, other artists and bloggers. The consensus at that time was that owls had peaked and were heading downhill. Well, wrong. What if they were right? What should you do then? Best thing is to make a decision and stick with it. Even if they were right and you still decided to work on owls collection it wouldn’t be a wasted effort. W hat goes around comes around and you will have your owls ready when next they trend. Just like purple, which was popular ten years ago or so, and is now one of the in colors again.
We were also told by one manufacturer that burlap as a texture is becoming very popular and widely used in all kinds of products. Would you believe in wedding invitations and designs? Nature themes such as birds, aquatic, and land animals are popular.
- Elephant by Dean Crouser
Bold and washy watercolor styles often combined with line work were seen frequently in the home decor showrooms.
There are some really good blog posts on the show and on trends that I will refer you to for more information.
Joan Beriger’s blog on Art Licensing
http://joanbeiriger.blogspot.com/2013/01/art-licensing-why-walk-wholesale-trade.html?m=1
Be sure to follow Joan’s blog. that way you will receive e mails of each new post as it is published. They are all chock full of good information having to do with all aspects of Art Licensing.
Alex Colombo’s blog , The Moon from my Attic
http://creativeconceptsdesignstudio.blogspot.com/?m=1
Alex does a superb job of talking about trends and what she heard and spotted at the show.
Terri Conrad (artist) “Consider it pure joy – after Atlanta“
You can see many of Terri’s lovely designs on her post
- Savannah Afternoon products
Our new spring collection for Burton and Burton was in their Spring Showroom. I did take photos of the display but they are gone with my iphone. Here instead is the catalogue page from their new spring catalogue.
Enough said for now about the Show. As always we return inspired and ready to work on new designs. In addition to the owl product designs we will be working on new Christmas collections.
Thanks for following and visiting our blog. We invite you to become a follower and look forward to your comments. Live each day with laughter and silliness and stay tuned.
Andrea Brooks Studio 