: GEP - Viewing Profile

clay lover, on 21 May 2013 - 08:24 AM, said:

On that specific question, for me the answer to make sure, when a customer picks up a mug/cup/bowl, it feels light and well-balanced and comfortable to hold. I want them to visualize themselves using it, and for the pot to become one of their favorites. Not only will this command higher prices, it's more likely they'll become repeat customers, and tell their friends how much they enjoy the pot. Which leads to higher prices :-)

Mea

Mark C., on 21 May 2013 - 11:24 AM, said:

Yes.

When you have something that is specialized like that (in addition to all the good ideas above) prepare and rehearse an explanation that is thorough enough but not too long. Then be prepared to deliver it over and over. And over and over. The hard part is to deliver it every time as if you have not already said it 10 times that day already.

Mea

Presentation and differentiation.

You can put a child's finger painting on your fridge with a magnet, and it is a child's painting. Or you can surround it with a wide white matte and a handsome frame, and someone might mistake it for modern art. Does your art festival display look like a professional display, or an amateurs display? Does it look like you think your work is important, or like you think your work is silly? It really matters. Also important, in order to get your work into the venues where you can charge higher prices, you need to have great photographs of your work. It's another area where presentation matters. When I see so-so work at a high-quality show, I think "they must have great photographs."

Differentiation means that your work is more valuable if it is unique. Not only must it be unique, you must know exactly what makes your work different, and be prepared to explain it to your customers.

Mea

The thing that sticks out to me is that you just had some parts replaced on your vent. Then suddenly the problem appeared. I feel like this must have something to do with the changes made to the vent. If there is a problem with the structure of your kiln, it would have happened over time, rather than suddenly. I don't think a downdraft vent is supposed to remove heat from the room, but maybe in your case the vent was doing that before the repair. Was there a hole in the duct, or anywhere else in the negative pressure zone? Honestly I'm not sure if that explains anything, just wondering.

Although this scenario is different, at the studio where I teach, the kiln room gets very hot, even in the winter. We have three kilns (with downdraft vents) in a room about 250 sqft.

In my own studio where I had only one kiln* with an overhead vent hood, which does remove heat from the room, in the summer months the room gets uncomfortably hot, close to 90 degrees. This is in a basement that otherwise keeps itself at about 70 degrees when the kiln is not heating it up.

Mea

*until this past weekend when I got a second kiln ... woohoo!

mmhpottery, on 17 May 2013 - 04:48 PM, said:

I should add that I also pack a separate "artist card" which is like a business card but without any contact info other than my website. This card contains my short artist statement and the "dishwasher, microwave safe" language. I keep them in a stack on my checkout table so customers can take them, and I also pack them with the sold pots. That way I don't have to squeeze that info onto the hang tags. The hang tags only say my company name, plus the name of the pot.

Mea