I know, I've been there. Just today in fact!
And yet, success hinges on your ability to create a collection. If you dare to venture into wholesale your buyers will demand it and if you choose to retail at shows your sales will soar with it. Those buying your work need options. Big, small, short, long, chunky, thin..... need I go on?
It's a difficult balance between having all the freedom in the world to create and knowing that at the end the pieces must tell a story.
As I have a difficult time not giving in to my creative will I have to work extra hard to try to pull it all together. One of my solutions is the story board. I allow myself time to play and create. I find what works and what I want to build a collection around. Once I have the beginning pieces formed and fabricated I begin a story board.
As you can see above I begin arranging the pieces in small groups looking for gaps. How many pieces are there in each grouping? Do I have enough necklace or earring options? Is there a piece that stands alone? Is there an earring that could be shortened or lengthened to offer another possibility?
With a story board I can see most clearly the gaps and pieces sticking out like an island unto themselves.
I thought I would share this idea in hopes that it will help others. I am getting ready to start show season so as you can see I have a lot of work to do!
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3 comments:
delias,
this is my biggest struggle. I have too many ideas and not necessarily cohesive ones. This is the year i truly work on this.
Question though: do you have lots of different story boards or just one?
Donna,
Most of the time one large board works for me. On this board I have about 7 groupings. It's a large board. I start off putting everything on the board and then I begin sorting. Some pieces are small groupings within an overall collection and I try to put the groupings side by side. On the right hand bottom corner are the pieces that don't really work with anything and I have to figure out what to do with them. I took about three months to fabricate and play and now I need to sort through and begin editing or adding to complete the grouping. When I display my work at shows I like each grouping to have five pieces that "go" together. When I wholesale I need to make sure in most cases if there is a necklace option there is an earring option and really two earring options is the best. I don't think a ring and bracelet option is required for each necklace and earring but the necklace and earring option seems to be really important.
Thanks for sharing this! Just what I needed to read today! My ideas and inspirations are all over the place and I need to refine my work and get more of a cohesive feel.
Love the story board idea! Going to start on one right now!
Sabine
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