As creatives, ultimately we want to get our work sold. Well, one of the great ways to do that is with a market stall. 

When you’re at a market, you want your stall to capture the attention of people walking past, so that everyone sees you in the crowd and wants to come over to buy your magical work. 

The best way to make your market stall stand out? You guessed it - branding. Sure, you can just put your work on the table and let it speak for itself, but at a market you need to be able to literally stand out from the crowd - both the other makers at the market and the crowds of people browsing and buying. 

You want to be the stall that everybody wants to come and look at, so let’s talk about how you can do that by making sure your market stall is on-brand, aligned, and turning those browsers into buyers!

1. Signage

Signage is a big part of having a market stall. It’s something that clearly states who you are, what you’re doing, what you offer and lets people see you from across the way at a market. Some people may even be specifically coming to find you, so having clear, creative, beautiful signage is going to help people recognise you and your brand. 

Whether it’s on the front, on top of or behind your table, there are heaps of different signage options to look at and decide what’s going to work best for you, your budget and the market itself. 

2. The Table

At some markets, you’re going to be given a table. At others, you’re going to have to bring your own. In either case, you can decide how you’re going to brand the table itself at your stall. 

If a table is supplied, you can cover it in an on-brand tablecloth. For me, I used to use brown paper to create a specific effect for my tables. If you have the option to bring your own table, then make sure it’s easy to transport, the design suits your purpose, and if you’ll need to cover it. 

3. Stands & Storage

On your table, you’re likely going to have prints to stack, pins to lay out, postcards to spread out or things to hang. Whatever it is, you’re going to need some sort of storage like stands or racks to hold your goodies. 

Storage is something that you can choose intentionally. If you have the budget, choose stands and storage that align with your aesthetic. Think about the materials used and the aesthetic they portray. Make sure they’re going to make your work physically stand up and be easy for people to browse through, and consider how it’s going to look when it’s all put together on the table. 

4. Decorations

Decorate your table with anything that’s going to help you to stand out, capture people’s attention from across the room, and of course make your stall look pretty and Instagrammable! 

When I was tabling at markets, I used plants to add greenery to my table and stand out against the black and white work I was doing. People would come over to my stall because they liked my plants - but once they were there, they realised they liked my work too! 

5. Flyers

As well as your work, it’s good to have promotional material such as flyers with information about your work that people can take away with them. It’s up to you what information you include on your flyers - it could be about an exhibition you have, how to find you online or the work you have available for purchase that isn’t at the market. Design your flyers to be in line with your aesthetic, your brand strategy and your brand identity. 

6. Business Cards

Sometimes people won’t be able to buy from you at the market for one reason or another, but they want to follow you on Instagram or go to your online store to buy something from you. This is where having business cards with those details is really, really helpful. 

Make sure your business cards not only have clear information, but are also on-brand and consistent with your brand identity. That way, when someone has your business card and goes to your website, online store or Instagram, they know that they’re in the right place. 

7. Pricing

The pricing information on your table isn’t just a functional feature to tell people how much things cost - it’s also another part of your market stall that you can brand. 

It’s common to have cards next to each type of work you have on your table that display the prices. When branding these, think about the material that you’re using, how you’re going to attach them, the typography you’re using to type or write that information, and what it’s going to look like when people see it from across the room. 

8. Payment Details

Whether you’re taking EFTPOS, cash or bank transfers, you need to display your payment details at your stall. It can be a poster, a flyer or a sign that shows the information, which means you can make sure it’s beautifully designed and aligned with your brand. 

9. Packaging

Now that people are buying from you (because they ARE going to buy from you), it’s time to package their product to give it to them. 

At a market, some people just take things away as they are, so you don’t have to use packaging. But if you do, what is the packaging going to be? What is it made out of? What does it look like? How is it branded? You can brand all these elements of the packaging to make it a continual experience that they can take with them from the market. 

10. YOU!

Last but not least, YOU can also be on-brand! 

If you’re the one at your market stall, people are going to be coming to meet you - the artist behind all this incredible work. You’re going to be standing there as a beacon that people want to talk to and whose work they want to check out. 

Wear something on-brand, wear your own merch if you have it or sparkle yourself up. Do whatever is going to make you feel good and like you are totally rocking this market (you are!) and that people want to come and talk to you (they do!). 

Wear whatever makes you feel freakin awesome and is on-brand as f*ck. Own your brand and rock it. 

Those are the 10 different, clever ass ways that you can brand your market store. Think about how you can design them and make them really on-brand so that people will flock to your store at the market. I can’t wait to see you designing and branding these elements for your own market store and kicking ass at your next market!