Packing Your Car or Suitcase for Your First Con

Packing for your first con is a different puzzle depending on whether you're driving there or flying. Both come with their own way of making you realize, halfway through, that you own way more stuff than you thought.

If you're driving

The car gives you more room, which sounds like an advantage until you realize it just means you'll fill it. Pack in reverse order of how you'll need things at the venue, meaning the last box you load is the first one you'll want to unload. Your display structure should go in first (you won't need it until you're setting up the frame), then product boxes, then your "day of" bag with cash float, tape, and tech, packed last so it's grabbed first.

A few things that make driving setups smoother:

• A hand truck or folding dolly, even for gear that feels light in your living room. It stops feeling light after the third trip from a far parking spot.
• Storage totes with lids rather than open boxes, so nothing shifts or spills during the drive.
• A rough packing list taped inside the trunk, so unpacking at the end of a long day doesn't turn into guesswork about what's in which box.

If you're flying

This is where things get genuinely tight. Checked bag weight limits, carry-on size limits, and the fact that your display needs to survive being handled by strangers all conspire against you. A few specifics:

• Standard carry-on allowance is roughly 56 x 36 x 23cm. Any display gear that packs down flat within that size travels as carry-on instead of checked, which matters a lot if your art or prints are also taking up checked bag space.
• Fragile display pieces (glass, foam board, anything that can't take a bump) need real padding if they're checked. Bubble wrap and a hard-sided case, not just clothes stuffed around them.
• Weigh your checked bags at home first. Airport counter surprises about overweight bags are an expensive way to find out you packed too much.
• Ship inventory ahead to your hotel or the venue if the show allows it, rather than trying to fly with boxes of prints. Many venues and hotels will hold packages for arriving vendors, worth checking the vendor packet or calling ahead.

Why display choice matters more when you're flying

This is the part that trips up a lot of first-time flying vendors: a display built at home out of foam board, PVC pipe, or improvised shelving usually doesn't survive a flight, or doesn't fit airline size limits at all. It's a big reason vendors who travel to shows tend to move toward something purpose-built to pack flat, like the Shapeshift panel kits, which are designed to fit within standard carry-on dimensions and go together without tools once you land, so you're not relying on a hardware store near the venue to replace something that got crushed in transit.

The packing list that works for either

Whichever way you're getting there

Do a full mock packing run a few days before, not the night before. Lay everything out, load it the way you plan to load it for real, and see what doesn't fit or what you forgot. It's a lot cheaper to solve a packing problem in your living room than in an airport line or a parking lot the morning of the show.

Curious what a Shapeshift kit actually looks like in person? Head to the Artist Booths homepage to see the full lineup and find the one that fits your table.