Artist Back Alley Resources Blog

Mel does 22 shows a year. Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, plus a couple of interstate pop-ups that weren't on the original plan. She didn't start with a system. She built one out of necessity after missing a flight because her old display wouldn't fit through the gate. The Breaking Point Her first year was chaos. Two suitcases, a poster tube, and a tote bag stuffed with connectors that kept poking through the fabric. She checked everything. Oversized fees ate her margins. One show in Brisbane, the airline lost her display bag entirely. She spent setup morning building a makeshift booth out of cardboard and panic. That was the last time she travelled with a setup that couldn't go carry-on. The Switch She moved to a modular display kit the following season. Forty-six panels, flat, in a single carry-on bag. The first thing she noticed: she could pack the night before without dreading it. The second thing: she stopped paying oversized fees ENTIRELY. The panels doubled as print protectors. She slid her bestselling A3 prints between the flat panels and they arrived crease-free every time. No more poster tubes rolling around under the seat. The System She Uses Now Mel runs two bags for every show. Booth bag (panels, connectors, hooks, tablecloth) and product bag (prints sorted by size, stickers in a binder, pins on a display board that lies flat). The booth bag stays packed between shows. She restocks the product bag the night before. Setup takes her 20 minutes. Teardown takes 15. She's in the car before most vendors have finished rolling their banners. What Changed Beyond Logistics She applies to more shows now. Not because she has more time, but because the friction is gone. When packing takes 20 minutes instead of an evening, saying yes to a last-minute show stops being stressful. She added six shows to her calendar this year just because she COULD. That's the part nobody talks about. A better packing system doesn't just save time. It changes which opportunities you say yes to. Browse the full kit range and see which kit fits your season.