PPC15: Choosing the Flaptastic Cover Model

So…

There’s a couple of things I always look forward to once a new design is pretty much set and one of them is choosing the ONE bag sample that best represents that design for the pattern cover! I like thinking about which of our samples would most appeal to our customers… which one would gather the most attention at shows… and which one would be the one most likely to compel a customer to give our pattern a 2nd look!

But as much as I like all of those things, what I REALLY love is hearing which bag YOU would choose to be on the cover if you were ME. Maybe its because pattern design is such solitary business… who knows? At any rate, I get a kick out of the interaction so let’s get started!

You’ll find all 6 of our Flaptastic cover candidates pictured below in the order in which they were introduced to you in this series, (just click the link under each individual picture to see the original post associated with each sample).   And oh yeah… don’t forget to keep scrolling down to read up about the criteria you’ll need to consider before putting on your “designer hat” and choosing which bag YOU would place on the cover if you were ME!

So let’s get started!

The Gorilla Sample – May 20, 2017

Migration – May 29, 2017

Ethnic Flair – June 9, 2017

Kaleidoscopes Galore – June 14, 2017

Peg-o-my-Heart – June 24, 2017

Like an Egyptian – June 28, 2017

Color me Seuss – July 03, 2017

So… now that you’ve seen the choices, here’s the criteria you should be keeping in mind as you make YOUR choice!

1. Consider MORE than just your personal favorite. Of course the sample you choose should be appealing to you, but always consider how much “universal appeal” a bag has.

2. Will it turn heads? Ideally, a cover sample should “stand out in a crowd”! By definition it’s a show bag. It’s not meant to fade into the background or look good with your entire wardrobe.

3. Do the fabrics used draw attention to the design’s key features? Some prints are so “busy” that all you can see is the print. I want interesting fabric, that’s for sure, but I want the design to shine thru unimpeded, because after all, I’m not selling fabric!

4. Does the sample include ALL the design features promised in the verbiage on the cover. Here’s the thing… the model that is chosen for the cover is the model that will MOST be associated with the design… it’ll be the “spokesmodel” so to speak. But if it’s missing a promised exterior pocket for example, then every single person who picks up that bag at the shows we travel to, will want to know why it doesn’t, or worse still, they’ll think that the design DOESN’T include an exterior pocket at all.

5. Is it photogenic? Sometimes, for reasons that I’ll never understand, (probably because of MY photography skills), certain samples just don’t photograph well. No matter the lighting…. no matter the background….no matter… what… I…. do! But here’s the deal, no matter how pretty and ideal it is in person, if it doesn’t photograph well, it’s just NOT a good candidate for the cover model!

6. Does it actually LOOK like “our brand”? Our goal is for our customers to be able to identify a pattern as belonging to our line without even seeing the title or our logo on the front cover. We would be doing ourselves no favors for example, if we suddenly departed from a “formula” that’s worked for us for 13+ years and placed a model on the cover that just doesn’t look like something we would promote!

7. Is it created with a special pieced exterior? As most of you know, I LOVE piecing my way to a unique exterior, but I’ve learned from bitter experience and quite a few scoldings (reference the Lollapalooza) that placing a model with such an exterior on our pattern cover is just NOT a good idea. BUT– if there are actual pattern pieces for this special exterior, and those pieces can be included in the pattern package itself (reference the Uptown Saddlebag or the Triple Play, then it CAN in fact be placed on the front cover.

So…Are you ready to have a little FUN?

Because now it’s time for YOU to put on YOUR “designer hat”! … after reconsidering all six of these samples with the seven criteria above in mind, I’d love to know which one YOU would choose to grace the cover of our Flaptastic pattern.
But don’t forget—I would also enjoy hearing the reasoning behind your choice.  And do stay tuned for the next post in this series to see how closely your choice mirrored ours when I reveal which model really will actually be on the cover of the Flaptastic Bag pattern. I’m SO looking forward to seeing your comments! You probably don’t know this, but this is one of my two favorite posts of the whole year!
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