Changing glaze colors with the season

[cstovin]

Hi all

I did a craft fair this weekend, and most of my glaze colors are floating blue, country red with tan, and nutmeg; I am trying to stick mostly with those colors - I like the western, farmhouse, country look - so that is my style.  I know most people feel we shouldn't try to market what we do to "trends", etc.  but when I was looking at my display, I did think to myself that the colors are "winter" colors with the exception of the nutmeg.  

I have a show in the spring, and I was wondering if many people change over to lighter colors for spring shows?  Keep the same core colors no matter what?  Have you ever noticed any difference in spring sales if you typically use darker colors?

Just wanted some thoughts based on more experience than I have

 

[Mark C.]

I favor colors over other colors more on locations I sell at then seasons.

I do all the colors all the time but may glaze up more than other depending on where I'm going.

For example when I sold in the southwest for 25 years I favored more browns and sunset colors less greens

Pacific Northwest a few more greens etc. Seasons are not what I ever think about color wise myself in terms of glaze colors.

[Callie Beller Diesel]

While I think it’s worthwhile to be aware of trends, colour is something I find too difficult to generate fast enough to change every season. I’ll introduce one or two things a year and test them with the public in order to stay fresh, for sure. Having properly tested glazes that I know how to use successfully every 3-4 months isn’t workable for me currently. 

[GEP]

Dark doesn’t mean cold weather, and light doesn’t mean warm weather.  Color theory is more nuanced than this. White is a winter color. 

Make good pots and they will sell in any season. If you change colors to match the season, you are trying to chase customers. Make customers chase you instead. 

People buy “serious” pots, and they can be light or dark, colorful or neutral. 

Any time you change the color scheme of your work, you are essentially starting over in terms of building an audience. 

[liambesaw]

A good compromise would be to use season colors on season items.  Holiday ornaments and decorations like pumpkins if you do that sort of stuff. 

[Stephen]

I think it may depend on your customers as the high-end folks have all kinds of rules they want everyone to follow . We don't don't do high end art shows so our customers are just people that like nice pottery. We use porcelain and have lots of colors. New colors and pots often sell really well. 

[JohnnyK]

I currently have a small palette of colors that I work with either samples of my work in these colors or color photos of previously sold work that I can show potential customers. As I build inventory, I will probably expand the palette, but not by much. I'm considering building leaf shaped plates and candy dishes using a color combination that I recently photographed. It's something I like, so I'll give it a shot and see how it goes with the public...