Working the road has its ups and downs. The first challenge is separating the good shows and events from the bad ones. Then, once you've found a good event, getting a good spot for your setup is essential.

The weather will always play a big role in your relative success or failure. Having a good all-weather setup will relieve some of your anxieties since at least you won't have to worry about your equipment and products getting damaged by the elements.

Over the past 25 years, veteran airbrush artists affiliated with West Coast Airbrush have been roaming the country's highways and byways in search of those shows, fairs, and festivals. During that time, many different kinds of setups, booths, and concession stands have been tried out. Some are successful in this application and some are not so successful, but we carry on and keep searching for the perfect outdoor setup.

West Coast's team of artists, along with veteran airbrush artist and designer Ed Newton, decided on this towing rig and trailer concept to serve as West Coast Airbrush Company's "traveling store."

We call this a traveling store because it is more than Just a booth or stand. It's almost an event in itself. Just pulling into a minitruck rally or a car show in this rig will get lots of attention.

When fully set up, this inviting outdoor store will compel customers to enter our environment of airbrushing by using many of the same enticements as our indoor stores: lots of eye-catching racks, displays, and colorful rows of merchandise. Customers who enter this dramatic environment arc captivated by the surroundings.

Plenty of displays keep them busy looking. Two large flipracks display 120 designs between them, along with trailer wall panels displaying some 100 T-shirt and license plate designs. There is a lot to look at. Just as at our indoor stores, customers like to shop. The more you can give them to touch and feel, the better off you are. Lugging these racks around and setting up the shirts on hangers may be a bit of a hassle, bul it can really make the difference between a good show and a bad one.

The painting and sales areas inside the trailer are set up just like an indoor shop location. With a 6-foot easel, multiple shirt orders can be produced simultaneously. A counter flips out tor the customer's convenience to sign credit cards or whatever. A cellular phone and card printer are kept on board for these credit sales.

A pocket door separates the work area from the back storage part of the trailer. There's plenty of room here for your back stock of shirts and supplies. When traveling, all of the outside equipment stores away in this area. The most visible elements of the setup are the three large awnings, each measuring 10 feet square. These professional-looking, brightly colored tents really call attention to our booth from a distance. They can be purchased from EZ-UP Canopy Products (800-432-7987) and are perfectly suited for our application. There's no more wrestling around with loose tent poles and tie-downs. Setting up each of these awnings takes less than a minute thanks to the scissor-action truss system built into the steel frame unit. Simply unfold the frame, snap it into place, slip on the fabric top, and raise the unit. There is no center pole, and the top peaks automatically. The canopy units are fully self-contained with no loose parts and nothing to assemble. It couldn't be easier! Lining up three of these awnings creates 300 square feet (10 by 30 feet) of sheltered shop space below.

Four four-arm racks with T-bar toppers for the display of full shirts and designs fill in the middle of our covered area. At either end are two 60-design- panel flip racks for airbrush display. The focal points of our display (just like our indoor shops) are our wall designs.

This system uses two 4-by-8-loot panels with steel framework backing the 1/8-inch veneered plywood. These portable panels are stored in the trailer when traveling. When it's time to set up shop. they simply pull out of storage and hang on hooks positioned at the top edge of the trailer. These two panels, when hung vertically side by side, provide 8 feet by 16 feet of display area. We use this area to display 28 design panels each measuring 14 inches square. These design panels remain attached to the large panels both when in use and while traveling so that all we have to do is pull them out of the trailer and hang them up, all ready to go.

The panel on the far left of the trailer measures 6 by 8 feet. Again, a steel framework is used with veneered 1/8-inch plywood. This panel encloses the back of the setup and blocks the view of the trailer hitch. License plates or T-shirt designs can be displayed here.

Inside the self-contained airbrushing work area you'll find a long easel for multiple orders. This workstation is fitted with a ventilation system that is vented outside to the back of the trailer. A cash register counter and heat press round out the equipment in this area.

In the back storage area, the air compressor finds its home in a soundproof compartment that is vented for cooling.

The trailer is wired with a breaker box that services four gang plug boxes positioned throughout the trailer along with overhead fluorescent lighting. A super-heavy-gauge extension cord is pulled from inside the trailer to connect to an outside power source for the necessary juice to power all of the trailer's electrical components. Later add-ons might include a full generator system for self-contained power.

Our goal with this concept was to explore different ideas with input from many seasoned airbrush veterans. This setup is just one such concept. You have to admit, it's different, it's big, and it's cool!

West Coast Airbrush Company is putting this traveling store on the road later this summer. It might just be heading to your neighborhood, so be on the lookout. We'll see you soon, down the road!