At 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27, the doors to South Hall in downtown San Jose opened, marking the beginning of the first day of the first ever Illo Mart.
The event was hosted and organized by SJMade, a group that aims to support local art businesses in San Jose. SJMade has previously organized many events similar to Illo Mart in partnership with local artists, but this illustration fair was one of their largest events by far.
Featuring over 400 art vendors, Illo Mart showcased artists in San Jose to celebrate “all things illustration.” Personally, I attended out of curiosity about what types of art there would be, and how easy it would be to navigate through the different booths.
As I arrived in San Jose a few minutes after the fair began, there was little parking space at the event location, but there were open parking garages nearby; the closest was at the San Jose Convention Center parking garage.
At the event center, I was immediately met with a staggeringly long line outside, wrapping all the way to the other end of the building — but it moved relatively fast. I waited about 20 minutes in line and was able to go inside roughly 30 minutes after the doors opened.
There was a short security check on my way inside, and I received a free Illo Mart tote bag for being among the first 1,000 attendees that day.
Inside, the booths were split into different sections, each labeled based on an assigned row and column within the venue. Every booth had at least one person browsing its wares, with countless others walking between booths and at the seating area. Despite the number of attendees, the maps online and around the event center made it easy to navigate.
One thing that caught my eye was the amount of fan art there was. Ranging from anime to video games, Hello Kitty to Arcane, most people could find their favorite series represented in some way. Aside from keychains, stickers, pins and prints, there was also plenty of other merchandise such as T-shirts, sweatshirts and tote bags available for purchase.
In total, I was at the event for three hours and spent about $30. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring enough money for all the art I wanted to get. I would recommend bringing between $50 to $75 to art fairs like Illo Mart to make sure you have enough money for everything that catches your eye.
(Jen Li)
I purchased seven items from six booths: two sticker sheets, two prints, two keychains and one sticker. My favorite booth was where I purchased the sticker from, because of its gumball machine that dispensed mini ducks.
Attendees could place bets on which color duck the machine would dispense by choosing a sticker for each color. The prize for each color was the corresponding sticker, making it a very fun and engaging experience.
Although I was not able to purchase from all of the booths I was interested in, I particularly enjoyed art from Homie SF, Parasol Paper, Atelier by Jo, Shooley Art, Faith Cao, Art by Julia, Taromorrow Studios and Michaela Made.
Overall, Illo Mart was a great event to buy new decorations and stationery, as there was a wide variety to choose from. It was a fun experience for me, and the prices were reasonable while allowing me to support local artists. While plans for future Illo Marts are unknown, I recommend going to similar events hosted by SJMade, the next one being their Holiday Fair on Nov. 28 and 29.
Rating: 5/5 Falcons!
