The Title should be relevant to the Theme. New exhibitors often have a punchy title, “Tigers: Lords of the Wild”. “The Queen of Flowers”. “Electricity” which has little or no relation to the exhibit. It is important to have a title that is simple and can be clearly illustrated by the material and the text. Some examples include “The Copernican Revolution”, “Whiskers” and “Christmas Dimensions”.

 First time exhibitors often omit a plan. In a one frame National or a three frame State or National exhibit, a title page and the plan can be combined on the first page. Five to eight frame National and International exhibits can still do this or have separate pages for the title page and the plan. The plan should set out the structure of the exhibit and its subdivisions. It should be correct, logical and balanced and cover all aspects related to the title.

 New exhibitors tend to mix up the thematic and philatelic text. The thematic text must be given priority and be succinct. New exhibitors often have too much text and not enough material. The philatelic text should be used to note aspects not readily obvious such as the number of items in existence if the item is rare and the status such as proof, essay, variety, printings etc.

Computers are great for writing up exhibits as different texts can be used for the thematic text and the philatelic text. Most exhibitors use a larger font for the thematic text, say Times Roman 12 and a smaller one say, Times Roman italic 10, for the philatelic text.

Describing what is on the item rather than using the item to tell the story is a common mistake made by new exhibitors. For example in an exhibit about Papal Visits, the thematic text should not be a heading for commemorative sets of stamps and covers. It should tell a story that covers points, (like the first visit to a country, controversial visits and important people met) to develop a theme such as “The Travels of Pope John Paul II”.

New exhibitors often use just stamps. A thematic exhibit must have a variety of items and ideally no pages that only show stamps.

New exhibitors often have unwieldy themes. The most successful thematic exhibits have a simple, concrete theme such as “Whiskers”, “Christmas Dimensions”, “Birds and Man” and “Headgear” so that the story is clearly and logically developed. Furthermore for any theme expect to be very frustrated because there are no items to use in developing specific aspects!

It is often difficult for new collectors and exhibitors to gain high marks for rarity. Most exhibitors do not have deep pockets and add to the rarity element over time. It is important to remember that old does not equal rare and neither does just expensive. The ideal rare item is very scarce and may not be expensive, but just elusive or unknown to all but the thematic collector undertaking personal research and study.

It’s only worth 5 marks, but presentation is important. A neat write up combined with tasteful layout on good paper makes a favourable impression. Some exhibitors like to use paper that is related to the theme. Pale blue for marine themes for example or flecked paper for “whiskers”. Remember that you must use white or light coloured paper. Black or dark papers are not accepted in Exhibitions.