We don’t think this will be the first time you have heard the phrase “first impressions count”, but when it comes exhibition stand design, the phrase cannot be used enough to drive home the importance of the wow factor. You may well have the best product or service on the market, your team might be the best in the business, but poor stand design can let you down cause you to lose customers to your competition.
So where does great exhibition stand design come from and how do you attain that eye catching stand to make your competitors green with envy? Follow these simple steps to help guide you through the design process:
What are your goals for exhibiting?
When you define your reasons or objectives for participating in a trade show, the message you want to communicate will become clear. Ensure you keep the message and goals front of mind when designing your stand or creating a brief for an exhibition stand designer.
Who is your audience?
As with all things sales and marketing related, a focus on your target audience is key to ensure you don’t drift and allow creativity to take you down a path which disengages you from your customer. Having a strong stand concept which is geared towards your customers wants and needs will help to draw them in.
Have you maximised your space?
Stand space is a premium and you need to ensure you utilise it all within your design. Always check with the show organisers to determine how high you can build – some exhibitions allow you to build up to 20 feet high which gives you great visibility throughout the hall. You can give height to a stand by creating a high arch over your booth, building a wall or central tower, adding a rotating or fixed signage or adding a second story to your build.
Have you clearly conveyed your key messages?
In the 60 seconds a visitor takes to walk past a stand at an exhibition, there is little time to read copious amounts of text, so however you decide to market your company, brand and product, try to do as much as you can without too much copy. Images or single words which resonate with your target audience will perform much better. Use fonts which are large and easy to read from a distance, placing all copy on the upper half of your booth to ensure it is legible at all times. Images which are life size are more powerful and noticeable. This may be more difficult to achieve on a smaller stand, but on larger stands you will need to scale up the size of your graphics to ensure they don’t get lost and are utilised as key attention-grabbing tools.
Find out more about how to utilise graphics on your stand to their best advantage by clicking here
Have you remembered to add lighting?
Lighting is not a luxury when it comes to trade fairs, it is a must. It helps increase traffic, highlights key products and services and sets the mood at the trade show. Even at its most basic level, lighting helps your customers to read text and marketing materials but at its best, lighting can be arresting and make a really dynamic statement. Your exhibition stand designer should make allowances for lighting throughout your display area and it is wise to ensure enough is put aside in your budget to execute a strong lighting scheme.
For more information on considerations when designing a lighting scheme for your exhibition stand, click here
Build your stand to represent your brand
The type of materials you use throughout your exhibition stand design will create a 3 dimensional brand environment for your customers to experience. It is therefore important to ensure the materials you use reflect your brand; high tech companies might use a clean look with aluminium or brushed metal panels with chrome details, for a more environmentally conscious approach try pallet wood, fake grass, living walls, seagrass and recycled materials. The use of fabrics will help soften a stand and give it a more sumptuous feel, they also aid in setting the scene for a specific trend or mood.
As experienced exhibition stand builders, the team at ESM are adept at considering these elements amongst many others when creating trade fair stands. For a design consultation, give us a call to see how we will approach your next exhibition space.