It’s hopefully no surprise that it’s our goal to continually develop products and design solutions with impact – it’s in our name after all! But sometimes clients look for a little inspiration of their own, before they come to us with a brief. So, we thought we’d pull together a list of our top 7 tips, when creating an exhibition stand with the WOW factor…
1. Consider cut-to-shape items
From vinyl letters to striking acrylic symbols, cut-to-shape items give 3D relief, form and depth to a stand, which can otherwise sometimes be difficult to achieve. They’re also a quick, easy and cost-effective way to produce something bespoke and eye-catching.
2. Bespoke doesn’t have to mean ‘build and burn’
Keen to stand out from the crowd, many brands provide exhibition stand contractors with a brief that means a bespoke, timber ‘build and burn’ structure is the only option. But this approach hardly ticks the ‘eco-conscious’ box. Display hardware such as lightboxes provide a welcome – and reusable – alternative, without organisations having to resort to a traditional and somewhat uninspiring shell-scheme.
3. Look up!
When it comes to standing out from the crowd, it’s important to make use of every element of space. Aerial / hanging structures fulfil this brief perfectly and can even act as wayfinders when delegates are a little further away than you’d like!
4. Make your budget work harder
The cost of exhibition floorspace alone is widely renowned as being – in all honesty – astronomical! So, if you have a strict budget, that will only stretch so far, think carefully about how big your stand really needs to be. Sometimes clients panic that size matters above all else, so they invest disproportionately in too big a space that they cannot afford to ‘dress’. But an empty, poorly-designed or uninspiring stand will be far worse than a more modest, yet really impactful brand hub!
5. Don’t settle for still
Photographic-quality fabric graphics alone will help to pull a crowd, but for even more eye-catching impact, consider displays that create a sense of movement. Dynamic lighting on an LED-illuminated lightbox is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to do this, with black and white to RGB colour, pulsing and dimmable options all available.
6. Pay attention to detail
The finishing touches matter in any commercial space, and an exhibition stand is no different. In fact, we’ve written on the reasons why fabric graphics fail, and the importance of getting them absolutely right. So, from the use of UV flexible inks to the appointment of the right print partner for your displays, don’t let the detail get overlooked. There’s nothing worse than months of effort that culminate in a graphic that doesn’t fit, is poorly lit or is not ‘on brand’.
7. Don’t restrict your design thinking
This is one of those situations where there should be no such thing as a daft idea. So, when it comes to thinking about the wow factor you want to create for your exhibition space, plan, conceptualise and create! Don’t be afraid of what is or isn’t possible – it’s our job to work out how to turn the brief into a reality!
