Trade fairs provide a great opportunity for businesses to showcase their brand, products, and services, as well as generate leads and sales. Business events are particularly valuable in the UK. According to ESSA, they contribute £9.4 billion to the UK economy each year.
Exhibiting at trade fairs requires a substantial investment of time and money, so it is crucial to maximise the impact. Your stand is your identity at an exhibition. It should be visually appealing, accurately represent your brand, and contribute to a high return on investment.
Here’s a compilation of design tips and tricks to help create an impactful exhibition stand design.
Plan and Define Goals
It is important to plan and define your goals before you design your stand. This is because your stand design should align with your specific objectives.
For instance, if your goal is lead generation, the stand should be conducive to networking, with welcoming reception points. Alternatively, if brand awareness is your focus, clear branding and logos should take centre stage, complemented by interactive features for memorability.
The Visuals: Exhibition Stand Graphics
Make sure you choose a stand design that can feature large-format graphics. Large-format graphics are highly effective at communicating marketing messages, branding, images, and logos. These visual elements make your brand stand out and leave a lasting impression on visitors. Some exhibition stand contractors can even extend this branding to the floor.
Make sure your stand is not too text-heavy! When choosing your graphic design, focus on a business name, a key marketing message and a call to action. Business names should be placed higher up on the stand to ensure visibility and there should be plenty of negative space between messages, and logos, to allow messaging to shine. Insufficient negative space can make messages appear crowded and unprofessional.
Features for Visibility
At business shows, you are competing with numerous other exhibitors for the attention of visitors. Many exhibition stands can include features to make your stand more visible, and eye-catching.
For example, Quadrant2Design, a UK-based exhibition stand design and build contractor, offers features like high-level branding, rotating headers, and backlit graphics and cut-outs.
High-level branding is built to the maximum allowed height of 4m. The feature allows exhibition stands to tower over competitors, with brand names and logos visible all the way through the exhibition hall! Similarly, Quadrant2Design offers a rotating header, which can include lighting. This feature also ensures visibility, but because it rotates it makes stands dynamic, adds interest, and allows brand logos to be visible from every direction. If you’re planning your stand, look for features like these to boost stand visibility.
Sustainability
Sustainability claims can seem disingenuous if they are not matched with a sustainable exhibition stand. Because of this, and the ever-growing move to eco-friendly practices, sustainability is a relevant factor in exhibition stand design.
Opting for a modular stand over traditional custom builds can demonstrate your commitment to sustainability. Modular stands, designed for reusability, not only reduce waste but also offer flexibility. They are made of separate components that slot together like Lego to create the finished stand. The stands can be reconfigured to suit different stand spaces and sizes, and new components can be added or removed as needed!
Product Display
Integrate your products into your exhibition stand for a more tidy, professional-looking display. Displaying your products inside the stand structure saves valuable floor space and elevates the stand design. Lighting features can also be added to draw further attention to products.
Brand Colours
Colours have a significant impact on human emotions and responses. Though your exhibition stand colours might be based on your brand colours, there are some tips and tricks to ensure they look cohesive.
Focus on two main brand colours with one additional colour to soften the look or emphasise certain key messages. If you use just two colours, it can be challenging to define certain messages. Three complimentary colours are the best for design.
Think about the psychology behind colours. For example, blue represents loyalty, reliability and trustworthiness, while colours like orange represent vitality, energy and health.
Conclusion
Creating an impactful exhibition stand design requires careful planning, creativity, and attention to detail. However, with these tips and tricks, you have a great head start!
By setting clear goals, using large-format graphics, effective graphic design, prioritising sustainability and integrating product display, your stand will look professional, and eye-catching and will have a lasting effect on visitors.
