Successful exhibition stand design is like good website design. It carries a point clearly and unambiguously and imparts information to the stand visitor in an intuitive and interesting manner.
So the key factors to design a stand well are:
1: Getting your point across without obfuscation. This means you need to start by identifying what that point is – not always easy where the client business does more than a couple of things. It can be good to sit down with the client and thrash out a clear plan for what they want the stand to say, as even a business with an apparently clear remit may have something special up its sleeve at trade show time.
2: Ensuring the three dimensions of the stand are used intuitively. If you want to take the stand visitor on a journey through the business and the industry of your client, you’d better be sure you have set that journey out obviously from A to Z. And if you have a specific part of the stand that must be seen by everyone, be sure it’s in front and centre where all can encounter it.
3: Ensure that your design of exhibition stand answers the needs of stand staff as well as stand visitors. You will need to incorporate areas where staff may store their belongings safely. And you should pay close attention to the ergonomics of any stand greeting stations. Will staff members manning them be comfortable and adequately supplied with computer connections or appointment books?
4: Make sure the health and safety aspects of your exhibition stand are all in place. The electrical connections may only be carried out by a qualified electrician – in some countries, you must use the contractors approved by the venue, as they are qualified in electrical safety law as it applies to the country in question.
5: Come up with a full exhibition stand designing before you start building. If necessary, make a range of models to show the client what your proposed stand options will look like. The last thing you want is to get halfway through the real thing, only for the client to say “Oh! I didn’t realise it was going to look like that.”
In the past, I have noted that exhibition stand designs are much like web designs. In many respects this is still true.
The web designer’s job, essentially, lies in using technology unfamiliar to the client, to get the client’s whole brand across clearly and convincingly online.
The exhibition stand designer’s job is exactly the same – only in three dimensions. On some custom designs of exhibition stands, this can ring true own to the finest detail.
Where you are imparting a range of information about different projects or services on one custom stand – that’s like the several pages of a company website. The whole stand is the site as a whole. The reception point is the home page. And the various showcased areas are the pages to which the stand visitor navigates.
So the same priorities hold true. Be clear, be simple, be smart.
Author Bio: Ericka Jonathon is a freelance content writer by profession. She finds immense pleasure in writing Exhibition related articles including exhibition stand design.
