Need inspiration? It’s easy to get so busy whacking through the forest of show details that you overlook the trees of design and layout. A brainstorming retreat could be in order, but who has time for that? Here’s the next best thing. Travel with a team of expert show designers through each segment of the show floor to get all the latest design ideas and advice.
Entryways
Do’s • Use more floral arrangements in the entryway. “Floral tends to add a classier, dignified aura and plays to the green movement,” says Marty Glynn, President and CEO of Metropolitan Exposition Services Inc., in Moonachie, NJ (www.metro-expo.com). “Use grand arrangements rather than rent ferns and ficus trees.” • Get theatrical at entrances to create impact, says Chris Young, Vice President of Creative Services for Champion Exposition Services in Middleboro, MA (www.championexpo.com). At the base of the escalator at one show, his team created an 18-foot doorway with a 10-foot paper airplane flying through it with theatrical lighting and dimensional letters. Attendees saw it as a great place to have their photos taken. • Light up the entrances. Ambient light in any hall is lower than you think. If you want it noticed, make sure it has sufficient light on it or behind it, says Scott Savage, Designer with Dallas-based Freeman Co. (www.freemanco. com).
Don’ts • Don’t use wordy copy on entrance units and other largeformat graphics. Keep the message simple and focused and easily visible from a distance, much like the outdoor advertising messaging philosophy. • Don’t tell your designer to “‘Be creative. Just come up with something,’ if you already have something in mind for your entrance unit,” says Hope Hennessey, National Director of Design and the design team at Atlanta-based Shepard Exposition Services (www.shepardes.com). Tell the designer your ideas upfront. • Don’t use a simple arch. It’s too dated, says David Solsberry, Executive Design Director for Hargrove Inc. in Lanham, MD (www.hargroveinc.com). “If the entrance unit is boring, what can you expect to find inside? Try adding video screens or internal lighting to draw people in.”
Floorplans
Do’s • Design with the show’s goals in mind, says Savage. For example, the Meeting Professionals International “MeetDifferent” expo goal is networking. Therefore, the floor plan used open-area “Connection Spots” in place of standard aisles. The result was a much more open and inviting area for attendees and exhibitors to connect. • Always check fire code regulations with the fire marshal before planning the layout, Glynn says. “Show organizers used to depend on contractors to do their floorplans, but with today’s software, some organizers are doing their own floorplan, and they aren’t familiar with the nuances of fire marshal regulations.” • Get the specific space parameters from the facility and stay within the boundaries, Glynn says. Large venues may have multiple shows going on simultaneously, and some allow their registration area to overlap another show’s designated space. “Some people want to overlook or cheat,” he says.
Don’ts • Don’t forget audio design. “We’ve found that music tends to create a good buzz, depending on the environment,” Glynn says. “If it’s a high-energy event, good audio accompaniment gets the crowd excited, as long as it’s not overly loud and obnoxious.” • Don’t allow monotony in the floor design. If there’s a call-out area where a group of booths share something in common, change the carpet color in that section, says Clayton Lovelace, National Director of Design for GES Exposition Services in Plymouth, MA (www.ges.com). “It creates a different feel. With no visual boundaries, it allows traffic to flow a little easier.” • Don’t place all the large island booths in the same area. Because people are drawn to the large, expensive booths, pepper them throughout the show floor to increase visibility of the smaller booths, says Hargrove’s Solsberry.
Signage
Do’s • Remember three simple words: clarity, simplicity and impact. Too much information hidden in the design isn’t effective, and the sign will fail to serve its purpose, says Savage. Way-finding signage should have just enough information that attendees can remember until they get to the next sign. • Choose font readability over style. Consult a font-size readability chart, says Randy Pekowski, Vice President and COO for Irving, TX-based The Expo Group (www.theexpogroup.com). • Consider inflatable signs in any shape to carry your brand, logo or message. Since they’re portable and lightweight, you can use them on the sidewalk, at the entrance, floating in the resort’s fountain, on a vehicle outside or in the hall.
Don’ts • Don’t put copy below knee level, and don’t put anything important below waist level. An individual’s area of focus is very limited. When you look at that full-size proof, stand next to it and check the waist/knee rule, Savage says. • Don’t use images or logos that were pulled off a Web site. They’re the wrong resolution for large-format printing, says Shepard’s Hennessey. Get quality artwork, even if you have to re-create the logo. • Don’t limit the sign function to traditional signs. Use a threediminsional prop to create a sense of location, says Young with Champion Exposition Services. For one show, he created a large purple, internally lit pyramid placed at the expo floor entrance. He suggests using a structure/shape in line with your brand or theme. It helps create atmosphere.
Registration Areas
Do’s • Color-code the registration area just as you do your badges. For example, blue signs for exhibitors, orange for advanced registration and yellow for on-site registration. • Try out your registration-area design. Sit behind a registration counter you’ve designed and try to hand someone a pen over the desk. Fill out a form at a counter. Check the clearance under the header. Designing on a computer is fast and fun, but test out how practical it is. • Make sure your stanchions and ropes are appropriate for the size of crowd. It reflects poorly on your show if the space allotted for the lines is disproportionate to the crowd, says Glynn.
Don’ts • If there are many counters, don’t fill the registration area with a lot of 22- by 28-inch signs on easels. They’ll get lost in the crowds. Rather, make sure the signs are easily identifiable from a distance, says Pekowski with The Expo Group. • Don’t miss an opportunity to sell your brand or message in the prominent registration area. For smaller shows with less-complicated registration, allot some of your budget for a centerpiece that creates impact, says GES’ Lovelace. “Convey the power of the show. It could be a multimedia projection of imagery and words with beautiful graphics.”
Sponsorships
Do’s • Rather than concentrate the sponsorship promotions on a banner in the lobby, think about hanging some beneath aisle signs, posted in the sky bridge connecting hotels to the convention center, in the parking garage, on window static cling decals and on tabletop cards around the refreshment areas, says Phil Hantak, Senior Designer for Rosemont Exposition Services in Rosemont, IL (www.resexpo.com).
Don’ts • Don’t oversell sponsorship graphic banners and signage in the main public areas to the point that you lose your own branding identity. You don’t want to go for the NASCAR look. • Don’t put sponsor names on wayfinding signs, says Lovelace. “It’s important to get attendees as soon as they step out of the taxi to navigate through the show without confusion. Don’t clutter information pertinent to the show that helps attendees function on site.” • Don’t allow sponsors to dictate how logos and information are displayed. It’s important to keep a clean, consistent look on all signage, says Solsberry.
Green/Sustainable Decoration
Do’s • Integrate electronic digital signage outside meeting rooms and for messaging units, which helps eliminate the amount of one-time-use signs. In the process, it gives you the ability to make continuous and frequent content updates. • Check into using aluminum extrusion modular systems for exhibit and/or registration areas. Aluminum is easily recyclable. For the panels, look into eco-friendly materials like plyboo and bamboo — renewable wood products, says Ellen Beckert, Corporate Director of Marketing and Communications, with Freeman Co. “You have to plan ahead and ask for a cost differential.”
Don’ts • Don’t date your show graphics on signs, banners, carpet and logos. Rather, use the corporate logo or a design without a year on it so it can be reused, says Pekowski. • If you’re using eco-friendly materials, don’t succumb to the temptation to design it to look like a Tiki hut. It’s a mistake to think the area and materials have to look raw or earthy, Beckert says. “In reality, you should and can make it look normal with a design to fit the brand of your show and still use eco-friendly construction materials.”
Show Colors
Do’s • Use bright colored carpet and drapes to lighten up the show appearance in dark exhibit halls. Use neutral drapes and aisle carpet for well-lit halls. • Know your show audience when you pick colors. An audience with mostly men may have difficulty with certain colors, says Barbara Fett, Director of Business Development for The Expo Group. • Consider the emotional impact of color in design. Google “color psychology” for a description, says Mike Schultz, Director of Design for Brede Exposition Services in Camp Hill, PA (www.brede.com). Color inspires emotions and feelings and can bring about a desired response.
Don’ts • Don’t pick too many colors or you’ll lose the clarity of the “look” and the readability of the signage, says Hennessey. • Don’t create your color palette without considering the environment, says Lovelace. For example, if it’s a facility by the ocean with a white and light blue, airy feel, select colors that work well in that setting. • Don’t assume the colors you pick will translate well when printed on a substrate. Ask your contractor to print and send samples so you can see how the colors will look printed and mounted, says Pekowski.
Based in Olathe, KS, Jody Shee is a writer, editor and consultant with more than 15 years of experience in business-to-business communications. Most recently, she served as Editor of Produce Concepts magazine, published by Vance Publishing Corp. She can be reached at jody.shee@sbcglobal.net. Design Tips and Tricks • As you plan an overall design, don’t go off on a tangent that only you understand. Collaborate. Write a three-sentence description of a design and see if anybody else can understand it without further explanation, says Scott Savage, Designer with Freeman Co. in Dallas. • Walk the entire show as an attendee to determine where you most need to draw attention and determine how to create visual hierarchy so attendees aren’t overwhelmed by visual clutter or noise, says Chris Young, Vice President of Creative Services for Champion Exposition Services in Middleboro, MA. • Design the show/association booth to be open and inviting to avoid making attendees feel like they need an invitation to get inside. Make it visible from a distance and make it tell the show/association story with multiple graphic/marketing opportunities, says David Solsberry, Executive Design Director for Hargrove Inc. in Lanham, MD. • Don’t be afraid to get a little silly. Try a cartoon podium wrap for a special event, for instance. An idea that starts as a lark can often be the force that drives a show out of its creative doldrums and into a fresh new look with vibrant energy, says Savage. • Keep open countertop sizes in cyber cafés and lounges to a minimum, as they tend to collect cups and trash. Avoid this problem by keeping laptops or plants on the countertops, says Mike Schultz, Director of Design for Brede Exposition Services in Camp Hill, PA.
Conjure with Color Set the mood with some intentional color. You can use it in your marketing to convey a positive message, according to Precision Intermedia Media in Fortuna, CA (www.precisionintermedia. com). The company points out the psychology behind these colors in the Western Hemisphere:
Black: The color of authority, power, evil and grieving. Evokes strong emotions. Don’t overwhelm your audience with too much of it. Gray: Associated with practicality and pricelessness. A little gray creates a solid feeling, but too much of it leads to a feeling of nothing. Red: The color of energy, movement and excitement. Surrounding a crowd with red could make their hearts beat faster. Pink: The most calming of colors. It drains the energy and calms aggression. Blue: Allows people to focus. It causes the body to produce calming chemicals. However some shades of it, or too much blue, can send a cold, uncaring message. Green: Conveys peace, growth, nature and money. Forest green is associated with concepts like conservative, masculine and wealth. Light green is calming. Yellow: Associated with cheerfulness, laughter and good times. Can speed up the metabolism and bring out creativity. Pale yellow is associated with cowardice, while more golden shades convey the promise of better times. Orange: Conveys a new dawn. As the most flamboyant color, it’s tied to fun times and energetic days. It’s the color of ambition. Purple: Breathes royalty, wealth, prosperity and sophistication. It lends an air of mystery, wisdom and respect. Too much purple, though, gives an artificial feel. Brown: Gives a natural, organic feel. It’s most associated with reliability, stability and friendship.
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