Designing Beautiful Tradeshow Displays

Make a booth that stands out from the pack

Often with tradeshows, marketers get hung up on the display itself, forgetting that a tradeshow display should serve as the backdrop for your company’s presence at the show. You might commission the most beautiful and elaborate tradeshow display money can buy, but if you haven’t considered your marketing strategy and your tactics for driving people to your booth, you’ve wasted your time. Always consider how you’re going to get traffic to your booth first and design a display accordingly.

So what are some things to consider when developing tradeshow artwork? Here’s a list to get you started:

Venue matters. Perhaps you’ve rented a booth at an indoor convention, a spot to pitch a tent at an outdoor one, or an entire room at a conference center. Your artwork will need to be developed with that venue in mind; a large, colorful booth may be designed to be visible from the walkway at an indoor convention center, while a room may require a few banners outside the door with smaller, exhibit-style displays inside the room.

Don’t clutter your artwork with too much copy. This mistake is one made often in presentations as well – overeager presenters put all of their lines in the slide, and as a result the audience focuses on trying to read the 8 point font on the screen rather than listen to the presenter. Keep text on the booth display to a minimum (a single tagline at the most) and save your information for handouts and face-to-face conversations with visitors to your booth. Think of it this way: no one will be standing and reading the bulleted list on the side of your booth.

Keep imagery large and make it the central focus. This ties in somewhat with the previous point; a booth should serve as a visual backdrop for your organization’s presence and not as an informational tool. Generally the same will be true for standing banners or other large artwork, but situations often present unique challenges, so you should use your best judgment.

In general, your tradeshow display should call out your brand clearly and powerfully to visitors, creating an environment where your representatives can deliver your organization’s message effectively.