As trade show booth designers and fabricators, we’re always on the lookout for new design ideas. Often, clients come to us with no idea what they’re looking for in terms of their trade show booth design. They can’t articulate it, but often what they want is something that will stand out and highlight their brand from a distance. As designers, it’s our job to learn what their brand essence is and translate that into a trade show booth design.
After building booths for hundreds of shows this year alone, we can confidently say there are 5 trends that stand out. Consider these trends when working with designers for your next booth:
Trade Show Booth Movement
Trade show booth design is evolving in order to catch people’s eye. One of the best ways to do so is to feature exhibits that have moving pieces. When trade show booths feature movement, it draws the eye across the crowded exhibit hall. This subconsciously encourages people to make a beeline for your trade show booth.
Incorporating movement into your trade show booth is as easy as creating custom props, featuring interesting videos on display, or even creating an experience with performers. At a recent trade show, one exhibitor had a basketball game at their booth, which drew tons of prospects to their booth. At CES, one of our clients had a custom prop which would periodically flash and spit out a glossy photo before returning inside the camera prop. Yet another client had street performers in their exhibit, playing music and juggling. These are excellent ways to feature movement in your booth.
Rustic Wood
Rustic wood has long been a design trend in homes, weddings, and other events. Now we are seeing it used with frequency in trade show booth designs. Often, natural brands, health brands, agricultural, country, or outdoorsy brands use rustic wood, but it can be used across a wide spectrum of brand identities. Consider using rustic wood as a pallet wall in your booth, as a rack to hang items on, or even planters. You do not necessarily need to construct your entire trade show booth out of rustic wood. Your brand can just as easily feature rustic wood as accents such as seating, shelving, planters, etc…
LED Walls
Video is wildly popular with people. After all, Google has said 97% of their users consume video content on their platform. With that in mind, many trade show booth designs are increasingly featuring LED walls to showcase video. Often, exhibits feature video demonstrations. However, one of our clients featured an LED wall that simulated a waterfall, which impressed and delighted people in the exhibit hall. People flocked to the booth from across the exhibit hall to find out how the waterfall effect was achieved. We were able to replicate that same effect using LED cubes on the other side of the booth to simulate that same water effect.
Fabric-Enhanced Pieces
As brands continue to customize their trade show booth designs, they often turn to fabric-enhanced pieces. Fabric is incredibly versatile and can be fashioned into many unique and clever designs. It’s also much lighter than heavier elements such as wood or plastic. While it’s incredibly popular to use fabric for the large overhead hanging signs, fabric is increasingly being used for more elements. One of our clients recently used fabric as an arch in their modern booth design. Lighting and gloss made it appear to be made out of plastic, but it was fabric. This was not only beautiful, but it also weighed less and was less expensive to ship and install.
Large Props
Admit it, if you looked across a crowded exhibit hall and saw a huge water tower, tractor, or car, you would be curious and want to check it out. As brands graduate to larger exhibit spaces, they want their trade show booth design to stand out. Often, designers seek to communicate the brand’s essence with large scale props. Large props draw the eye to a booth and encourage people to take a look. One of our clients recently used a mini taxi in their trade show booth design. This prop communicated their global presence as a telecommunications carrier. It was very popular as people took pictures sitting in the prop. As a result, trade show visitors exposed the brand to more people via social media. Consider the impact that could make on your brand.
When considering your next trade show booth design, ask your designer if these trends would work for you. Many custom items can be created or rented for reasonable rates. At Absolute Exhibits, we pride ourselves on staying ahead of the design trends and producing elegant looking exhibits that stand out on the trade show floor.
