Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Transform Your Small Trade Show Booth With These 4 Simple Tricks

Not every company can afford the premium space and extra materials needed to have large, high impact trade show booths. If you're a relative newcomer to using trade show booths, Las Vegas business owners can tell you that when your booth is wedged between trade show exhibits that are 1600 square feet or more, it can look minuscule in comparison. But by using some easy design tips, you can give your small trade show booth the illusion of more space.

Using Reflective Surfaces In Your Trade Show Booths

Mirrors or highly reflective surfaces can instantly make any space feel bigger. Interior designers have used them for years to visually expand smaller rooms and give them a weightier feel. The most obvious way to do this is to install a large mirror at the back of your trade show booth, but you can get as creative as you like using mirrors or reflective materials such as polished metal. You can place mirrors strategically throughout the space or cover structural elements with them; any of these will visually expand the area in trade show booths.

Change The Perspective In Trade Show Booths

Las Vegas trade show pros are adept at playing with perspective in order to fool the eye. Backdrops that give the illusion that the space doesn't stop, but continues to a distant vanishing point are a marvelous way to create a roomier feel in your exhibit. This works particularly well with outdoor scenes such as a long road winding into distant mountains. A good exhibit designer can create a beautiful background that ties in with your product line. You can place your products in front of the background and create a tableau that tells a story.

Use Colors To Expand Space In Trade Show Booths

Have you ever been in a small room that was painted in dark colors? Then you probably remember how claustrophobic it felt. Dark colors can seem to shrink the size of a room, but the opposite is also true - lighter colors will seem to push the walls back. Pastels and white reflect light, bouncing it back to the eyes and tricking your brain into thinking that the area is spacious and wide open.

White will certainly visually expand the space in Las Vegas trade show booths, but natural colors such as yellow, green, and blue can elicit the same response because they tend to remind visitors of the great outdoors. Keep in mind that these colors should be soft and bright in your trade show exhibits. Go with lighter, watery shades of blue and greens that are cheerful and not too deep. Blue is also soothing, a nice little bonus for visitors who may be tired of looking at dozens of trade show booths.

Expand Your Trade Show Booth Vertically

Sometimes you'll discover that your Las Vegas trade show booth options are limited when you arrive at the convention site. If you can't push the walls back, look up. The area at the top of trade show displays is often overlooked, but can help give your display area a more spacious feeling if you can work with it. If you don't want to invest in an exceptionally tall display that may not work at all venues, try temporary elements to add height to your area. Helium filled balloons, additional signage or even decorative light fixtures will add vertical space to your trade show booths. Las Vegas trade show exhibits with elements that draw the eye upward will seem more spacious. You'll also break up the visual monotony for visitors; it's a relief for the eyes to look at things at several different heights.

Don't despair when your Las Vegas trade show exhibits have to work in a confined space. By using mirrors, reflective surfaces, the right colors, and even the vertical area above your booth, you can increase the visual space of Las Vegas trade show booths and give visitors the sensation of being in a larger, roomier area.

Trade show carpet & trade show flooring

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Graphics Mistakes To Avoid In Trade Show Booths

There are certain graphics and text-oriented mistakes that you definitely do not want to make in your Las Vegas trade show stands. It is important for designers of trade show booths to not get too bold with designs; the goal is to attract show attendees, not scare them off. Especially in small, ten-by-ten foot booths where placement is everything, exhibitors need to keep basic design techniques in mind, and of course, be sure to proofread.

Choosing Fonts For Trade Show Booths' Signs

Designers all over love the myriad of fonts offered by word processing and graphic design computer programs. But just because you love the girly flourishes of Curlz MT doesn't mean you should incorporate it into your trade show stands. Readability is the key to remember. You want your signage to be visible from across the showroom floor. Companies also want to be taken seriously - crazy fonts do not convey an image of professionalism.

In the same vein, it is important to use a font that is not too small. You may go with a standard sans-serif font like Verdana or Arial, but if it is too small to read, it really does not matter that it is a standard font. Before ordering signage, check out signs at businesses around you and observe how big the letters actually are. Make sure you tell the graphic designer or sign manufacturer about the distance at which you want attendees to be able to read the text in your trade show booths. 

Remember Basic Design Principles

Be sure to keep visibility and simple color theory in mind. Exhibitors should place signs and text in their trade show booths at eye level. People do not want to have to search for things to read. Important text, such as your company's slogan and name, should be at an appropriate height and width. Going along with this idea, you also want to maintain visibility with color choices. Just as font size and style is important, so is contrast. If your company colors are red and yellow, orange text will not show up on trade show stands. A black and white theme forms the simplest, strongest visual contrast. Light colors show up well on dark backgrounds, and vice versa.

Do Not Forget To Proofread

Proofreading is an important step that somehow often seems to get overlooked. It would be quite embarrassing to have thousands of brochures touting your company printed out to give to trade show stands' attendees, only to find that they contain a grammatical or spelling error. Worse yet is a huge font subheading on the back wall of an exhibit display that contains errors such as using 'your' and not 'you're', 'there' and not 'they're', or 'its' instead of 'it's'. Make sure to run all documents through spell-checkers and have a writers or editors proofread them as well, since Word Processor Programs, like Microsoft Word will recognize these as properly spelled words, but not catch the grammatical mishaps. Have a few different people look over the final wording decision before ordering signage to catch any common errors.

By being conservative with font choices for trade show booths, keeping design principles in mind, and remembering to proofread for spelling and grammatical errors, your company can avoid some of the mistakes made when designing trade event exhibits.

How To 'Green' A Trade Show Exhibit Without Spending Lots Of 'Green'

When considering how many resources are required to run a successful trade show exhibit, going green has almost become a necessity. It not only helps the global community, but it also helps the company demonstrate its responsibility and dedication to the environment while saving money at the same time. With essentially no downsides, it only makes sense to consider the environment when ordering supplies and planning a great trade show display.

Make Use Of Technology


The technological advancements that have been made in the last decade have made it fast, quick, and easy for businesses to communicate with their target audience. Whether it's through a website, an email campaign, mobile phone marketing, or simple phone calls, make as much use of technology as possible. This saves on paper mailings, postage, and many companies find that they have a larger reach since many recipients will share the good news with others.

For the best results, companies should advertise the details of their trade show exhibit as early as possible using the methods that best suit the target audience. This could include keeping an updated calendar of events, followed by an invitation and coupons. Or, it could start with an e-newsletter, a personal invitation to attend the exhibition, or a coupon code texted to a cellular phone.

Extend The Life Of Printed Marketing Materials

Brochures and other items are important for many marketing plans, but there are ways to make this practice more affordable and environmentally friendly. For example, be sure the materials ordered are only printed on recycled paper using vegetable-based inks. It also helps save on paper and printing if brochures and pamphlets are printed on both sides instead of multiple sheets or separate materials. The layout can be further adjusted by changing the size of the text and graphic elements in order to use paper more efficiently.

The content included in the design can also make a difference. For example, employee's names and dates place an expiry date on printed items. Therefore, leave these details out so they can be used for a future trade show exhibit, conference, or as regular marketing materials.

Be Smart About Shipping And Transportation

Shipping and transporting a trade show exhibit uses a large amount of the earth's resources and leaves a lot of pollution and garbage behind. Therefore, try to ship as wisely and as cost effectively as possible. Reusing the boxes and packing materials each time will save a considerable amount of materials. If additional packing material is needed, reuse paper, cardboard, and wood to keep everything protected.

When purchasing displays, companies wanting to save money and help the environment should look for lightweight styles that fold up into small packages. This will help save fuel because it will require less power to move, and because it requires less space, shipping will cost less overall. It might also help to order supplies and components in the same location as the exhibition to avoid shipping altogether.

Making a trade show exhibit greener doesn't have to cost a fortune. In fact, it can help companies save money and even make more sales since many customers and businesses will only buy from environmentally friendly suppliers. Make sure everyone benefits from a successful trade show display by putting in the effort to save resources and reduce waste.