So far, so obvious – custom exhibition stands are big, impressive, unique, effective and costly. Modular stands built from system components do the job and are cheaper, but look just like everyone elses and dont have any wow factor to differentiate your business from your competitors.

But the choice of exhibition stands doesnt have to be as obvious as that; suppose there was a way of getting the benefits and impact of a bespoke exhibition design with the economy of a modular stand? Well, the good news is that it is perfectly possible to combine the best of both and come up with a solution that delivers the impact of custom built design with the versatility and cost benefits of a modular stand. Lets call it Custom Modular, and if you choose the correct exhibition design company, you will be surprised at what they can deliver using this concept.

Modern modular components have moved a long way from the blue or grey fabric coloured panels that fitted together to make a flat, featureless wall with posters attached and a few chairs in front. An experienced designer can take extruded aluminium, glass, perspex, tensioned fabric and wood finishes, and combine these with backlit graphics, plasma screens, specialist lighting effects and polished wood floors to create a modern, sexy, bright and welcoming exhibition environment that is a unique reflection of your business and your marketing. Dont forget, were still talking modular components here.

Finally, the real trick is to mix the upmarket modular kit with just a few custom created components to add a truly unique feel that none of your competitors will have on their stands. What you have ended up with is an exhibition stand that is eighty percent modular and twenty percent custom, but looks truly bespoke and world class. But, and its a big but, the cost is considerably less and because its built from components it can be taken down, stored and then re-configured for your next show at half the original cost.

Even better, it can be re-sized to fit in a reduced space for those smaller trade shows without losing any impact. If you are exhibiting across different product areas, you can share the stand investment – good exhibition designers will be able to re-work the modular components and add some new graphics and branding, so you have another bespoke stand for your alternative business range using the power of your existing investment.

Custom Modular is the ultimate way forward in exhibition design. Its cost effective, nothing gets thrown away after a show so it has top class green credentials and in the hands of the right designers it looks like a million dollars.

Learn more about display counters or display counters

While trade shows are good venues to increase the level of exposure of your products or services, one problem has always been transporting and setting up the display booth. A well-designed business stand or modular display can attract the attention of viewers but sometime, modular exhibits, if built poorly, can look modular. They can look cheap because certain design aesthetics were sacrificed in order to achieve portability. If the right balance between portability and design is struck, your trade show exhibits can grab the attention of visitors and compel them to visit your booth. Professional construction can help in this regard. Consider the fact that a professional company not only knows how to build a trade show exhibit well, it also knows how to build it so it takes advantage of modern materials and design to be easily transported and stored. Skimping on construction can end up costing you more in terms of set up time, striking time, and transportation hassles in the long run.

You can select designs for your custom trade show exhibit as per your budget and needs. These may include banner displays, modular displays, and large-scale designs. Part of the budget should also be devoted to items you can give away, such as key chains, coffee mugs, and the ever-popular pens and Post-It pads. Keeping in mind the kind of trade show you are participating in, you can evaluate the needs and wants of your target audience and make preparations accordingly. Small giveaway items with your name and company brand can be easily transported to the site and made available without much trouble.

Custom trade show exhibits must be crafted according to a specific theme, how that hopefully matches your surroundings enough to not make your exhibit to daunting, but at the same time enough to make your exhibit stand out. Design your trade show exhibit in the best possible way where you can highlight your brand and the message you want to send across. Somehow, this message as embodied by the trade show exhibit must be easily recognizable, but must also be easily made modular. The idea is to create an exhibit that can stand out, but is not a white elephant that costs you time and money and trouble in terms of transport and set-up. These considerations will help you decide upon the kind of display you need to have for your trade show booth. You will be able to save a lot if you have set objectives and a properly planned budget. You can get a customized display system according to your requirements within your budget. You should decide on the following:

Does your company participate in a lot of trade shows? Could renting certain components instead of buying be to your advantage?
Does one show have a certain requirement that another does not?
Do you know the rules and requirements of the different shows you will be attending?
Custom-built modular display systems that meet your requirements come in varied sizes and units, with different designs and capabilities. They can be assembled to fit into booths of any size. Everyday new innovations are being applied to increase the number of display options that are available for exhibits.

If you participate in trade shows quite often, then a modular display system would prove to be very economical for you. These display stands can be modified to hold light boxes, posters, graphics and multimedia screens. They can be adjusted in a number of ways and adorned with useful accessories.

Besides being flexible and easy to put up, modular displays are pretty eye-catching and effective. They can fit into any marketing event, trade show, exhibition or retail store. The displays with their dazzling colors and graphics help to pull more visitors. You can even custom design your display to get the perfect look.

Modular displays are indeed highly versatile, easy to set up, can be adjusted into any space, offer space separation and provide structure adjustability. To get the perfect modular display for your custom exhibits, taking the help of an expert would be great.

Learn more about Display Graphics or Display Graphics

Your exhibition graphics should first and foremost…

1. Promote your products
Whatever combination of graphics and text that you decide on, make sure that they work together to showcase the features and benefits of your products/services. When someone walks up to your stand they should know immediately: who you are and what you do. Remember, you only have 3 seconds to captivate your target audience and you dont want to overwhelm them into scampering off to your competitions display. If you have complicated messages to communicate such as a client success story, rely on to your A/V presentations instead of your stand graphics to tell the story.

2. Boost your brand
When looking at your exhibition graphics, look at it from an all encompassing stand point, do your graphics: incorporate your logo, adhere to established branding guidelines, communicate your value proposition etc; all of these elements should be skillfully combined to lure in your target audience. [Also, be careful to not include any propriety information in your graphics as reprinting can be a costly endeavor].

Make sure to maintain your companys colour palette in not only your exhibition stand graphics but, it should carry through to flooring and furniture. If possible, repeat your logo on graphics that are visible from across the show floor, the aisle and even up close on staff name tags or clothing all the way thru to premium giveaways. The average attendee needs to be reminded 6 separate times to distinctly remember your brand, so the more times your brand is at front and center the more success you will have at driving brand memorability.

3. Stay on target
If you took a birds eye view of all of the places that your campaigns have appeared (both on and offline) your exhibition stand should be another channel to promote your campaigns. Make sure that you are openly communicating conversion points on your exhibition graphics such as your website and that your display is consistent with other display stands.

Learn more about display counters or display counters

First let’s review the five “Golden Rules” of designing effective trade show display graphics.

RULE 1) Get noticed. You’ve only got a few seconds when a prospect walks by your booth. Use a colorful image or catchy tag line to catch their attention.

RULE 2) Show your company name prominently.

RULE 3) Let them know what you do.

RULE 4) State one benefit that you provide better than your competitors (e.g. patented product, lower prices, fast turnaround, guaranteed results, etc). Put another way, tell a prospect why they should stop and spend their valuable time talking to you.

RULE 5) Keep in simple. Don’t write a novel or expect your prospect to study your trade show display like it’s the Mona Lisa. Make your point simply and quickly, and then rely on talking to your prospect.

Now to apply and learn from these rules. Before you start designing your own trade show graphics, if you can, you should attend a trade show and walk around and evaluate all of the trade show displays. Ask yourself how well they meet the five Golden Rules, and which designs impress you the most. For those of you who don’t have the time and/or opportunity to attend a trade show, Pinnacle Trade Show Displays has a gallery of 100 real-life customer trade show display designs on their website. Click through and look at each of the designs, and decide which designs meet the five Golden Rules, and which ones are memorable. If you’re thinking, “one hundred designs is a lot to look at”, you’re right. Consider how much time you spend looking at each one (probably not much)? Then consider that at a typical trade show there are several hundred trade show booths. This should reinforce that most people won’t spend but a few seconds looking at your display. That’s why the five Golden Rules are so important. So look through the designs, learn from others, and then create your own design.

Once you’ve created your own trade show display design, you’re ready for the next step. First have someone at your company look at your design for 5 seconds. Then take it away or cover it up, and ask them (1) would they stop to look at your display, (2) what’s your company name, (3) what do you do, and (4) what’s one benefit that you can offer them. Since they work at your company, hopefully all of these questions are easy. Next, ask a vendor or customer to look at your design and do the same thing (now you’re asking someone familiar with your company, but who doesn’t work there). Did your design pass this test? Finally, ask someone completely unfamiliar with your company (your neighbor, the clerk at your local gas station, etc). Can they answer all of the questions? If they can, you have a winning design – if not, it’s back to the drawing board.

Learn more about display kiosks or pop up display stands