Tips for Designing Trade Show Booths

Buying and setting up a booth for a trade show is not difficult. What is difficult is choosing among the many different designs for trade show booths that are now available. However, this can be simplified. First, you want to figure out what the booth's overarching goals will be. Next, you want to choose the individual elements that help to meet those goals. And finally, you want to review the total package to make sure that the individual elements don't compete against one another. Do those three things and your trade show booths are going to be a lot more effective.

The whole process starts with figuring out what your goals are for the booth. Do you want to immediately attract attention when people enter the room? Do you want to keep people at your booth for as long as possible? Do you want to sell products or are you seeking to hand out as much information as you can? These goals help to determine what should go into the booth that you are designing.

For example, let's say that your goal is to hand out information. The booth itself should be set up so that people passing by can easily reach all of the pamphlets that you have available. The pamphlets should be designed in an eye-catching manner. In contrast, if you want to keep people at the booth for a long period of time then you might have open spaces where they can congregate while you do a demonstration. For this reason, you want to start your booth design with a list of your core goals for the booth.

Once you have your goals in place, you can start selecting all of the items that will go into the booth. There are many different options when it comes to booth design. There are cardboard cutouts, tables, banners, display boards and more.

The best way to manage this array of options is to make a list of each item that is being considered for the booth. After that, go through the list item by item. Focus individually on each item in its turn. Try to find the perfect item to meet your goals. For example, if you want to have a magazine rack in your booth and your goal is to hand out information then make sure that you select the magazine rack that is most conducive to letting a lot of people access items from it at the same time.

In the same vein, you always want to ask yourself if the items that you are selecting even contribute to your goals at all. If your goal is to hand out a lot of information then do you really need a big banner? You may decide that you do because it brings people to the booth to get that information. As long as you've thought through the decision with the goals in mind then the result should be a pleasing one.

Looking at the individual items for the booth isn't sufficient, of course. You do have to go through the final step of looking at the booth when everything is put together. Ask yourself again if the final product meets your goals. You may even want to get feedback about that from other people in your office or home.

Finally, make sure that you step back and look at the impact that the design has as you pass by. Trade show booths can meet all of your goals and yet just not look visually appealing. You don't want to turn people off with an overwhelming booth. Move or remove any items that make the booth look too cluttered or confusing. After that, you should have a booth that really works for you.