Rethinking Exhibit Design

Materials and Methods

One of the most common materials used in the design and fabrication of a custom trade show exhibit is laminate. Carpenters understand the properties and characteristics of laminate enough to know what to expect when they work with it. Project managers know to buy a vertical post forming grade laminate when skinning round columns. Or use a normal, multi-purpose grade laminate for flat surfaces.

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Box-frame laminate construction, a ribbed birch-ply panel skinned in luan and a plastic laminate is by far, the exhibition industry standard for wall panels. This is because it is what “we know” and “it is how we’ve always done it before” – at least in the United States. And for this very reason, is why the cost of custom exhibit construction is so expensive. Our failure to reinvent our current way of doing business; to learn new ways of doing things is what is hurting our industry the most. Builders like the Taylor Group, or many of the European builders understand this better than anyone and are taking full advantage of it – they are design and innovation driven companies and know the importance of three-dimensional brand management.

As designers, our creative responsibility is to find alternative materials and methods that drive our designs and transfer brands into 3D space. We need to break out of our comfort zones, research new materials and methods of construction if we are to survive in a global market. Unfortunately, most designers in the business will agree, the time it takes to research materials and new ways to construct exhibits is a luxury many of us do not have.

Our industry is essentially a commodity, yet our clients consistently ask for us to be more creative, to come up with something new. When we do, the cost is too high because it’s an unfamiliar construction technique. The way to solve this problem is a simple one,time. We need time to do the proper planning and research.

Offering no time to put any thought into our job in the end will most likely only cost the client more money and kill creativity. Why? Because when everything is shot from the hip, no plan, no course of action – we all lose.

Our job becomes more of a reaction then a planned process. With the proper lead time, we can consider using new, more unique materials. Are roto-locks the most effective way to connect panels for I&D guys, or is it just what works for right now? Do we use box-frame laminate construction because it’s easy? Meaning, we don’t have to think – just pull the trigger and we’re done? I would say yes to those questions. Why can’t we print graphics on a large roll of paper and wrap it around metal frames– that’s green! The point here is that we don’t need to think outside the box, but actually reinvent the box.

Designers are the first step to innovation. Until design, production, sales and general managers focus more on how to solve problems, and just not what to sell, none of us win. We’ll all be held hostage to “What we know” and fail to truly service the client, reduce costs and show that as three-dimensional brand managers, we really know what we’re doing. Because when it comes to managing brands in three-dimensional space, I highly doubt, every company brand we manage, translates into 3D as a box-frame, laminated panel.

This article was contributed by Billy Raygun:  www.billyraygun.com

Do you agree with these sentiments?  What are other ways that designers can change the industry?