Exhibition Stand Ideas

Hundreds of trade show designs

Research shows you have seconds to attract the attention of exhibition visitors. Cover all bases with our exhibition stand ideas from award-winning Quadrant2Design.

Graphic Design Takeaways

• Your exhibition stand graphics must convey in straightforward terms WHAT YOU DO. Try to be too smart or subtle, and you will lose visitor attention.
• Go light on the text; people won’t read it. The show visitor most readily assimilates big, bold, simple statements.
• People like people, so big images of attractive people using your product or service is a great idea.
• Use bold and robust colour concepts for the exhibition walls, instead of dull white. How about deep purple or orange tangerine?
• Less is more, and the best exhibition graphic ideas are simple. Throw the kitchen sink at your design concepts, and you’ll confuse your visitor.

Stand Design Takeaways

• FLAT WALLS ARE BORING. Try to incorporate sweeping curved walling. Many contractors struggle with curved walls, so find a company who have the skills and techniques to give you the design look you want.
• The more successful the show, the busier it is, and the more likely your branding will get lost in the visual melee. Dependant on your stand solution, get your branding as high as possible. Don’t go over 4 metres though, or your lovely Show Organiser will extort more money from you!
• Another excellent exhibition stand idea is to create a sense of intimacy by careful use of the 3D structure. Overhead canopy structures and meeting spaces can create that home-from-home feeling!

29 Innovative Exhibition Stand Thoughts

Quadrant2Design have been around for over 20-years, and we’ve designed and built around 600 exhibits every year. Here are some of the exhibition stand ideas, thoughts and concepts behind our exhibiting success.

1. Stunning Graphics

Eye-catching graphics and bold, bright colours will ensure visibility in the exhibition hall and add that extra “wow” factor to your stand.

2. Exciting Structural Design

As most exhibitors simply settle for flat walls, without any design features, one easy way to ensure you stand out is to utilise your area with a unique 3D custom-designed structure.

3. High-Level Branding

Many exhibitors forget to consider height. But using high-level branding is one of the best ideas to get your exhibition stand noticed across a crowded exhibition hall.

4. Effective Lighting

Another overlooked exhibition stands idea is lighting. But several studies have shown that lighting can increase awareness of your exhibit by 50%. The right type of light on an exhibition stand will enhance your product showcase and make your stand more appealing.

5. Dynamic Audio Visual Presentations

When it comes to showing how your product or service works, people prefer watching AV presentations to talking to a salesperson. Dynamic AV features are a surefire way to stop people in their tracks and make them pay attention to your stand.

6. Games

Show people that you’re the exhibition stand having the most fun. One of the best ideas to create fun at your stand is by incorporating an exhibition game. And with many options available, just make sure the one you choose is appropriate for your target audience.

7. Competitions

People also love to win, so if you can incorporate a competition element as part of your custom exhibition with a quality prize, visitors can be excited about winning then even better.

8. Giveaways

Visitors love free stuff, so make sure you provide a giveaway that will be of value to your target audience.

9. Free Food & Drink

Free food and drink are never a bad option. The time it takes for a visitor to pick up their free snack or drink will provide your salesperson with an opportunity to start a conversation.

10. Friendly and Welcoming Staff

Your exhibition stand will get you noticed, but what will engage visitors at your stand is your staff. Most visitors aren’t going to be confident enough to approach you, so make sure you have an exhibition team who are welcoming and can make them feel comfortable.

11. Movement

Nothing attracts visitors to an exhibition stand more than movement. If you have an item that moves, such as a technical or mechanical product, then bring it to life by letting attendees see it in action.

12. Live Demos

Live product demos are not only one of the best ways to create an exciting atmosphere at your exhibition stand but are more likely to generate high attendee engagement and increase your chances of getting a positive ROI.

13. Front of Stand Displays

When you’re exhibiting products on your stand, you want visitors to notice them. Only having a few shelves at the back of your stand isn’t going to cut it. Move your product showcases to the front, where they are more likely to capture the attention of visitors who might otherwise have walked past.

14. Lighting the Product

Illuminating your products will have a huge impact on increasing sales at your stand. By using lighting features to show off your products, you will draw the visitor’s eye to them and make them look more enticing.

15. Story-Telling Graphics

One exhibition stand idea that is now very popular with exhibitors is showing attendees what their product or service is capable of on a digital screen at their exhibition stand. Using story-telling graphics to explain your service or product, will engage visitors far more effectively than listening to a salesperson.

16. Live Demo Stations

Visitors at exhibitions aren’t just there to see new products but also to learn how they work. Having an appealing live demo station where you can highlight the benefits of your product in a hands-on way will make your exhibition memorable and engaging.

17. Individual Demo Stations

People love it when they have something they can personally interact with on an exhibition stand. Having devices such as i-pads or tablets at the front of your stand is a great idea to get visitors to take an interest in what you do as a business. More importantly, if you ask for login details, it can also be a very useful form of lead generation.

18. Photo-Flooring™

One of the greatest design features of our exhibition stands is seamless, flowing panoramic walling.

We had the idea a few years ago that we could extend these panoramic graphics onto the otherwise wasted floor space.

We thought this was a great exhibition stand idea, as many exhibitors get stuck with the dull grey carpet supplied by the show organisers.

Not only does our Photo-Flooring create great impact, it sets our client’s exhibition stands apart from the competition.

Nowadays every stand we design incorporates this idea, with the result that nearly all of our exhibition stands feature this new design idea.

19. 3D-Effect Product Showcase

If you want to draw attention to your products and creatively display them, we have some great ideas for you.

Our designers love to get creative with the different shapes and graphic ideas they can incorporate into our client’s exhibition stands.

The idea is to create stunning 3D-themed environments to present your product within. The results can be enticing, shocking and entertaining, but always eye-catching!

Here Hannah showcases a stunning themed showcase for a manufacturer of unique novelty Dinosaur models.

20. Oval Showcase with Edgelit-engraved Branding Feature

Diamonds (and Jewellery) are a girl’s best friend – but notoriously difficult to display on an exhibition stand!

Here we have created two amazing showcase ideas for diamonds and jewellery, but which could be adapted for other high-value, luxury consumer items.

These showcases have gloss-printed sides and back to provide a sparkly ambience.

One showcase features an edge-lit engraved acrylic sign at the front of the showcase, through which the product can be viewed, whereas the other idea has the branded sign at the rear.

Either version can be used to create a sophisticated and stunning product display.

21. Illuminated Canopy Innovation

We use these canopy features to link structures on our exhibition stands.

For a while, these were quite standard features – pleasing and functional, but not exactly revolutionary!

Then some bright spark in our R&D department came up with the idea of installing LED lighting and creating cut-out branded lighting features.

Little ideas and innovations like this, all help to create an intriguing, themed environment for your products or services.

You can see the idea in work here for our client Animal Friends.

22. End of Wall Showcase

By featuring your products or items in unexpected areas of your exhibition stand you help to create dynamic environments that keep your show visitors interested.

These ‘end of wall’ showcases are a great idea for showcasing smaller product displays that you want to accentuate, or literature displays and Ipad/tablet displays.

A bonus is that these showcases are generally situated at the perimeter of your exhibition stand, catching visitors who might otherwise walk by.

As with all of our showcases, we can innovate with printed sides and back, shaped apertures and edge-lit engraved signage.

23. Edgelit engraved signage with product integrated into the display

This exhibition stand idea is very popular with clients who have technical items or products to display on their exhibition stands

Let’s be honest, some of these products are not visually the most exciting items to behold!

They are of course important displays to the exhibitor! We have had a great deal of success displaying items of this nature, integrated into our edge-lit engraved acrylic signage.

24. Gloss Branded Exhibition Counters, with LED lighting

Nearly every modular stand we design features beautifully branded exhibition stand counters.

We’ve now added two extra design ideas to our counters.

Firstly, they are now available in a stunning gloss finish, that brings your branding and graphics to life.

Secondly, we’ve added to the design option of LED lighting under the rim of the countertop, to add a gently down-lit suffused lighting feature.

25. High-Level Revolving Branding Feature

We know that movement on an exhibition stand attracts visitor attention, like no other feature.

And that branding features at a height of 3 metres and above is optimum for sight-lines across a busy exhibition hall.

We’ve combined the two with our revolving branding feature; a 4-sided branded feature driven by a small motor mounted at a high level on your exhibition stand.

Sure to get noticed and sure to attract visitors to your stand.

26. Extending your graphics into the floor space

Your competitors will likely do the standard thing using the cheap, threadbare carpet, supplied by the suppliers of the show organisers. Oh so predictable and err… boring!

Here is a much better idea for your bespoke exhibition stand.

We can design, print and fit a graphic floor that extends your wall graphics into the, otherwise wasted, floor space of your stand.

The results of this innovation are visually amazing and sure to make your stand leap out at the show visitor.

27. Focused graphic-themed showcasing

You are probably aware by now, that we channel a lot of creative thinking into showcasing our client’s products.

Paradoxically, we have found that sometimes with a luxury or other high-value product, narrowing or restricting the aperture into a showcase, focuses the visitor’s attention on the product, in a way that a larger display does not.

The graphic design idea can be used to accentuate this effect as Hannah demonstrates on this stand.

28. Graphic Worktops on Counters

We believe that no surface of your modular exhibition stand should be left un-branded.

Counters can have a graphic design applied, featuring your graphic theme, images or branding.

The idea is to create coherent, seamless branding across your entire exhibition stand.

29. Logo and Branded on your Exhibition Floor

Another great exhibition stand idea…

The floor space of your exhibition stand can and should be used by your exhibition designer to create added value from this otherwise redundant space.

As you can see here, the floor space of your exhibition stand can be used as one big branding space, ideal for displaying your logo or other brand elements.

Looking for some further inspiration? Take a look at our dedicated website. We also break down our process to creating the UK’s most premium bespoke exhibition stands.