Keep it Simple

Your company does a lot of things. And it does them well. Figuring out what you should emphasize on your trade show displays and graphics can be tricky, but the key is simplicity.

More than likely, you will have to outsource the design of your graphics unless you are pretty handy with creative software.  Designers are paid to make you look great, but they can’t start with nothing. Conversely, giving them too much will result in an unfocussed and cluttered final product. A design should encourage onlookers to approach you, and to immediately understand your message. For a successful display, you need to focus on three key elements before talking to your graphics artist:

1. In one sentence, what does your company do?

2. In one sentence, what is the goal of your display?

3. Who is your target audience?

Once you have this narrowed down, hand over your logos and images to the designer and let him/her make you look good!

Here are some examples of simple, effective designs that get the point across immediately:

What to Avoid

Avoid listing information that is meaningless to the customer.  Take this Rosetta Stone display for example – The design, though simple, immediately tells onlookers that they make language learning software, that it works well, and some of the languages include spanish, Italian, and others. Boom -That’s It!

There is no reason to list off the couple hundred employees in the Harrisonburg division, or the locations of the corporate headquarters. Even the languages available are implied and not the focus of the banner.

Good luck, and remember – keep it simple!