Designing Downward

For months, show managers have said exhibitors still are participating in their shows, but are renting less space than they have in the past.

Corporate exhibitors surveyed by TSW reported they were exhibiting in fewer shows this year than last year, and it's no stretch to report that they're watching their budgets more closely than ever.

So what's an exhibit designer who wants to create a stellar booth for a client on a budget to do?

“A lot of graphics on fabric,” said Tim Berkesch, director of sales at Decatur, Ga.-based Vector Displays.

The versatility of the material allows designers to experiment with different shapes for booths, and the fabric can be used at multiple shows, including those where the booth size isn't the same, he added.

“It makes a smaller booth stand out from other small booths,” Berkesch said.

While the use of fabrics in exhibit booths at tradeshows isn't new, the impact it now can have is.

“The quality of the printing has improved over the past few years,” Berkesch said. “... It wasn't used on a big scale.”

Plus, the aluminum frames that are used with the fabrics also are growing in popularity because of the light weight of the material.

“They save on freight costs, they save on drayage once they get to the show ... and they save on labor,” Berkesch said. “There are just so many good reasons for it.”

Vector Displays isn't the only company that has seen a rising demand in fabric because of the cost savings it offers and the flexibility of using it for various booth sizes.

Costas Varkarotas, vice president of branding and innovation at Dallas-based The Expo Group, also said fabric is one of the materials growing in popularity because of the current recession and that tension fabric has been reinventing itself.

However, it's not the only trend he's noticed.

“We've seen an increase (in rentals),” Varkarotas said, accompanied by a decline in custom exhibits.

The increase in booth rentals has its own set of challenges, he added.

“Certainly, there needs to be a consistency in branding,” Varkarotas said. “A custom exhibit booth is really like a custom-tailor suit that fits around (an exhibitor's) brand.”

The challenge with rentals is to keep the look and feel similar at every show a company participates in by tying rental materials into the company brand.

“Our systems actually allow us to do that,” Varkarotas said.

Materials are just one way The Expo Group's designers are trying to wow attendees – affordably – with their clients' booths.

“I keep lecturing to my guys that it's no different than a painter having four different colors, but if you mix them, you have 16 different colors,” Varkarotas said.

And, like a sculpture that utilizes the “white space” around it, the booths Varkarotas' team has designed take the negative space into account.

“If you have a 20'x20' space, you don't necessarily need to fill it in,” he added. Lighting and audiovisual solutions have become a larger trend.

At Signal Hill, Calif.-based Bowman Global Change, President Tom Bowman said exhibitors the company is designing booths for have taken different approaches to dealing with the economy.

“We're seeing mixed results from our clients,” he added. “The budgets are clearly down.”

Some of his clients are keeping the same-sized booths, but are trying to do some graphic updates to make do with what they have, Bowman said.

“We've seen more of that than we've seen of reducing the overall size of the booth and asking us to rethink the design accordingly,” he added.

Flexibility also is a request clients are making.

“We're finding that people are much more interested in booths that can fit any configuration in the future,” Bowman said. But, he added it's too soon to tell if clients will keep the booths longer than they have in the past.

While it's less common than the trend of exhibitors downsizing, Bowman said he did have one client that reserved more space at a tradeshow this year, even though his company's budget didn't allow for a larger booth to be built.

“It was OK,” he added, “it just wasn't all it could have been.”

The real question for these exhibit designers is if, once the recession ends, exhibitors will continue their trend of cutting back and using cost-effective materials.

While the issue will remain up in the air until the economy recovers, Bowman said he doesn't think exhibitors will continue to cut back.

“The tradeshow industry is driven by competition,” he added. “... I think the whole industry will shift again (away from saving money).”

Until then, the challenge remains to present clients with a product that mirrors the presentation they had when times were better.

“Just because there's less space doesn't mean there's less (demand) ... for a 'wow factor,'” Berkesch said.

Varkarotas agreed, adding, “I think perceived value is just as important as it ever was.”