Designing a Booth That’s Both Safe and Stunning

Despite the innovation of virtual trade show exhibits, the demand for face-to-face trade shows remains. There are several shows that are seeing an uptick in the fourth quarter of 2024. This means visitors still prefer to face to face meetings, where they can check out brands and businesses in real-time.

So physical trade shows are still in demand, they are poised to make a full comeback after the pandemic is fully under control. So, in the meantime, show organizers are choosing to go with a hybrid approach that includes combining virtual booths with physical ones.

The need for face-to-face interactions still exists but rules to design spaces have changed. So, in this article, we’ve taken the liberty to share our expertise on the matter. We’ve worked in the trade show industry for decades, so here’s our take on how to create safe and creative exhibit booth spaces for your visitors.

1. Don’t let Violators Walk Away

Everyone knows when someone is violating the rules, but most prefer to mind their own business and not point it out. Unless they have the authority to do so. That’s where your trade show booth staff comes in, but they are your last line of defense.

You don’t want your staff to play the part of a parent, that’s bad for rapport building. So you should rely on signage. Wall signs, floor markings, and proximity-based wall speakers to remind visitors about safety guidelines. Vector images and symbols are better than text. If you can employ video then that’s even better.

2. Repetition is Essential

Your visitors will have their energy drained by various exhibits, events, or conference booth panels. You are not insulting your visitor’s intelligence with repetitive cues, you are offloading their mental effort. Despite it being over a year, this new way of operating isn’t easy and sensitivity is required to help people ease into this new situation. Your booth design can help visitors with that, after all the goal of architecture design is to encourage specific behaviors.

This also puts your company in a good light, since prospects subtly know that you are on top of the rules and guidelines. This increases your professional credibility. So employ wall and floor signage repeatedly through your entire booth, your visitors will appreciate that they don’t have to send their mental energy thinking about it.

3. Layout & Placement

While show organizers are expected to implement wide corridors and hallways. You can enforce social distancing in your booth design as well. With layouts that encourage visitors to move in one direction and not backtrack. Using proximity sensors to signal visitors and staff, if an area your booth is occupied by more than two people.

Implementing intersections or making your product display podium into an intersection helps to separate visitors while keeping in mind the objective of your booth is to showcase your brand.

4. Incorporate Technology

If there is one thing 2024 has taught us, is how much we can rely on technology to make health safety habits more natural. Governments around the world are already using apps, IoT, temperature scanners, and motion sensing to implement health guidelines. You can do the same with your booth design. Smartphone technology has already reached the point where we can book flight tickets, find a place to eat nearby, and navigate our cars, while on the road.

In these times, most people prefer to be marketed through their phones. With the help of AR or augmented reality, you have the wonderful opportunity to let your custom trade show exhibit rental reach them on their phones.  Instead of actual physical brochures, you can incorporate QR code technology for visitors to scan using their phones. This lets your visitors carry your marketing material on their phones.