After an extended unscheduled break honing one’s hobbies and answering a toddler’s every whim, it does indeed feel like I’m back in the exhibition hot seat, with the wheels firmly back in motion!
As an exhibition designer it is undoubtedly important to visit the shows we design for. The Surface Design Show at London’s Business Design Centre is the only event in the UK that focuses on interior & exterior surfaces, bringing interior lighting & innovative materials to life.
The written word has never been more elusive than in today’s fast paced, social media driven society. The poignancy of this fact is brought into sharp focus by the fantastic current exhibition at Rook Lane Chapel, The Home Of Our Delight in my home town of Frome.
It is sometimes hard as an exhibition organiser to breathe life into an otherwise rather dry industry sector’s yearly event. Take the upcoming Manchester’s Global Tech and Investment Summit, Manchester Central 21-22nd April. Not perhaps an event you may think will be turning the volume up to 11 and rocking out. However, brand the event ‘Business Rocks’ and you have given birth to an entirely different beast!
With 5 stages, headline speakers including Apple Co-founder Steve Wozniak, and a spattering of live music from Manchester’s up and coming bands and artists, not to mention after dark summits at some of Manchester’s coolest clubs and bars – who says investment need be boring?
Increasing brand awareness in the New Year is probably on the top of every marketing manager’s to do list. Of course, attending one or more of the plethora of organised established exhibition events for your industry is a good step towards towards propelling your brand ‘out there’, and in the meantime, keeping a sneaky check on what your competitors are up to.
These established avenues will no doubt get your business so far, but can sometimes due to the lack of enthusiasm of the Exhibition Organiser, can feel a little industry centric tired. The solution – to host your own community or industry event that is sure to excite and engage, while positioning your brand at centre stage. Whether it be your take on the British Pie Awards, held every year in Melton Mowbray outside of Leicester, or a medieval live action role-play on the majestic rolling hills of Sheffield, there is sure to be a meaningful on-brand tie-in opportunity out there just waiting to be fulfilled.
When a client enquires about the use of a new technology on their bespoke build exhibition stand to set them apart from their competitors and promote a new service or product, the gauntlet falls to us in the industry to research and present the latest developments in mobile technology that serve their needs. One great success story moving forward will undoubtedly be the continued rise in augmented reality devices to promote, delight, and inform the delegate in all manor of interesting & creative mediums.
Having officially studied design through school, college & university, and through my work in the industry, one thing is clear – you never stop learning. As Transport For London has learned, detailed in the article below, design is subversive and subjective, making it the perfect theme for discussion, admiration, opinion and conflict. ‘Good’ design is at the mercy of its surroundings, its environment if you like. Fashion plays a big part, and as we all know and understand, fashions come, linger, often out-stay their welcome and leave, in a sad trudge of embarrassment, resenting the new, shiny thing there to take its place.
Often in exhibitions the venue is the one thing you don’t choose. Be it the Excel Centre, London, RAI, Leeds or the Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh – each come with their little idiosyncrasies and important things to remember from a stand design point of view. How level is the hall floor? How large are the shutter doors to the hall? At what heights are hanging structures allowed if any? Is the stand overlooked by an overhead balcony open to the public? Will the venue hall carpet clash with our skirting?!
It’s not every day that you get on a bus powered by human sewage and food waste! The GENeco Bio-Bus is powered by biomethane gas & is set to serve the 32,674 households along route service 2 in central Bristol throughout the year.
To mark the crowning of Bristol as the European green Capital 2015, be sure to make the most of a year-long programme of inspiring events that will give everyone,
As an exhibition designer – understandably, I love exhibitions. An exhibition hall is a special kind of place that, if budget, time and space allows – anything is possible.