23 New Ideas for Trade Show Booths

For the 2012 Vision East Expo at New York’s Javits Center, the centerpiece of the Safilo Group’s 10,400-square-foot area designed by Sparks was a hospitality bar that transformed four times a day into a runway for Carson Kressley-hosted fashion shows.

MG Design customized modular rental units with VMware’s corporate colors for the software company’s booth at VMworld 2011 in Las Vegas. Sixteen-foot-tall plexiglass towers anchored the space at opposite corners; Octanorm work stations were arranged in a serpentine pattern for easier foot-traffic flow.

Belimed challenged GALLO to create an attention-grabbing booth for the 2012 Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses in a space that measured only 30 by 30 feet. Branded tiles that hung overhead lit up in succession, a reference to the start-up dial on all Belimed machines.

At the center of the booth EWI Worldwide created for DFI Tech at InfoComm 2011 stood a tower of 18 synced screens powered by DFI’s M100 Media Engine, one of the main products being sold at the show.

For the 2011 ABC Kids Expo in Louisville, Global Experience Specialists used client Boon’s idea to create walls from its popular Grass Countertop Drying Racks.

The 25,000-square-foot booth for TaylorMade-Adidas Golf at the P.G.A. Merchandise Show looked more like an elaborate village. Guests entered through an illuminated tunnel into a space designed by Sparks and filled with driving ranges, a mini theater, and product displays.

For the Polaroid space at CES 2011, Skyline Exhibits had images streaming overhead across two ribbon-screen projections, ending in the company logo. Jumbo screens framed by the Polaroid photo border surrounded a raised stage at the center of the exhibit, while a futuristic-looking lounge area with a modular mirrored exterior sat at the far end of the space.

The Falken Tires space for SEMA 2011, designed by Freddie Georges Production Group and fabricated by sister company the Shop @ Show Ready (714.367.9265, showready.com), included a double-decker meeting space, a scenic off-road vehicle display platform, and two elevated luxury vehicle-display platforms.

For the 2011 International Builder’s Show in Las Vegas, Formica asked Kuhlmann-Leavitt Inc. (314.725.6616, kuhlmanleavitt. com) to maximize its 20- by 30-foot space. Branded mesh fabric hung from a ceiling truss; light globes drew attendees’ eyes to the banners.

Tangram designed a two-story exhibit dubbed “The Garage” for dealer.com at the 2012 National Automobile Dealers Association show. The space functioned as a social venue, with a lounge, a DJ booth, and a bar, in addition to conference rooms and product demonstration stations.

Navistar worked with Freeman to debut the new Loadstar truck at the 2012 Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville. To showcase its versatility, a skin-wrapped Loadstar functioned as a screen for videos detailing the truck’s multiple functions.

At the 2012 P.G.A. Merchandise Show, Cobra Puma Golf had a booth created by CEP Exhibit Productions, Inc. with a playful two-story structure. The ground floor served as a meeting space, while the top floor included the entrance to a slide that ended in a pit of orange balls.

At CES 2011, the NBC Universal booth immersed attendees in programming from each of the company’s brands. Jack Morton Worldwide created a globe structure that functioned as a versatile stage for live broadcasts and demonstrations. The globe’s lighting and video content changed depending on which brand was being promoted.

Inspired by the 2012 Public Sector Forum’s theme, “The Road to Transformation,” 2020 Exhibits (800.856.6659, 2020exhibits .com) created a neighborhood environment for BMC Software that included fabricated stoplights and highway signs.

Designed by Visbeen Associates (312.810.5669, visbeen.biz) and inspired by consumer lifestyle trend research, the UNcontained exhibit at the 2012 Kitchen & Bath Industry Show used 20-foot shipping containers as oversize dioramas. The display was a look into how different generations are reinventing the rules of kitchen and bath design.

The concentric design of Motorola’s CES 2012 booth created by George P. Johnson engulfed guests in the brand experience. The outer ring was lined with a 19-foot fringed curtain of silicon tubes that functioned as a screen for projected media. At the center of the exhibit was an interactive zone where attendees could experiment with products.

At CES 2012, MC2 used lighting to create an open, inviting atmosphere for the Hisense brand. Color-changing lights were projected onto all-white fabric structures and product displays.

At Heli-Expo 2012 in Dallas, Global Experience Specialists staged a splashy presentation to reveal Bell Helicopter’s new top-secret helicopter. After screening a short documentary, a Kabuki drop revealed a series of large, angled walls that came to life via a 3-D video mapping presentation, eventually moving to reveal the helicopter.

For the 2011 Offshore Technology Conference, 2020 Exhibits created a tech-driven booth for GE Oil & Gas that included touch-screen displays, video walls, a two-story meeting space, and a floating video ring.

For the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Ford worked with Imagination (212.813.6400, imagination.com) to debut the Ford Blue Oval Card, an R.F.I.D.-enabled card. On-site the cards, which guests preregistered for online, could be used to save content to download later via a personal Web page. The booth also featured a 20-foot-tall elevator that brought guests up into “The Cloud,” a 360-degree cinema experience that offered a look at the future of in-vehicle cloud computing.

At the Chicago Dental Society’s 2012 Midwinter Meeting, Sonicare let show-goers try out new products in a bathroom setting with working sinks.

The Taylor Group designed a booth for Honda at the 2012 Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto that included an giant, curved LED video wall. Web-connected touch-screen kiosks sat next to each car.

At CES 2012, Pinnacle designed a space for Nixon that stood out on the busy, tech-focused trade show floor by exercising restraint. Natural wood displays were used alongside walls made of acoustical foam.