Exhibition Stand Posters/Display Advice

[LERsince1991]

Hey so I'm doing an exhibition in London for a Young Designers Competition and I wanted to make my stand look good.

I'm getting some contact cards very soon which I am pleased with, got a shiny new website and some other stuff like props and images for the display.
I will have my Macbook on the desk with a 'turntable' of the desk... basically a rotating 3D view.
I am trying to get hold of a 24" iMac for the day with KB & M, maybe Apple will help, if not I might just buy it for one day
My iPod classic will be in the desk playing some quiet music to show the integrated speakers off.
I will have a small pile of my contact cards on the macbook for viewers to take away.

Basically I have designed a 'special' desk and want to have some posters printed for the exhibition stand.

I have done a quick mock up... basically I would have 2 Long thing Posters each side to clearly mark where my stand is and to grab attention... These side posters will have 'Novanta.' in big bold, colourful letters at the top and then some quick bullet points, short text and images of my product so the viewer knows what its called, what it is and what it does.

I will then have my best A3 sized coursework pages since its a young designers... these will show the progress of the design and thought process.

I'm also looking for a print shop that might help support me if they put their logo and company name on the poster in return for a discount. Otherwise, failing that the side posters will cost about £20 or less each from a local print shop... I don't like the man who runs that... expensive, not that helpful and supporting

Interested in your views!
Luke.

P.S. the middles pages on the mock up isn't to scale... they should be A3 but they are about x2 wider and taller than they should be.

P.S.S. the posters and pages will all match (not like in the mock up), also the contact cards and website also match the display

 

[LeviG]

I will have my Macbook on the desk with a 'turntable' of the desk... basically a rotating 3D view.
I am trying to get hold of a 24" iMac for the day with KB & M, maybe Apple will help, if not I might just buy it for one day
My iPod classic will be in the desk playing some quiet music to show the integrated speakers off.

dont it will be an expensive day if they get damaged and its very likely.
Personally if you have to, hire out an imac and have the video on that.
Your table will look too cluttered with an imac and a laptop.

I will have a small pile of my contact cards on the macbook for viewers to take away.

get a small business card stand or use the stand that comes with 200 moocards.

I have done a quick mock up... basically I would have 2 Long thing Posters each side to clearly mark where my stand is and to grab attention... These side posters will have 'Novanta.' in big bold, colourful letters at the top and then some quick bullet points, short text and images of my product so the viewer knows what its called, what it is and what it does.

I will then have my best A3 sized coursework pages since its a young designers... these will show the progress of the design and thought process.

I'm also looking for a print shop that might help support me if they put their logo and company name on the poster in return for a discount. Otherwise, failing that the side posters will cost about £20 or less each from a local print shop... I don't like the man who runs that... expensive, not that helpful and supporting

Interested in your views!
Luke.

P.S. the middles pages on the mock up isn't to scale... they should be A3 but they are about x2 wider and taller than they should be.

P.S.S. the posters and pages will all match (not like in the mock up), also the contact cards and website also match the display

Honestly I think the current design is rubbish (no offence). The design is too focused around text. Short and snappy works best along with simple and clear imagery.

As it sounds like all the art work is being adjusted, it might be worth trying images down the sides rather than behind the table and then putting a smaller paragraph and title above/behind instead

 

[Designer Dale]

In my opinion there is way too much text. You are showing off a desk, so let the desk show off. The laptop looks out of place, go with just the iMac. the black of the bezel compliments the shine and speaker grills of the desk. Do something with the panel directly behind the desk, it pulls my eye off the product. The grey and orange color scheme looks good on your contact card, but I think the color field in too overwhelming at a size larger than the desk.

How about some pictures of users with the product? Does it exist in the physical world or is it a digital design at this point?

Congratulations on the show invite. Make the most of the opportunity.

Dale

 

[NStocks]

I agree with the amount of text, it is too much.

Did you know you can rent a iMac from Pcworld for a day

 

[LERsince1991]

Thanks for the feedback people!

Firstly -> I forgot about the case from Moo... I will use that!

Secondly -> Yes agree about the amount of text but basically I couldn;t be bothered to do a proper banner last night so I just stuck some lorem ipsum in haha. I was going to have a couple of breif paragraphs and a few words in bulletpoint form with some images of it in use (maybe) and some form different angles and in different uses... Possibly even it being made as the judges would be interested in this.

It is not like New Designers show... Its a competition and the exhibition is mainly for the experience, to show to the public and others and for the judges to award people that day.

The judges look at a lot more than the final product...

NStocks you are a legend if that is true... shame I've just came from work when PC world was round the corner... I will ring them now and see what they can do!

Thanks again people!

 

[LeviG]

It is not like New Designers show... Its a competition and the exhibition is mainly for the experience, to show to the public and others and for the judges to award people that day.

Exactly and from a business perspective the above imagery is far from the best way to show the product off

 

[LERsince1991]

Did you know you can rent a iMac from Pcworld for a day

Are you sure? I phoned up PC world today and they said they don't rent out laptops or computers ...

 

[NStocks]

Are you sure? I phoned up PC world today and they said they don't rent out laptops or computers ...

When I went to my local PCworld there was a yellow sticker o the iMac saying' Rent me for a Day' or something like that...

I remember because my Brother ( Mac hater ) said " You will need to rent it because there a rip off and nobody can afford to buy them "

Unless they has a promotion or something, but it definitely said rent/hire me.

 

[LERsince1991]

Ah right, which store was that at?

I will go in my local store on Saturday after I finish work and see what they can do. I'll also phone your store to see if they still do it and if other stores should.

 

[semicharmed]

Will people be allowed on the gray area shown in the mock-up? If not, there's way too much text on the side-posters; and the font looks too small to be readable from a distance.
Even if they are, you should make sure to check that your font is readable from about 3'-4' away; you don't want to force people to be nose to text, as that cuts down on the number of simultaneous readers.

KISS is always a good thing to keep in mind for posters/banners — keep it simple, stupid. At all the sessions I've been to, it is usually more about your ability to chat up your design to the attendees, with the printed stuff for backup.

As for printing, you probably want to check with the people running the exhibition — many times they will have a preferred printer or a print lab on campus (if it's run through a college/university) that will be able to print at a discounted, exhibition-rate price. And if not, they might have rules about "sponsorships" on exhibition materials — and getting to the exhibition only to find out you cannot use the posters you printed up. Also, £20 for something that looks to be 6'x3', on color stock (or printed in color on glossy stock...) is not a bad price at all, in my experience. Even allowing for errors in the conversion.
Printing 4'x3' posters on my departmental plotter runs about ~$3.50/square foot, on glossy paper in full color. Printing outside of the department (anywhere but the architecture departments top-secret, restricted-access print shop), is way more expensive. Like closer to $9/sq. ft.

 

[LERsince1991]

Ok So here is an actual possible layout.
I've have kept it simple, and kept the text to a minimum.
It is all printed onto A3 sheets which means I can get it all done for free at my college
Big sign to attract attention also with my name on.
4 Sheets to explain the product based on the website www.lukeriggall.co.uk/novanta
then 9 images of the product in use and in different situations and different angles. Also 2 tech spec CAD drawings to show dimensions and show technical CAD skills.
Then on the far right side there is 3 pages of my coursework to show the original concepts, thought process and ideas.
On the left there is a small box attached to the wall which is the Moo card holder with my contact cards in.
I will also have some cards in the drawer organiser of the left drawer in case I need more and also to show the drawer inserts off a bit... grab a bit of attention to that feature.
I will probably grab a bit of foam mounting board from school for the 4 sheets on the left and the 2 A3 sheets that make up the name/title banner

Edit: people will be allowed are the product... its just to simulate a floor.

Edit 2: I have changed some of the pictures on the pages below to make it more interesting and varied but I haven't got time to create the jpegs and re-upload them

I have also been into school, printed out the big A3 pictures with white backgrounds which have turned out pretty damn good. They have been done on some fine A3 card and I will probably mount them on some good cardboard or something so support them. I've also done the big x2A3 width banner which has turned out alright for the cost of nothing... Laminated the 2 peices together and I will mount on on foamboard/cardboard. The pages that I uploaded below didn't print well so I need to change some thing in InDesign first. For some reason the printed flattened/converted the pages and the pictures were no longer transparent and it looked a mess

 

[semicharmed]

Proofread, proofread, proofread. Just on a quick glance, you're missing some apostrophes and there are some misplaced capitals. And some of your sentences are structure awkwardly.
And some of your text is a little tight, the leading needs some adjustments.

Also, what is the purpose of the poster with the photos? If people are allowed around the desk, the photos seem redundant.

 

[LERsince1991]

I will have a read over them but english is not a strong point of mine.

The purpose of the pictures is to show the desk in different situations and also from awkward angles and to emphasise where certain features are.

I was told to bring photos as big as possible for some reason so I thought I would make it useful by using those pictures.

 

[LERsince1991]

Heres the updated ones... I think they're fine

My Moo cards are coming next Monday

 

[design-is]

I can spot a small error:

Brief panel, 5th paragraph, full stop after 'look'.

Will read through it all thoroughly for you later

 

[fxstb2002]

Why is some guy lying on the desk?

 

[LERsince1991]

I can spot a small error:

Brief panel, 5th paragraph, full stop after 'look'.

Will read through it all thoroughly for you later

Ah Cheers, I missed that... I think that's the only think.

Why is some guy lying on the desk?

Lol, it's just to show its strong really... I just love it so I had to lye on it

 

[Daringescape]

Where can I get one (or 2) of these????

Can you build me a couple of these? I love this desk and we a looking for some new office furniture.

I am located in the USA, but it's a possibility if you are up for it.

 

[Designer Dale]

Editing Suggestions

Try to move away from statements that are not direct and positive. Replace "the aim of" with an "is" statement. Replace "must be" with "is". "Should not" with "Does not". "Should be and should have" with "is" and "has". Be direct and positive, you are selling a design that could earn you a lot of $$$, or what ever they use over the pond, somewhere down the road.

These are just suggestions for your "Brief" panel.

Novanta creates a fully integrated solution to the cluttered, unproductive desk.

The design is adaptable to different user needs.

The integrated components don't restrict the user in any way.

Novanta has very dependable construction and can cope with heavy usage.

The shape is simple and conveys the minimal look popular in contemporary design.

Novanta has the ability to easily organize the most cluttered lifestyles while maintaing style and accessibility.

Dale
If this works for you, I can go over the rest for you.

 

[LERsince1991]

Can you build me a couple of these? I love this desk and we a looking for some new office furniture.

I am located in the USA, but it's a possibility if you are up for it.

I have had quite a few people ask me this, I would say YES but the thing is I would have to have everything custom made (the parts I can't) and this time I wouldn't be able to blag any discount. This means that I would be able to build them each as a bespoke piece but the cost would be about £1600 each (guestimate from the top of my head). Plus the cost of transporting and packing a 100Kg+, 1600x900x500mm package to the USA would be rather a lot...

I have 3 months off before I start uni so if I win this competition I may invest money into having a small production line of this design... Would be a complicated production line though. I would be able to sell about 10 straight off and about another 10 maybe's from people asking... but its down to the price.

Thanks for your interest anyway!
If you would like to discuss anything more please email me or PM me.
Luke.

Try to move away from statements that are not direct and positive. Replace "the aim of" with an "is" statement. Replace "must be" with "is". "Should not" with "Does not". "Should be and should have" with "is" and "has". Be direct and positive, you are selling a design that could earn you a lot of $$$, or what ever they use over the pond, somewhere down the road.

These are just suggestions for your "Brief" panel.

Novanta creates a fully integrated solution to the cluttered, unproductive desk.

The design is adaptable to different user needs.

The integrated components don't restrict the user in any way.

Novanta has very dependable construction and can cope with heavy usage.

The shape is simple and conveys the minimal look popular in contemporary design.

Novanta has the ability to easily organize the most cluttered lifestyles while maintaing style and accessibility.

Dale
If this works for you, I can go over the rest for you.

I like that better, thanks for the input...
I originally copied it and changed it from my brief that I wrote before I started the project fully...
I agree that now it is complete I should change it to say what is does and not what it should do
I will be able to re-write that myself
Thanks again!

 

[LERsince1991]

I'm having some trouble printing the pages shown here.

From the PDF I have tried a lot of different things.
The images are cmyk, tiffs.
I have also tried png files in rgb (exact same results as the cmyk, tiff's)
And also converted the images to jpeg with a background colour set to the 'the same' colour as the background on the PDF.

Basically printing from the PDF the pictures have a 'block' of a completely different toned grey behind them and it looks awful.

I have exported jpegs from the ID layout and then printed them off, different results but not good. The whole page is then filled with the 'different' toned grey.

I can't understand why, I've never had this problem before.

On screen all the documents I've tried are exactly the same, I've even checked the colours. But when printed they come out different and neither are useful.

The printer is a really good laser printer in the design department at my college. The images have a transparent background which is what seems to be the problem?

Edit: Also on close inspection, all the documents I have printed from pdf that I have create (I will try others on monday) seem to print with a very very thin line of black around the text and random lines of text seem very slightly thicker/bolder than supposed to be. I have also check the colours and font's of the text and its all the exact same.

 

[LERsince1991]

Ok so its a couple of days away and I've printed everything except the 4 pages discussed here (with the grey backgrounds).

It's REALLY annoying me now and I don't know what to try next...
Details about what I'm having issues with is in my previous post.

Would anyone be able to help?

Cheers.
Luke.

 

[Toppa G's]

Edit: Also on close inspection, all the documents I have printed from pdf that I have create (I will try others on monday) seem to print with a very very thin line of black around the text and random lines of text seem very slightly thicker/bolder than supposed to be. I have also check the colours and font's of the text and its all the exact same.

Do you have PDFs placed into the document that you're printing from? We've found that PDFs layered on top of each other in InDesign and exported as a master document do not cooperate. We've had some success with exporting to EPS files and then distilling.

 

[LERsince1991]

Do you have PDFs placed into the document that you're printing from? We've found that PDFs layered on top of each other in InDesign and exported as a master document do not cooperate. We've had some success with exporting to EPS files and then distilling.

Thanks for the quick reply
I always been directly exporting PDF's from InDesign. The InDesign layout simply has text box's and placed images. It's the images I'm having problems with mainly as thats the biggest problem that needs to be solved asap.
So you think I should try exporting in something else such as EPS then converting to PDF via acrobat pro?
Luke.

 

[Toppa G's]

Thanks for the quick reply
I always been directly exporting PDF's from InDesign. The InDesign layout simply has text box's and placed images. It's the images I'm having problems with mainly as thats the biggest problem that needs to be solved asap.
So you think I should try exporting in something else such as EPS then converting to PDF via acrobat pro?
Luke.

You could try doing that...or you could try saving your images as EPS files and reimporting into InDesign. No guarantees...