Forward-Thinking Design

I stumbled across this image that I snapped at the Seattle Gift Show back in 2009...
it's the Lollia booth, located on the Skybridge between the North and South halls of the Washington State Convention Center.

I love everything about this booth design and displays. Everything.

It perfectly fits the feminine nature of the product line and the brand image. It reflects the burgeoning (even in 2009) style of using reclaimed materials in displays. The tight color palette is crisp and clear and does not distract from the products. The curvy table legs and chandeliers and wallpaper motif again reflect the brand's feminine aspect. And chandeliers? HELLO? In 2009, they were just about the hottest design motif in Christendom. There's light to draw you in. There's a spaciousness that allows everything to be seen at a glance - but enough detail to draw you closer. Nothing is jarring or distracting - your eye goes EXACTLY where they want it to go: dead center.

Perfection. And forward-thinking, because this tradeshow booth display would work just as well today as it did five years ago. And it could be replicated in every store that carries these products. That's good design.

Tips & Tricks for your Trade Show Displays

 It's gift show season again, 

and for those of you who participate as exhibitors/vendors,

here's a re-run of a post I wrote a few years ago

For Trade Show Exhibitors

In it, I offer up some tips, tricks, ideas and information

about how to maximize your presence at shows,

using some of the marketing opportunities offered by management.

And just exactly what those 'Exhibitor Display' areas are for!

Having created exhibitor/vendor displays & seminars at the 

Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, and Portland Gift Shows,

I've seen the good, the bad, and the ridiculous -

click the link above to read all about it.

Breaking Retail Trade Show News

There is a lot happening in the trade show industry, with sales, mergers, acquisitions, and closings taking place everywhere. Locally, the Seattle Gift Show has been sold to Atlanta-based Urban Expositions - ditto for the San Francisco International Gift Faire. From what I've read, big improvements are in store. (Hallelujah). Read more here.

The Portland Gift Show has been placed back into the capable management hands of Western Exhibitors, tho ownership remains with Canadian company dmg/GLM. It has also seen a reschedule to a fall date, which will combine it with the existing fall cash & carry market. Read about that here.

For more information on all kinds of trade shows in multiple industries, check out this web site.

On Display: Trade Show Tips

Are you going to be exhibiting jewelry at a gift or retail trade show this season? Do you plan to submit your product to a showcase display (often referred to as 'Launching Pad', 'New Product Display', etc.)? If so, here are a few tips to help you maximize the visual impact of your product, and make the most of this marketing opportunity:

1. Make sure that you choose STUNNING pieces of your work for the showcase. Think scale, color, composition, and uniqueness. You want items that will make people take notice. Don't be conservative! Go for 'WOW' factor.
2. Provide plenty of product for display designers to work with. 3 or 5 pieces are perfect for a display, so give them six items: Two large, two medium, and two small.

Here's the important thing: Your choices should coordinate, because the display designers can do MUCH more with a cohesive grouping than a slapdash bunch of leftovers. Provide six items that are all in gold metal, or turquoise stones, but each one has a different 'personality'... one is chunky and modern, another is dangly and feminine, yet another is classic and simple. You want impact here, not a hodgepodge of items. Get customers to notice your product, drive them to your booth with this display - then show them your selection firsthand.
3. Provide props or fixtures to enhance the presentation and viewing angles of your products. If you use neck forms, paint them your logo colors to tell your brand story. If you use natural materials - rough stones, metals, woods, shells - in your creations, provide rocks, sand, chunks of wood, or moss to enhance the elements of your designs. If your jewelry is modern, send glass blocks or bubble wrap rolls or tall glass vases to hang the necklaces & bracelets on. Display stylists will love you, AND your products will look better.
4. Be creative when you show off your products. If your jewelry is small, dainty, and hard to see, provide papers, cards, anything you can to help focus attention onto it. Photograph your delicate items and send large photos along with just one perfect item on a neck form. Better to show detail in large scale for impact than to have it overlooked.
5. This may seem to be a no-brainer, but when you drop off or send in items for the displays, make sure that your information is with your product! You company name, booth number, and show division should be included in the container. The name and cell phone number of a person at the show who can be contacted is very helpful - if something is broken, missing, or there are any questions about your product, you want the display stylists to be able to contact you/your employee on site for a solution. Calling the home office two states away isn't really helpful when a replacement part is needed.

6. Beat the submission deadline. If your items are supposed to be there by noon, get them there at 9 AM. If you are supposed to mail them in by the 10th, get them there by the first. Be prepared. Be early. Why? First come, first served. Your position on a list means nothing when it comes down to fitting it all into a small area. All trade show display stylists can tell you that the early birds get the best spots. (And no amount of wheelin', dealin', whining or bitching is going to make up for the fact that you brought us your product two hours after the deadline. Or on your way out of the show hall that night. Or worse, early on the morning that the show opens. You're in the back row, lower level, baby. And we don't care HOW many years you've been selling at this gift show - in which case, you really should know better.) This is your marketing.... take it seriously.

7. Check on your product. Early on the morning the show opens, go over to the display and look at your product. Make sure it is displayed properly (not upside down, etc.) and that your information is correct - your business name, booth number, and show division are all correct on the tent card provided by the show. If there is something that needs to be corrected, let the stylist know. NOW is the time to correct it, not in three hours when the stylist is done and gone.
Please do not walk into the display to do it yourself. Do not move another vendor's items to give yours more space. Do not add or swap items once the display is set. These are professional stylists who work hard to make your product and every other exhibitor's products look their very best. Respect their work, and thank them for their efforts.

8. Look at your competitor's products in this display. What did they send? How is it displayed? Does it express their image well? Does it catch the eye and stand out? Learn from what you see others doing.

Many of these tips apply to other kinds of products as well, helping to elevate your merchandise above the ordinary. With a little preparation and planning, you can take advantage of many free and low-cost marketing opportunities like display showcases at trade shows. It's a great way to add to your presence and square footage at a show.

Photo Credits: all taken by DWK at SGS & SFIGF 2007-8, of product displays created by DWK.

Connections

My seminar at the Seattle Gift Show on Monday was so much fun! I enjoy meeting and talking with people from all over the region, who own or buy for so many varied businesses. I hear their gripes and fears, I answer their questions, I offer them encouragement, and when it's all over and I have no voice left and can't stand for one more minute.... I know I've done something that has been helpful and meaningful for others.

Truthfully, for me it's not about standing there onstage, yappin' about a subject for an hour. That part of my seminars is what I research and prepare for - compiling information and resources on a subject (store design, brand image development, visual merchandising) and share as much as I possibly can with my audience in that hour. They nod their heads in agreement, nudge the person next to them as if to say 'We need to do that!', smile back at me, and write notes furiously to keep up with me! (Which is why my handouts basically include almost everything I say...)Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy that.

What I really look forward to is the hour after the seminar...the one-on-one connection with people. At that level, I can answer their specific questions, help them with real-life issues in their stores, and inspire them to think bigger and attempt the amazing when it comes to visual impact. This is what it's all about - working together to inspire & enable business success.

I love helping people succeed, it's that simple.
I've been told I'm a 'networking Diva' because I connect people almost effortlessly. It seems so simple to me: the retail industry is about connections. Retailers need to connect with their customers, so that they can help their customers connect with the people in their lives. And on the other end of the industry, manufacturers & artisans need to connect with sales reps and buyers, so that their products can be enjoyed by the end users. For me, connecting the dots between these groups is just second nature. I'm fearless when it comes to promoting someone to media or to another source!

The display you see in the photo above includes some of my own props, products by manufacturers at the show, and one product artisan who wasn't part of the show, so I took the opportunity to connect her with everyone there. Sue Zell, of http://www.tuffetlady.com/, brought me two of her stunning Celebrity chairs. They sparked the whole idea of my 'Hollywood Glamour' stage display in black, white, pewter, and crystal. And as we carried her chairs through the show on the way to the stage, they became the talk of the show. She made some good connections with people who went over and talked with her about her art after my seminar. Lest you think I was 'cheating', there was nothing like Sue's product at the show. Nothing. Not an issue of competition at all. (And next year, she may just be IN the show, as she saw what a great response she got. So I've done a service for the show, too!)

And, lest you think I'm making a fortune off of product recommendations - nada. zilch. zip. Not even free samples. I do this because these are worthy of attention, folks. Connecting people, resources, and ideas - that's my thing!!!

Beeeeeeeee Happy!

Once again, the Seattle Gift Show 'theme' was 'Catch the Buzz'. (Remember the little buzzing bees I made for the January show displays?)

This time, the bigwigs went one step further: they provided t-shirts for the staffers to wear. Bright yellow t-shirts. REALLY bright yellow t-shirts. And every last staff member wore black pants or skirts - it was truly like a swarm of bees everywhere! When I ran across this bee costume at a yard sale early Sunday morning, I quickly grabbed it - then I took it back to the show with me that afternoon, and popped it into the display. You should have heard the howls of laughter coming from across the lobby when those gals at the registration desk saw it!!! (I've now been labelled an 'instigator'. Naaaaaaaaahhhh, I just really get into a theme.....)

The collateral for the show included the BUZZ line and an orangy-red sunflower (instead of the red poppy from last winter's show). Using that as inspiration, I created some sheets of floral images to use in the setups - one is tucked into the bag below.

They also appear slipped under acrylic cubes and lying under some of the merchandise setups, which work well to add a splash of color and carry the show theme through this very large area.

The new fixtures (thank you IKEA!) make the display pop in the midst of gray concrete in the 4th floor lobby. The dark wood finish sets off every product placed on it, which of course is our point: to make the products stand out, catch the eye of shoppers, and lead them to that exhibitors' booth. With this design and these fixtures, I've increased available space for merchandise over 60% from our previous display.

Modular tables, cubes, and shelving allow us to easily set up to showcase any size of merchandise. The fixtures slide on the smooth concrete floor, making last-minute adjustments (and there are many!) simple. The smaller bookcases can be used standing up or lying on their sides as a low console, and the tables can be stacked in a myriad of configurations.

Remember how I said 'There is no Display without Drama!'? Oh sister, I could tell you some stories - but suffice it to say that there is an ongoing argument over whether or not this should be a walk-through display (especially now that 'The Launching Pad' area has been discontinued). I emphatically vote no! Having created this display for the past five years, I can boil it down to one reason why: protect the merchandise. Attendees with big huge tote bags & purses, large rolling carts, and miscellaneous other oversize accessories do not realize how that big ol' thing rolling or swinging behind them is smacking into products. I've seen so many items destroyed by someone in a hurry to get to that item in the back....and, sadly, there IS theft of small items in accessible displays. That's why we changed this setup after the first year we did it. Exhibitors need to know that their merchandise is safe. If a buyer wants to try on the clothes or the jewelry, that's what the exhibitor's booth is for!

This display area used to be designated for North Hall exhibitors only - now any exhibitor in the show can have their product displayed here. There were less exhibitors participating than I expected, but with all of the changes to the display opportunities going on, I think people just got very confused by the conflicting information they were hearing. I would hope that by the next show, participation in this very effective marketing tool will be much higher.

If you are a show (any show!) exhibitor or atteendee, let me know your thoughts on displays like this: walk-thru, or not? And why? I'd be very interested to hear your views on this subject. I'll pass them along to GLM, and we'll see what happens...

Seattle Gift Show...halfway done!

Here's a peek at a part of the display at the Seattle Gift Show. I'll share more photos and the evolution of the new design plan this coming week - I'm halfway done with my stint at the show because the exhibitor display is done, and now I'm on to prep for my seminar on Monday. Today I wanted to show you a few really neat things! Like, ah, that red flash of color in the photo above....

Swingy trench coat - designed by Samuel Dong, coveted by Diva Deb.
Yes, I've oogled this Audrey Hepburn - style beauty since last February when I discovered it at the Denver Gift Show. I tried it on there in a gorgeous champagne color, loved it, ordered it, and waited.....and waited....nope. Sorry. Not available in that color. I searched everywhere, to no avail. I finally gave up the ghost that I'd ever own it.

Yesterday afternoon, as I sat weary and covered with dirt on the convention center floor, a man's voice said "I brought this for your display". I looked up (probably with a weary look on my dirty face... and hopefully not a dirty look on my weary face!) to see a very nice man holding a lovely mannequin dressed in MY COAT! Well, my coat in red, that is. I asked him about ordering the champagne color and he said "Yeah, sure, I can get that for you." I am in love with this man. (And Mr. Deb is perfectly OK with that!) So tomorrow, I'm ordering my coat, again. Happy girl!

Edited to Add: Uh, yeah well, notsomuch. It wasn't an authentic Samuel Dong Bubble Trench Coat. And even the copycoat doesn't come in that champagne color. sigh. However, miraculously, a lovely woman named Vanessa found my previous blog post (wherein I effused passionately about the coat) and emailed to let me know she sells them. Just not in Champagne. So I have to choose another color. Deep Pink, maybe? White? (Don't hold your breath...)

A few marvelous products were so much fun to see & work into displays - like jewelry made from antique & vintage buttons, from Linda at My Mothers Buttons . She's a doll, and has a true eye for displaying her merchandise. Just look at the vintage slide case she brought me to drape the jewelry on! Perfect.

THIS stuff is just tooooo adorable, especially for a gramma like me. Darling baby towels, blankets, and socks packaged like cakes from Lambs & Ivy. Check them out at lambs & ivy

OK, this one is a long story...
At some point on Friday...not sure when, it's all a blur now....a very funny guy named Ace (yes that's really his name!) came sidling up to our work area and actually started to SCHMOOOOOZE me. Yep, he did. (He's clearly had much success with this maneuver before, I tell ya'. He knew exactly how to schmooze!) What is funny is that he was schmoozing me, the designer of the exhibitor display area, so that I would let him set up his own display. Because, you see, he has a photo of the setup that has to be replicated exactly.

And of course, me being me, the Display Diva that I am, I totally agree with the kind of OCD thinking that creates planograms and photo reference sheets so that displays will be perfect. I get it, believe me! I have my own control issues! And I have no problem with exhibitors who have their own plans and ideas for how their merchandise is to be displayed in these areas. If they want to do it themselves, I am absolutely fine with that. Only, Ace didn't know that. Apparently, Ace had just come off of a massive run-in with some display designers down at the SFIGF who had no intention of letting him have anything at allllllll to do with the way his product was displayed in 'their' showcase. (I cannot tell you how hard I am biting my tongue on this one......)

So anyway, Ace stopped talking and I finally got a word in edgewise to say 'Hey, have at it! You have this space to do whatever you want with your products. Have a blast!' To say his expression was one of shock would be an understatement... he basically sat there, mouth agape, eyes wide, then ran his hand through his hair and shook his head while saying "Madam, you are most certainly a breath of fresh air and the most REASONABLE designer I have ever met!" Thanks, Ace, I appreciate that! Wanna' see what he did?
A nice bit o' display work! And as shown in the background, you can get a gander of these lovely products in the current issue of Romantic Homes. Ace is the business partner of Cathleen, and they own Vintage Home Lifestyle . Sunday, I'll get a chance to go by their booth and see how well he did in setting it up using photo reference sheets... I'll try to get some photos to share. Wonder if I'll have to SCHMOOOOZE him?! ;0)

DONE!

I just finished my last project for the entire month. And since I am itchin' to get on with my self-imposed sabbatical, I am posting here twice in one day. Why? I don't want to think about this project again until August 13th!!!

The project was for George Little Management, for the Seattle Gift Show. I redesigned the Exhibitor Display Area - formerly known as the North Hall Display, which is now called the Launching Pad. It is, in fact, combined with what used to be the Launching Pad but in the location of the former North Hall Display, which was located in the South Hall 4th Floor Lobby....got that?!! OOPS - my bad. I was wrong. It's called the 'New Product Showcase'. Much less confusing! I stand corrected.

New materials, colors, and fixures. New look, new style. New name, new categories.


The fixtures will be set similarly to this sketch, then all of the products & merchandise that exhibitors bring me to display on it will go in.

Here's what I included in the design:

"Style Inspiration

Northwest Contemporary
Pan-Asian Influence
Natural Elements

This design is driven by the desire to express the unique 'terrior' or 'pride of place' that exists in the Northwest states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and British Columbia, Canada. Active, rugged, welcoming, intelligent, educated, stylish, and healthy are adjectives often used to describe the residents and visitors of the region – this design embodies those defining characteristics.

Fine finishes on wood, glass, and concrete juxtaposed with simple earthy materials like sand, bark, rocks, and moss evoke the combination of nature and technology prevalent in the region. Drawing from the influence of our geography, colors and natural elements used in the design plan reflect the sea, the sky, the mountain forest, the desert, farmland, and the urban oasis."

Yup, I practice what I preach. My seminars this summer are on using your surroundings to help you tell your own unique story - so I went with that concept here. Even the concrete floors and the wood-textured concrete walls of the Washington State Convention & Trade Center will play into the design scheme.


30 X 30 feet. HUGE display area. LOTS of products in those five categories GLM chose to focus on. To be viewed from three sides. Whew. This floorplan is approximate - everything morphs and changes onsite when the products start arriving. Lots of levels and elevations here to show things off in style.

Oh, and did I mention that in the interest of keeping costs down, I went with all IKEA shelving & tables? Great prices, great looks, easy transport...there's just one lil' problem: everything has to be assembled before I can use it. Guess who gets to do that job?

My assistants.
Beth and Anni are gonna' LOVE me.... ah, the things a mom can get away with! ;0)

OK, my 'summer vacation' effectively starts NOW! (And I don't have to think about this project again until August 13, when I head down to install it!)

Spring Market Day

I spent today at the Pacific Market Center in Seattle, for the Spring Gift Show.
Lots of great new stuff, lots of spiffed-up showrooms, and a never-ending supply of treats, goodies, samples, and catalogs. The show theme is 'Catch the BUZZ', much like the winter shows (remember the bees I made for exhibitor displays?) - and the copious amounts of sugar & caffeine offered seem to work well with that.

The program included listings of special events and seminars this week, including an excerpted article by Bob Negen, and SO much more...

How about a cheat sheet on the trending color palettes for 08? Local colorist & head of the Pantone Color Institute, Leatrice Eiseman, wrote an article for the brochure.

And a column called 'The Hive' fills us all in on new showrooms in the Market and the new Bistro for food and more caffeine! Kudos to the PMC for being a resource for information & education, as well as merchandise.

We found some great stuff for the client I was with, I was able to chat with a few sales reps I know and ran into a few people who are new there but I know from other places (Hi, Sheila!). It was good to see such a positive 'vibe' in the industry again. Oh, BIG Kudos to the Barron Collection, whose music mix was beyond perfect for Monday morning mood-boosting. Details, I tell ya - details!!!!

The Sharin' of the Green...

The second display area I designed for the recent Seattle Gift Show was the 'Green Products' Display. This was new at the last show, and response has continued to grow, as you may well imagine. Eco-friendly materials & manufacturing processes and free trade partnerships are high on the radar right now. This display area provides a jump-start for attendees wanting to find these kinds of products at the show. Any show exhibitor can bring us products, as long as they are 'green', and we'll make them look marvelous. And yes, it's free! (Funny story: everyone wants to give us products that are the COLOR green! It's so hard to keep a straight face sometimes...)

In designing this display, I carried through the theme of 'buzz' from the other display and the show collateral, as you can see in the photo above. Below, you'll see the 'beeline' across the backdrop (yes, it's bamboo, no, it's not real, yes, I know that it's not PC to use petroleum-based plastics in a green display BUT in my defense I am being eco-smart because these rolls of bamboo-look window blinds have already lasted for two shows and will for many more - and real bamboo would have splintered apart during the pack-up-n-shove process at show end) whew. Outta' breath.....

Anni & I took a bunch of brown kraft paper & paper bags (reused!) and twisted them into big tree branches. Even though I used a wire armature under the paper, the branches drooped more than I had planned. We just reasoned. "Oh, well, it's a willow tree!!!!!" To those, we pinned green leaves - cut from pages of magazines, catalogs, etc. from my oh-so-huge stash. I found every page that had any green on it at all, and cut out leaf shapes.

After pinning leaves on the branches, we had some left - so they were used in display setups, like this one for pots made from corn husks! It was a great effect and a terrific way to get the message across about recycle/reuse/rethink. I like to provide inspiration for display along with promoting the products in these areas, and I was told that many people were photographing both displays because they wanted to replicate the ideas in their stores. FABULOUS!!!!!

Here is a smaller branch, laying across one of the low platforms in front. (More product was added after this shot). In a positively shameless display of self-promotion, I cut small leaves from a few of my own business cards, and put them in very visible spots on the branch...

It's blurry but you get the idea. That lime-green leaf in the center is my biz card. Below is a shot of the display area from where the other display area was - they were right across from each other. (And at show setup, we were buzzing like bees between the two, artfully dodging flying forklifts. Whooooosh.......)

Many many thanks to Darlene, who sits at the display during the show, talking to attendees & exhibitors about the products in the setup. She is wonderful!!!!

How to Get THERE From HERE...

Display is marketing. Marketing is brand-building.

A brand image is a visible expression of the values and mission of your busines, product, service.
'Bizness One-oh-One', people!

So, when you are displaying a plethora of products from various vendors at a show,
in a 'New Products' or 'New Exhibitors' display area, as I do for the show,
how do you express and build a brand?
Focus on the commonality. They are all at the same show, so go with the show brand.
It's a 'One for all, all for one' sort of thing.... by making the whole look good, we make the parts look good. Get it? Got It? Good!

So, how do we do that? I'll show ya'...

Seattle Gift Show Collateral (Advertising materials) for the Winter 08 show.

I received these from the show production company the week before the show -
usually I have more lead time than that, but it's ok. I can work under pressure!
I pulled them out of the FedEx envelope and immediately thought to myself
'I have a piece of vintage fabric that looks like this....'.
(Photographic memory does come in handy at times!)

I went up to the attic to my fabric bins, and located it. Yup. Pretty darn similar.
I let the fabric pattern and the collateral graphics bounce around in my head while I drank a Vanilla Coke, and in about ten minutes I had a plan. (Vanilla Coke jumpstarts creativity, I swear...)

However.....Forget the fabric. Too fussy. Too busy to focus on.
(I had thought that perhaps I would scan it and print it to use in various ways. Nope)
Stick with the graphic image. Go BIG, go BOLD, go COLORFUL. Make it POP.
Catch the eye of the customer and draw them into the area....the whole POINT of display.

Also, make it inexpensive and easy to disassemble.
I design and install this display, but I don't take it down.
Show staff does that, so I try to make it simple for them to pack up.
The props for this are all made of paper and a bit of wire, so they can be disposed of.

So, I gathered some red tissue paper, oversize yellow silk zinnias, and some wire, 

and made up four big ol' floppy poppy flowers. (instructions below) 

Grabbed some wire and yellow pompoms, and made some bees. (instructions below) 

Bought blue paper and black letters and black electrical tape 

(tho in my world it's always been called rifletape - one word - because colorguard makes the world go 'round).

Once at the convention center, it all came together like this:

The blue paper covers the center of the backdrop. the pedestals, and some of the low platforms. This swath of blue is centered in the display and it lines up with the main aisle in front of it - with the red pop of color, this is visible from the opposite end of the show floor!

Poppies n' Bees, creating a BUZZ...

(wrap black wire around large yellow pom poms, twisting it to create wings, 

then create a 'trail' behind them using the wire. attach to surface or hang with monofilament wire)

 Bee close-up! He was suspended on clear wire so he'd spin...and he did!

Bee Extreme close-up!

(use the giant silk zinnia as the center - wrap sheets of red-orange tissue around the stem, 

wire them on, and you're done. takes all of five minutes per flower)

Result? A simple way to translate the theme and brand image of the show to the display. 

I even grabbed some of the flyers, brochures, and postcards, and used them:

The shot I took from down the aisle was too fuzzy to use, darn it.
This is a cross-view of the display area, looking spiffy and bright
even though it was relocated from the sunny bright lobby into the dark recesses of the main hall.
(NOT my idea, I didn't even know about the change until I showed up onsite...
took me half an hour to locate my skids of supplies and get started.)

Setup was an adventure, I swear.
I thought I was on a reality show called "Survivor: Trade Show"
and expected to have to attend tribal council at the end of the day to see a dead body carried out.

Having been located in the lobby for the past five years,
I am not used to the constant noise level and racing tactics of forklifts
passing within mere inches of my feet.
Products fell off of pedestals because of the shaking floors caused by weighty loads on the forklifts,
and they kicked up wind that blew the heck out of my props.
sigh. Hectic is the only word I can think of that even comes close...
but we perservered and got it all done.
I have a heckuva' list of things to change for the next show, believe me!

My daughter and able assistant, Anni, says 'There is no Display without DRAMA'.
Too true. I wish it wasn't, but it seems to be the way of the trade right now.
D is for Deb, Diva, Display, Decorate....and apparently, Drama. sigh.

Are You IN?

The tagline for the Summer Seattle Gift Show: Are you IN?

After receiving the show collateral from the marketing director, it took me all of three seconds to decide what the focal of the North Hall Display area would be. The giant 'IN' created from boxes in the artwork on postcards, magazine ads, flyers, and programs was easy as pie to reproduce.

I used 12" square white boxes, and added colorful papers on the faces of each - matching them as closely as I could to the show graphic. Gift wrap, handmade and scrapbook papers served well for this and were cost-effective, too. All in all, the 'IN' cost less than fifty bucks.
I also pulled the show's signature red color into the display by using red paper under some of the acrylic cubes. Postcards with the graphic on them were scattered on the floor and tables, and some of the marketing material was cut up and used on pedestals - lines like 'INviting', 'INstyle', etc. Again, this keeps the message of the display in sync with the message of the show. Since I never know what products will be in the display until they are in my hot little hands, I have to coordinate the 'set' that they will be placed in.

My MOST able assistants, Karen and Beth, placed all of the product and made it look stellar! (I was creating the dinner decor for the Columbia Winery AWW Dinner....that's another post!)

We moved the display to a new location this year, up against the windows of the 4th floor lobby, directly across from where the display has been for five years now. I like this so much better - except we need to add more spotlights to counteract the glare of the windows. Notice how that 6 foot high 'IN' really pulls your eye into the display?!

This was not an expensive visual prop at all, but it raised the visual impact of the entire display area like nothing else could. Tying every product into the idea that it was 'the IN thing' at the show was the big bonus for exhibitors!