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Trade show display photo tips

Take lots of photos of your exhibit at every show. Photograph the entire exhibit from all angles, as well as every nook and cranny. This not only helps the setup crews from show to show, it also records any booth damage. Plus, it helps the marketing team remember how the booth looked at previous shows. As a bonus, it was very helpful when Allied Healthcare Products Inc. had three exhibit houses compete to build a new display. With the photos, the exhibit houses could clearly see the wide variety of Allied’s products, which come in all shapes and sizes.

Protecting your exhibit graphics

Because they can be so easily damaged, it’s critical that you protect your exhibit graphics for transport to and from shows. Your best bet is to assume your graphics will be abused, and to package them to withstand that abuse. Try these four tips:

• If possible, design your graphics to fit easily into your exhibit cases. Exhibit cases or crates are designed to withstand rough handling, which will benefit your graphics as well as your exhibit structure.
• Never force or over-pack graphics. If your cases are getting tight, get another graphics case.
• Make sure rigid graphics are well-secured within the package and have adequate padding. It’s all too easy for rigid graphics to obtain nicks or dents if they’re allowed to "move" in their storage container.
• Always insure. Heavily insured packages are hardly every lost or damaged, since their value goes up in the eyes of their handlers.

Photography & graphics 10 money-saving exhibit graphics tips

1. Use as little copy as possible.
2. Use standard vinyl colors and standard typefaces.
3. Use a large general image for multiple-division companies and then target specific markets with inexpensive strip graphics and auxiliary photos.
4. If you have copy that changes frequently, use removable vinyl that can be easily changed.
5. Work directly with the company that actually produces the graphics. (Buy photos from a photo lab, exhibit graphics from an exhibit company.)
6. Add copy to photographs in black and white instead of color.
7. Provide your vendor with clean art or a compatible disk.
8. Don't get so locked into an idea that you forget to be open to more cost-effective suggestions.
9. Order everything as early possible.
10. Don't change your mind!

Cutting graphics costs

To get the most out of your graphics dollar, address these two areas in the design process instead of the night before the show:

· Use a simple, easy-to-read font. Use common typefaces in case a graphic has to be recreated in a pinch. An unusual font that needs to be hand cut, for example, can drastically increase your costs. Also be aware of type size. Type should be one inch in height for every three feet attendees step back.

· Enhance with color. The right color can make all the difference. Design experts recommend dark-colored exhibits and light-colored graphics. Get several opinions on what is most easily read. You don't want to make costly changes on the show floor.

Dirty graphics

Trade show halls are incredibly dusty places. No matter how well you clean your graphics during set-up, the carpet layers will come in the night before the show and stir up enough dust that your graphics are covered the morning the show starts.

We've discovered that a Swiffer (a product from Proctor & Gamble) is wonderful to have around the booth for cleaning just about anything. It's works especially well for graphics, particularly the ones up high that you would never be able to reach. If you buy two or three Swiffers, you can link the handle pieces together for a nice, long extension handle. When you're done, it breaks down into small pieces and can be hidden away till the next morning. Swiffers can be found at just about any grocery or drugstore. A starter pack with the swivel sweeper head, handle pieces, and 8 refill cloths costs about $15.

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