[Part 6] Back to basics
29 May 2008
Tracey Doran is managing director of Doran Design, a design consultancy specialising in exhibition stand design. In the final part of a six-part series, Tracey takes a look at the live events industry.
As this is my last editorial I thought I should, as they say, go back to basics and look at why anyone in their right mind would want to consider live events, and if they do, how to get the best out of it! [It has certainly made me think about the industry I work in and hopefully made me concentrate on the things that matter to the end user].
At the end of the day it’s the only sales platform where you can show your product or service face to face to a prospective customer and get an instant reaction to your sales pitch. It’s why there is an exhibition somewhere in the world for almost any product or service known to man. It also happens to be the industry that has given me my livelihood for the last 30 years, and I can honestly say that I have never got bored. Every project is different in one way or another.
I thought I would start by doing a bit of web surfing. I came across one site that apparently lists companies that can offer every service you could possible need for a live event. So as a designer of live events, I thought I should look at the list to check out the competition, and was surprised not to find any listed. There were loads of companies offering design services, but with every one of them, it was an ‘add-on’ service. They were all companies that supplied bespoke construction, modular systems or graphics; not one was what I would call a design company! Every company listed would have other considerations rather than coming up with their best possible solution to answer your brief, and if you were ever to consider one of the advertising agencies that offer ‘in-house’ 3D design, then they might have a totally different agenda. I’m often asked to look over ideas that agency’s have come up with. Some of the ideas are great; unfortunately some although they look good on paper, actually implementing the construction would be a very different story. By the way, ‘Sky Hooks’ don’t actually exist!
Anyway, back to basics. I obviously can’t cover all types of live events, so for the purpose of the editorial I shall just concentrate on exhibition stand design. There’s a whole list of things you need to know before starting any project. Sure you can sketch concept ideas down, but there is no point at all in developing them until you know the basics! First of all you would need the stand size together with all of the imposed restrictions; height limits, set backs, maximum percentage of perimeter walling allowed, hall columns etc., and what services are available to the stand? Then most importantly, where is the stand? Again there’s no point just having the stand plan from the organisers, you need the show floor plan! You need to know where the entrance is, where the bar is, if there’s a lounge area and even where the toilets are located. It’s also handy to know where the client’s competitors are positioned. Only then can you try and work out the visitor flow patterns and that together with the client brief will help you to decide what to put where and if everything will fit. Finally, you need to know the budget. Don’t start designing a ‘Rolls’ if they only want to pay for a ‘Mini’
So now finally you can start to design, but to be honest, it often starts with a juggling act, which will without doubt have you starting to ‘question’ the brief. “Why they have asked for whatever it is?” and “what they hope to achieve from having it?”, “do they need a closed or open stand?”, “how long would they like to try and keep the visitor on the stand?”, “what level of hospitality do they require?”, “do they really need to show each exhibit in every colour?” etc., etc., and of course, don’t forget the staff, how many will there be and what their requirements will be.
Now you have to try to make it look good, remember, a stand designer’s job is to try to follow the requirements of the brief. Make the stand workable, but also get it noticed! Once that is done then it’s over to the sale’s staff to do their magic. It doesn’t matter how good a stand looks, the product or service still needs selling. There are lots of companies happy to tell you how to do that, as well as help motivate your staff. There have always been video’s and DVD’s telling you what and what not to do. Don’t eat your lunch on the stand, don’t stand on the edge of the stand and always ask open questions. There’s probably a ‘how to sell at exhibitions’ web site these days [so I will leave that to them]. All I know is I couldn’t do it. Standing up all the time for 2 or 3 days repeating yourself all day long is not my idea of fun, but I know some sales people actually enjoy it. I’ll just keep to designing the stands and try to make them both look good and work!
Finally you have the design, and now all you have to do is ‘sell it’. You need to convince the client who gave you the brief that you have considered all the afore mentioned points and have chosen the best solution to meet the brief and budget. The problem is the client has normally asked a few other designers to do the same and they all come up with a different solution. Now it’s the designers turn to be the sales person and try to influence the decision. You can’t all be right and only one will win, but then, ‘That’s Life’.
Other Press Releases By This Company
- 23/07/2014 - Latest news from Doran Design
- 29/05/2008 - [Part 5] Shake it all about!
- 29/05/2008 - [Part 4] Exhibiting - the boring bits!
- 29/05/2008 - [Part 3] Are you sitting comfortably?
- 29/05/2008 - [Part 2] What’s in a name?
- 29/05/2008 - [Part 1] It stared with a Wang!
