2018 is shaping up to be a great year for trade show displays (and trade shows in general) thanks to several trends that took place in 2017.
This year, we’ll see two of these trends expand further and become more prominent – which means you’ll miss out if you don’t at least give them strong consideration.
Here, we’ll talk about texture and virtual/augmented reality.
Texture Is Back in a Big Way
The typical go-to for trade show display surfaces is white. Barring that, people like using simple, solid colors with a glossy finish. You can see this flat color preference on signs, backdrops, kiosks, panels, and the like.
But now, texture is back. Texture was popular a decade or so ago, but people shifted away from it to the “clean” look of white and simple solid color. Its resurgence is giving trade shows a different look, as booths turn to metallics, woods, diamond plate, and other industrial looks and feels to give them a unique presence.
If texture can be incorporated into your display as a part of your brand, you should go for it. Be creative and think, “What can I bring to my graphics that will communicate the environment in which we work?”
It’s all about communicating your brand’s personality, and incorporating texture does exactly that.
Virtual/Augmented Reality Transforms an Exhibit
If you’ve been to a show lately and have seen people staring at the sky with these weird-looking boxes over their eyes, you’ve seen virtual reality at work.
Virtual reality brings a new dimension to a trade show. With this exciting technology, you’re no longer confined to your floor space and its barriers. You can take a visitor anywhere you choose – to your office, or to a field location, or even to a three-dimensional location that looks like, say, a space station in orbit.
VR – and its cousin, augmented reality – can take a visitor away from your display and directly to your product or service. It can give them an up-close-and-personal look at your offerings and your brand in a way that is fresh and cool.
You can even incorporate 360-degree views that put them directly in a space so they can explore. If you’re a homebuilder, for example, you can help people go on a 3D tour of a model home without them ever leaving the trade show.
Augmented reality is similar in that it transforms someone’s world into a “digital” world with digital overlays through a device, such as their smartphone. We all saw this with the Pokemon Go craze a couple of years ago. Augmented reality can show key information to visitors as long as they’re using some kind of device, like their phones. For example, you could have an app that shows visitors the price of a product or service as they view it on their smartphone.
Taking Advantage of Key Trends
These two trends will be very popular in 2018. You’ll fall behind if you neglect them, but you’ll improve your display – and your results – if you incorporate them fearlessly into your presentation.
For more information on creating a unique, attention-grabbing trade show display, contact the team at Design Display.