08/08/2025
When it comes to industry events, your exhibition stand acts as your brand’s stage; it’s your platform to engage your audience, amplify your brand presence and convert curious visitors into clients. Creative exhibition design is a powerful tool you can use to boost your brand awareness and offer a unique event to your audience.
At Sublime, we’ve spent years supporting brands of all sizes in transforming their event presence into memorable experiences. Our bespoke exhibition stand design service creates striking, immersive experiences that will grab the attention of your audience and drive measurable results.
In this detailed guide, we’ll cover how to design an exhibition stand that captivates potential customers and turns them into real clients!
Designing exhibition stands involves 6 crucial steps. Let’s delve into them…
Before brainstorming ideas and creating sketches, we help every client establish why they’re exhibiting. Your goals shape every design decision, from the size of your exhibition booth to the technology and staffing you’ll require.
Your booth’s layout and the space you’ll need depend on your target audience. Whether you’re aiming to build connections with corporate buyers or everyday consumers, it’s important to analyse these 3 aspects:
Answering these questions is critical to creating a stand that attracts and engages the appropriate audience. If you’d like some support with aligning your strategy to your target consumers’ needs, say hello! We begin every project with a consultation to clarify these goals.
Once you’ve defined your goals, it’s time to focus on strategic space planning. A beautifully designed booth can struggle to succeed if the layout isn’t compatible with your team and visitors.
Assessing the venue layout, expected footfall and your stand’s position within the area is essential for maximising visibility and engagement. Plan natural pathways that invite people in from multiple angles using entry points and areas where your booth is clearly visible. Your aim is to draw in as many visitors as you can, which is only possible if your booth is visible from multiple directions. The easiest way to avoid congestion is to create clear, wide walkways to spark an intuitive flow of people.
Our Bandai Namco stand at MCM Expo exemplifies dedicated gaming zones, interactive areas, and smooth visitor flow, maximising engagement across a busy event hall.
As important as the initial hook is, it’s even more vital to hold your visitors’ attention throughout the discovery of your whole stand. To make your stand enticing, guide visitors on a journey through all of its elements, from project examples to interactive spaces.
Split your stand into zones, such as engagement zones for demonstrations and interactivity, networking areas for building connections, dedicated product displays, and discreet storage to keep everything organised and professional. This design enables visitors to leave your stand fully immersed in your products or services, and enthusiastic to become a client.
With the space mapped out, you can craft a stand concept that translates your vision into a creative booth that aligns with your brand and goals. It’s the concept that makes the stand feel more like an experience for your brand than a simple booth.
Conceptually, you’ll want to combine your core theme and messaging to tell your brand’s story with innovative structural elements that stand out visually. Ensure that you choose a cohesive colour palette that matches your branding and is eye-catching in the midst of all other stands.
To invite attention to your stand, add tall structures, inflatables or high-level branding to help your booth physically rise above the surrounding stands. However, remember to keep your logo and core message visible at eye level to allow it to stick in the minds of everyone passing by.
Every successful booth has operational aspects that ensure its smooth running, such as health and safety documentation to guarantee your stand complies with all venue safety standards.
The utilities required for your event are also crucial to your design, and it’s essential that they are installed correctly, both for aesthetics and safety. Integrate audio-visual systems and lighting rigs to increase dynamic engagement.
We incorporated a sense of touch in our AMC stand, with an interactive ‘meth lab’ inspired by Breaking Bad, designed with strict health and safety protocols.
When planning your exhibition booth, remember to consider all senses, not just sight. Incorporating audio, taste and touch into your exhibition is an effective way to create atmosphere and leave a lasting impression.
The staff you choose to run your stand can make or break your exhibition presence. Select skilled members who embody your brand’s values, are confident in managing high-pressure environments and can discuss your products or services at length with authority and consistency.
At Sublime, we provide trained brand ambassadors who confidently engage visitors, on-site technicians who maintain the seamless operation of your exhibition and product specialists who can deliver in-depth demonstrations. We ensure each team member is thoroughly briefed to embody your brand’s tone and values, making every interaction feel on-brand.
To extend the life of your stand, it’s vital to manage your equipment once your exhibition has finished. Before the event, discuss a clear timeline for breakdown with your build team to ensure a stress-free close, protecting your investment.
Protect and store your stand for use in future events by packing components carefully and arranging secure transport and storage. This approach allows your equipment to be ready to impress again, event after event.
The Too Good To Go stand was designed for easy dismantling and secure storage, ensuring the sustainability-focused display can be reused at multiple events without compromising quality.
We also believe it’s key to spend some time evaluating your event, reviewing your data on leads, visitor engagement and return on investment. Meet with your team and discuss what worked and what can be improved to enhance your strategy at your next stand.
Feeling overwhelmed? The great news is that our experts at Sublime can support you with every step. By following these 6 steps, we deliver bespoke exhibition stands that don’t just attract attention but also convert visitors into real clients.
Through careful consultation, we design strategic exhibition booths that stand out while aligning with your brand’s budget and objectives. We’re skilled at creating striking exhibition booths for both large consumer shows and trade fairs, as well as smaller, niche events.
Say hello to our expert team on 020 7317 9280 or at andy@sublimepromotions.co.uk to discover how we can help!
