Schneider Electric Trade Show Design

Designing "big" things as a trade show designer

Trade Show Designer for Schneider Electric

At one point in my career, I had the pleasure designing event/trade show graphics for Schneider Electric. Since Schneider Electric is a global company, they have trade shows going on in many countries. The team I was on focused primarily on North America. I like to be challenged, so this position was a perfect fit for me. I used InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, and some Flash. Here are some examples of some of Schneider Electric booths that were used previously:

Things I Learned as a Trade Show Designer

I learned many things while in this position. I walked away with some knowledge regarding best practices when creating designs for trade show booths/panels. Creating artwork at this scale should be handled differently than a standard print ad. Here are a few tips for designing signage:

  • You should never put copy below three feet from the ground, this gives you a far less chance to be read by the attendees.
  • Logos should be near the top since it is a spot that is almost always seen.
  • File size can be HUGE, be sure not to have many things running so your computer doesn’t blow up!
  • Less words and an impactful graphic is the best way to get your point across, your designs are competing with all of the others.
  • Resolution does not have to be at 300DPI, signage is meant to be viewed at a distance. I shot for 150DPI, but you can get away with 80DPI.
  • Photoshop is a great friend to have when up-sizing images.

Some Examples

Here are some of the trade show panels I have created at Schneider Electric:

I have created many different panels for many different trade shows, this is just a small portion.

Getting People to Come to Trade Shows

Making panels isn’t the only thing some trade show designers do. Companies also need to promote their presence prior to the actual event. This can be done in a number of ways. Two ways that I did was through web and print. Print consisted of invitations, whereas web consisted of headers.

Trade Show Invitation Print Promotions

The following are some examples of print trade show invites I created for Schneider Electric trade shows.

Trade show invitation room drop for AFCOM with a diecut. Schneider Electric .
Trade show invitation room drop for AFCOM with a diecut. Schneider Electric .

Above is a “room drop” invitation used for the annual AFCOM trade show. A room drop is one of those ads that you see sitting on the table when you check into a hotel room. This ad was placed in the rooms of the attendees of this particular trade show. We wanted this to stand out because we were aware of the fact that it would be competing with the other room drops place within the rooms. We added a die cut going along the Wi-Fi symbol so it would show more of a shape. AFCOM stands for Association for Computer Operations Management. They specialize in advancing data center professionals through education. Since Schneider Electric specializes in almost everything to do with data centers, AFCOM is a good trade show to attend.

Here are a couple of other trade show invitations used at various trade shows:

Trade show invitation room drop for FABTECH by Schneider Electric.
Trade show invitation for a Las Vegas trade show by Schneider Electric

Trade Show Website Banners/Headers

Web headers used to promote the presence of Schneider Electric at the annual trade shows. These web headers were added to the Schneider Electric homepage.

Trade show web header for ACE in Boston by Schneider Electric

Below is a web header highlighting the presence of Schneider Electric at the ENTELEC trade show located in Houston, Texas. ENTELEC stands for The Energy Telecommunications and Electrical Association. They are an association that focuses on the communication and technology revolving around petroleum, natural gas, pipeline and electric utility companies. In this project, I was tasked to create a web header for Schneider Electric’s home page. I used an image of a pipeline in a grassy and mountainous landscape. The call to action leads the reader straight to the trade show registration page.

Trade show web header for ENTELEC in Texas by Schneider Electric

Conclusion

I had a great time working in this position. The knowledge gained from this experience will carry throughout my career. I couldn’t have more fun pushing my computer to the limit while working on a 100+ square foot document on InDesign!

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