Trade Show Banners, Stands and Backdrops For Exhibits

Booth Banner Design & Display Tips

Walk the floor at any trade show exhibition hall and you will find banners being used in a variety of ways to attract booth traffic, highlight new products, promote special offers and raise brand awareness. In fact, banners are one of the most versatile advertising methods available to exhibitors because they are cost-effective, highly flexible, and available in a variety of sizes and formats.

Whether you intend to create your own design or use one of Printastic’s templates, follow these guidelines to maximize effectiveness:

Public Image
Your booth banner is an extension of your company’s public image. The design and printing must emulate the quality of your products and services. Make sure it coordinates with your trade show booth and looks consistent with the colors and fonts you use in your other advertising materials.

In addition, prior to placing a banner printing order, make suer that your banner size, design and message are a good match for the trade show you’re attending and appeals to your target audience.

Banner Printing Format
Determine whether a horizontal or vertical banner fits best with your trade show booth and where it will be placed. Consider how the banner will be displayed. Vertical, stand-alone banners require special stands and there are a variety of styles from which to choose. For more information on banner stands, click here: https://www.printastic.com/banner-stands/
Banner Size
As with all types of signage, the larger the size of banner the greater the impact. Yet, your banner should also be as tasteful as it is noticeable. Your exhibit area will dictate how large of a banner you should order.

Most trade shows provide guidelines for standard banner sizes that apply different booth areas. Yet, if you have something special to promote, you may want to opt for an oversized banner to create additional buzz and excitement on the trade show floor.

Keep It Simple
To strengthen the impact of your banner’s marketing message, keep your design as simple as possible. A cluttered banner might attract attention, but not the kind of attention you want. The goal is to draw focus to the product or service you’re promoting, not the banner itself.

Effective trade show banners must be pleasing to the eye, easy to read, and singularly focused. Consider the following four elements for your design:

  • Bold, short headline
  • Vivid photography or image
  • Brief copy points
  • Call-to-action with your logo and tagline
Use Easy-to-Read Fonts
The size and type of font you use is essential in banner printing. Use clear, simple fonts, such as Arial, Helvetica and other sans-serif fonts.

Italic fonts and serif fonts, like Times New Roman, are hard to read – especially from a distance – and therefore should be avoided in banner printing.

The size of the fonts you use will depend largely on the size of the banner. For more information on proper letter sizing for your banner, click here: https://www.printastic.com/vinyl-banners/faq/banner-letter-sizes.html

Choose the Right Colors
Colors are a powerful psychological tool that, when leveraged properly, can help you increase sales, attract attention, calm people, etc.

Most shades of green and blue are calming and pleasing to the senses. Yet they may not be strong interest grabbers. Silver, grey, white and black denote modern and upscale. Orange and yellow are high-energy colors and red is recognized as an attention-getter.

Keep in mind that bright colors will attract attention; yet, overuse may take away from your message. Bold color photography can also make a stunning impression. Once you determine the colors you want to use, ensure you have high contrast between the background color of the banner and the type color to enhance readability.

Lighting Tips
Use lighting to your advantage for your banner, as well as to highlight key areas of your trade show display. Many vertical banners with stands offer lighting options to enhance attention to your message. You can also bring spotlights to help draw eyes to vertical and horizontal banners.