Stand Out in a Crowd

     Do you have the budget to make your trade show display stand out with monumental and central booth space? With whiz-bang gadgets and technical effects?  With the top award winning graphic designers and stage crafters?  How about with lavish give-aways? No?  Well then, meet your budget friendly creative friend: Repetition.  Yes, I realize this may be getting repetitive, but you’ve probably realized at this point that repetition is the theme for the week.  Today I want you to think about another aspect of repetition and that is the fact that within the context of repetition, variation stands out.   The single contrasting object can bring attention to your product in an incredibly budget friendly way.  Variations within a repetition make products and product information more easily catalogued and stored in the brain.  Two examples:

1. Variations on a theme.  If your product has various aspects to showcase, or your service includes a number of steps, consider using multiple modular display pieces which are identical in form, but differ in their color shades, or each touting an icon to demonstrate a different aspect of your product or service.  Hop-up counters, case to counter conversion pieces, towers and table top displays can all be used for a series of graphics.  When one national health agency wanted to highlight the seven top health goals for their country, each goal was displayed on a tower with interior lighting.  Seven pillars,  each a different shade of the rainbow and topped with helium balloons, glowed against a black backdrop for a striking display.
2. The lone standout.  Our eyes are drawn to contrast, so to make a graphic or piece of text pop out, you want to make it contrast boldly with its surroundings.  It is a graphic technique that highlights a unique approach, or illustrates pride in being or doing things differently.  It suggests a pioneer or maverick going against the tide.  It’s most striking in large numbers so may only work within the graphics of your display banners.  As one laundry chain discovered after a random error, just hanging your sign upside down can  make you stand out.