Monday, October 14, 2013

AG & Co. Trade Show Banners

The folks at Alan Gaynor & Company, an architecture firm, approached me recently to design a trio of banners for use at a trade show. Trade show booths are an empty canvas and it is up to the occupier (and/or their designer) to transform them into an inviting space. Alan and Michele wanted a lively, professional backdrop to their booth.


Our goals were to feature the company logo, contact info and association logo on the central banner, and display their scope of work on the side banners. Using the angular shapes associated with their brand, I created a framework of shapes to place the images in. I was supplied with a large variety of portfolio images, and took great care paring the selection down. I looked for images that contained dynamic shapes, which played off the angular framework, and bright, bold colors to pop against the black.

Photo courtesy Alan Gaynor & Co.

An interesting tip to keep in mind when designing these: make sure the main focus of your design is in the upper half of your banners. When looking at the photo above, it's probaby a no-brainer as to why you would do this. The bottom of the banners fall behind a table, often with people in front of them. However, when you are designing, with only your template open before you, it's very easy to forget the environment, and get lost in the details of the design. I had originally placed the company contact info and association logo down at the bottom of the central banner. It looked more balanced there than in the current location, but would never have been visible after placement in the booth. Always remember your end use!  

Michele and Alan working their magic at the trade show. Photo courtesy Alan Gaynor & Co.

Alan, Michele and the rest of their team were very happy with the end result! It was a pleasure to work with them. Banner printing was done by banneraholic.com.