creating a promotional eventunit 3 – “Design Fest” display boards

setting up your display booth

Prompt: You have been awarded a premium space at Design Fest 2014

Display Booths must include the following:

▪ A three-fold display board▪ A table, chair and a table cloth▪ Promotional items:

▪ Flyers and handouts▪ Business cards

Display Boards include the following:

(some illustrators/designers have decided to base their backboards on traditional tradeshow boards)

▪ Project title▪ Abstract: brief background information about you the artist ▪ Question:

▪ Mission statement ▪ Vision statement ▪ Goals

▪ Background Research:▪ Qualifications▪ Knowledge and Skills

▪ Materials ▪ Media▪ Subject matter▪ Programs/software

▪ Procedure▪ Your artistic process▪ Step by step on what you do

▪ Results▪ Accomplishments ▪ Achievements ▪ Awards

▪ Conclusion▪ Sales pitch (why should they hire you?)▪ Additional information

▪ Future Directions▪ Projects planned for the future ▪ Events planned for the future

step 1: begin your backboard

Plan for the “Design Fest”

Erect a stand-alone presentation board. On the board, you can show how clients can benefit by using your services. Be creative and make it stand out. Include pictures and be sure your company name and logo.▪ Organization and Neatness are key!▪ Create a catchy title for the tradeshow event itself, not just your company name!▪ Outline each section of the presentation – use graphics and images to tell your story▪ Be prepared!

Have plenty of trade show giveaways, such as business cards, brochures, pens, magnets, and anything else that has your company name and/or logo on it. And be sure to use display racks for showing your flyers, specials, brochures, and such.

about tradeshows and fests

Design Fest is a Tradeshow A trade fair (trade show, trade exhibition or

expo) is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products, service, study activities of rivals and examine recent market trends and opportunities.

History Modern trade fairs follow in the tradition of

trade fairs established in late medieval Europe, in the era of merchant capitalism.

In this era, produce and craft producers visited towns for trading fairs, to sell and showcase products.

From the late eighteenth century, Industrial Exhibitions in Europe and North America became more common reflecting the technological dynamism of the industrial revolution.

In the 21st century, with the rapid industrialization of Asia, trade shows and exhibitions are now commonplace throughout the Asian continent, with China dominating the exhibitions industry in Asia, accounting for more than 55 per cent of all space sold in the region in 2011.

step 2b: plan your display board

Your display board should:

2-Ply White Project Board 36" x 48“ ▪ Board Material:

Corrugated

▪ a smooth surface perfect for paints, adhesives and markers

• For any drawings or written text, start with pencil, not pen.

• Sketch a rough layout on a piece of paper before pasting up your display.

• Leave yourself plenty of time.

• Gather all of your material and organize it into categories.

• If you forgot to photograph each step of your procedure, consider re-staging it now for documentation. (Some are better than none!)

• Consult a book or website about graphic design. See how professionals use a grid format with columns and rows for effective layouts.

• Study examples of winning displays. However….Be original!

• Come up with a catchy title and display it prominently.

• Include all required categories and content on your display.

• Tell the story of your artworkl n a logical, easy-to-read manner.

• Arrange items from left to right, from top to bottom.

• Space elements evenly across your layout, to achieve a balanced, consistent look.

• Draw attention to the most interesting parts of your project with color and graphics. Visitors and judges will zero in on this first thing.

• Use black or dark colors for type.

• Make type large enough to read from four feet away: As a general rule, use 24 pt type for headings, 16 pt type for text blocks.

• Choose a simple font that is easy to read. You may want one font for headings and another for body text, but make sure they are both easy to read.

• Use subheads and bullet points rather than long paragraphs of dense text.

• Write descriptive captions for photos.

• Proofread and double- and triple-check all text before sticking it on your display board.

• Avoid clutter.

The “Do’s” of a Good Display/Presentation

step 2a: plan your display board

• DON’T leave your display until the last minute.

• DON’T forget to spell-check and proofread!

• DON’T write or draw directly on the board.

• DON’T fancy fonts that are hard to read.

• DON’T use too many different fonts on one page.

• DON’T make continuous use of all caps.

• DON’T use large amounts of centered text.

• DON’T display photos without captions.

• DON’T go crazy with colors. A few bright colors are good to accentuate key elements and add pizzazz. But stick to a handful and keep it professional.

• DONT: Overdo it with 20 different colors. Color schemes usually use 3 to four main colors and a couple of neutral accent colors.

• DON’T cover every inch of your display; remember to leave some

breathing room (what graphic designers call “white space”) between blocks of text and graphics.

• DON’T use white school glue to stick thin paper to your board, or it may ripple.

• DON’T be afraid to get creative. Design is not dull; it’s dynamic!

• DON’T glue any 3-D objects to the display board at home.

• DONT: Just place boxes everywhere.

• DONT: Write one paragraph per page that is 1,000+ words long.

• DONT: Go on and on (and on) about nothing.

• DONT: Make everything on your page an image.

• DON’T list an unprofessional e-mail address, such as “lovenut@abc.com” or “sassyncrazy@xyz.com.”

• DON’T overlook the little things..

Your display board should:

2-Ply White Project Board 36" x 48“ ▪ Board Material:

Corrugated

▪ a smooth surface perfect for paints, adhesives and markers

The “Don’t’s” of a Good Display/Presentation

step 3a: display board requirements

Part 1 of your Display Board: Project title

This should be more than your company or logo. It is: “Project X” brought you by “Company Y”

Examples: ▪ The New Epcot Center brought you by the Disney

Corporation▪ The New 52 brought to you by DC Comics

Abstract Your biography in a nutshell – keep this brief

and purposeful. If you like cats – great – but does this really

help you sell yourself as an artist? What makes you unique? What makes you

stand out as a designer? Design Questions

What do you know? What do you do? How do you do it?

Part 2 of your Display Board: Mission statement

Why are you a business and not just a hobbyist?

Who are your customers? What are your products and services?

Vision statement What is your image – the image you want to

portray? How do you serve the needs of your

customers? What will you do for me if I hire you?

What are your underlying philosophies? What are your values?

Goals Where do you want to be when graduate

college? Where do you want to be in ten years?

step 3b: display board requirements

Part 3 of your Display Board: Background Research

What do you know about your field? What research have you done?

Qualifications: What makes you a good candidate? What qualities do you have?

Knowledge and Skills: What do you know what to do and how do you know how to do it?

Materials Media: What is your preferred media(s)? Why? Subject matter: What content do you make?

Why? Programs/software: Which programs do you

know? How long have you used each program? Procedure

Your artistic process: How do you plan? How do you get inspiration?

Step by step on what you do: take digital pictures or record steps of you making a piece

Part 4 of your Display Board: Results

Accomplishments: List any accomplishments

Achievements: List any achievements

Awards: List any awards Conclusion

Sales pitch (why should they hire you?): Give us a reason to pick you out of everyone else out there

Additional information: Include any other information that makes you the best of the best

Future Directions Projects planned for the future: List projects

you plan on doing – including preliminary sketches or thumbnails

Events planned for the future: List any events you plan to attend to help promote yourself

step 4: revised design for review

Peer Review:

Share your thumbnails with your peers

Choose the best thumbnail

Make changes based on peer suggestions

Get instructor approval of your design

step 5: create your display board

Create Your Display Board:

Include all the components (see above slides)

Include samples of artworks and designs

Keep it professional Prepare for a “mock

presentation” to a “mock board of reviewers”

Sell yourself!