Designing and building a trade show booth can seem extremely daunting, especially if you’ve never been involved in this kind of project before. We’ve put together a guide to help you through the process, starting from the inception of the idea all the way through to the build.

How Long Does It Take to Build a Trade Show Booth?

If you have a few shows under your belt, you already know that preparing to attend one takes a significant amount of time. The same is true of designing and building a trade show exhibit.

If you’re planning on a custom build, it’s best to get the ball rolling on this process at least a year in advance. That means a full year before you hope to attend a show with the new booth. The design process can be lengthy, especially if several rounds of review and adjustment are needed. And building a custom exhibit can take at least a couple months—or longer—for a very large booth.

Rush jobs are possible, but it generally means compromising in some way. If you want a high-quality job in a shorter time frame, you can expect to pay a premium for that service. If you want a rush job, but don’t want to pay extra, you are likely to end up with a poorer quality booth.

How to Find a Booth Design/Build Team

The company (or companies) that you choose to do the design and build work are one of the biggest contributors to the overall success of any booth-building project. Choose skilled people, and you’re much more likely to get a good result. Here are some quick tips on finding a great company to work with:

1. Start with a comprehensive list: Ask colleagues for recommendations, or search online for possible companies. Attend a few shows, and if you see any exhibits you particularly like, see if you can find out from booth staff who’s responsible for the build.
2. Shortlist your favorites: Look for the companies with lots of industry experience and proven success. Ideally, they’ll do both design and manufacture—this tends to give the most seamless service and is often more cost-effective too.
3. Make your final choice: Ask for references, and make a point of checking them. Avoid any company that doesn’t provide references or doesn’t have a portfolio. Try to choose a company that does all their own work in-house. Companies that outsource are often more expensive, and quality control can sometimes be a problem.

3 Steps to Building a Trade Show Booth

1. Start with an Idea

Like any creative process, this one starts with an idea. But there’s a little more to it than that. You don’t just want to build a trade show booth, you want to build a successful trade show booth. So coming up with a great booth idea involves some background research. What should you consider as you start thinking about ideas for a trade show exhibit?

Budget: Make sure you know exactly what kind of budget you’re working with, right from the start. This is important because your budget will affect the decisions you make at every step of the design and build process.

Vision: When you think of the booth, what do you see? What does a successful booth look like to you?

Goals: This is a more concrete, tangible way of thinking about your vision for the booth. What are the specific things you want to achieve? This can differ from show to show, so it’s worth thinking about different goals that might be applicable at different times.

Content: Your final booth design should support the kinds of content you plan to add, so you’ll need to consider design and content in tandem. For instance, if you’re planning on product demos or video displays, your booth design should be able to accommodate that kind of content.

2. Move to the Design Process

At this point, you should have a good idea of the kind of booth you want. You know the size, dimensions, and footprint. Now you’re looking for design ideas to start filling out that space.

Finding Design Inspiration

You have lots of options for finding design inspiration, both online and offline. Some places to find design ideas include:

• Websites: Pinterest, Bēhance, and Flickr
• Existing company displays: If your company has any existing portable or permanent displays, take a close look to see if there are any design elements you can incorporate in your booth design. This can be a good option if your brand already has a cohesive visual image that you want to reinforce in your exhibit.
• Trade shows: Check out recent trade shows in your industry to get an idea of what kinds of booths are popular and successful. Pay particular attention to your competitors, and see if you can improve on what they’re doing.

Working with Your Design Team

Once you start working with your design team, the first step in the process is typically a needs assessment. This is where you’ll make the final decisions on what you actually want and need from your booth, as well as your budget and timeframe. It’s important to be well prepared at this point, as your design team will need a lot of detailed information about:

• Your goals for the booth
• Your budget
• Any specific materials or design requirements you have

The design team will use all this information to create a visual rendering of what your finished exhibit will look like.

Different design firms have different processes, but with any design team, you should receive some rough 2D sketches and a 3D rendering of the proposed booth design fairly soon after the initial discussion. If you don’t receive these initial visuals within a few weeks, ask for them.

Once you’ve reviewed these images, you have to decide if any adjustments are needed. Most projects do need at least one or two rounds of adjustments, so don’t be shy about asking for changes if they’re needed. After any necessary adjustments are made, you’ll receive sketches and a 3D rendering of the final design.

Booth Graphics

Graphics are an essential part of your booth, but graphic design isn’t necessarily part of the booth design process. Graphics are often considered separately because they’re not generally part of the structure of an exhibit. But if you’re building an entirely new structure, chances are you’ll also need new graphical elements. Many of the same points that apply to the booth itself also apply to graphics. In particular, it’s important to consider how the graphics you use relate to and enhance your overall goals for the exhibit and how they relate to your brand identity.

3. Complete the Build

Once you have a finished booth design, the next step is to build your trade show display. If your design team is part of a company that also does manufacturing, then this process is simplified, since you won’t have to find a build team. It can also be more cost effective to find a company that does both design and manufacture.

When you submit your trade show booth design, you’ll receive an itemized proposal with all the booth elements and materials, and their costs. The work will start only after you’ve reviewed the proposal and given your okay for the project to proceed. Building a custom trade show exhibit can take several weeks to months. The period of time needed depends mainly on the size of the booth; for a large booth the build may take two or three months to complete.

With the Right Partners, You’re Set Up for a Successful Booth Build

When you’re planning to build a trade show booth, you have a long list of important decisions to make. From budget to graphic design to materials choices, every decision you make impacts how the finished product looks and how your company will perform at upcoming trade shows. But one of the most important choices you’ll make is picking the right design and manufacturing partners. Choose a company with a proven history of successful builds, and it’s hard to go wrong.