Exhibition flooring ideas that will make you do a double-take!

Step away from the grey carpet in exchange for a fully branded photo-floor experience, giving your exhibition stand a cohesive branded look.

What type of flooring should you use on your exhibition stand?

Your exhibition stand flooring can make a huge impact on the trade show floor. Sometimes less is more. But sometimes more is definitely more.

In this guide, we’ll cover your flooring options to help you make the right choices when it comes to designing your exhibition stand.

Just when you thought you had your exhibition planning under control, someone mentions flooring. You’ll be presented with options, all of which claim to enhance your exhibition stand design.

The design of your stand makes a huge difference at any show.

Bold colours, great imagery and unique design features entice people onto your booth. Bespoke graphics are the difference between a successful show and a massive flop. Why stop at your structure?

Flooring can be as impactful as your exhibition stand. Your floor design can create a pop-up shop environment or extend your branded graphics to enhance your brand activation campaign.

You want an exhibition stand that stands out and attracts attention. We want you to have a successful show.

This guide to exhibition stand flooring will help you achieve both.

But I Don’t Want a Grey Carpet

So you don’t fancy the grey felt carpet that all the other exhibitors are using.

I wouldn’t either.

And with so many amazing exhibition stand flooring options available, I don’t know why anyone chooses to.

When it comes to shell scheme, exhibitors think they are committed to the flooring that is included. Nobody is limited to that boring carpet and ugly framework. Take a look at our shell scheme conversions to see how we transform shell schemes and small spaces.

We’ve been to thousands of shows and seen millions of exhibition stands. We’ve seen the difference that a great floor can make. You already know that you aren’t limited to the grey carpet, but have you thought about your options?

If you can lay it on the ground, you can use it as your exhibition stand flooring. As well as carpet, we’ve seen:

• Lino
• Tiles
• Grass
• Wood
• Cardboard
• LED screens

But our personal favourite is a custom-graphic photo floor.

Bespoke Photo Flooring

Brand activation is your chance to build lasting connections with your target audience. You can build brand awareness using a brand activation campaign, event or other interaction.

Trade shows give you the perfect opportunity to make that happen. Your exhibition stand can become your brand activation display. And you’re going to want a graphic floor.

Photo flooring allows you to extend your branding onto your exhibition stand floor. Be bold and daring to stop crowds in their tracks just like The Happy Puzzle Company did with their exhibition stand.

Or, create a shop-like environment (just like HB Ingredients and Helm) by using wood or tile patterned graphics. You can include your name and logo to create a fully-branded, immersive environment.

Your exhibition stand flooring should be an extension of your graphics, not the cut-off point.

Should I Use A Raised Floor on my Exhibition Stand?

I am asked this question a lot. Raised floors can be very expensive. Sometimes they work but sometimes they are a trip hazard.

Cost of Raising the Floor on your Exhibition Stand

The average cost of hiring a raised floor is £9 per 1 m². The smallest spaces we work with are 9 m².

Installing a raised floor would incur an £81 charge before you’ve factored in the cost of your exhibition stand, furniture and audiovisual rental, on-site services and staffing.

For a more detailed breakdown, click here to download your free trade show budget template.

Health and Safety Regulations

If your raised floor is higher than 50mm, you are required to include a disabled access ramp. This must be at least 1m wide and cannot go into the aisle. If you have a small stand, the ramp would take up a lot of your floor space.

This is why many exhibitors choose to raise the floor by less than 50mm. Raising your exhibition stand floor by 40mm means that you can avoid adding ramps and save space. But does it add anything to the design?

Low platforms are a trip hazard. Many organisers will ask you to include bevelled edges and contrasting colours to make them stand out and reduce the risk of a fall.

If a contrasting colour doesn’t match your branded graphics, a raised floor could ruin your exhibition stand design.

Raised floors may suit some companies better than others. All platforms will have a weight limit. If your products are over the weight limit, you won’t be able to display them on an exhibition stand with a raised floor.

This will only affect a handful of companies but it is worth taking into consideration. We went to LAMMA at the beginning of the year — raised floors certainly aren’t an option for companies like Merlo with four agricultural machines on display.

Despite these reasons, sometimes raised floors can enhance your exhibition stand. They can also help you keep your area looking neat and tidy.

Hiding Cables and Water Supply

The only reason we would ever recommend raising the floor is if you need extra space to hide things. The space beneath the platform is perfect to run cables, lighting fixtures and water sources.

A raised floor can make your stand look tidier and give you more space to display your products.

Are Raised Floors Worth It?

Should you raise the floor on your exhibition stand? I’ll let you ponder that. Knowing what you know now.

Many exhibitors believe that raising the floor of their exhibition stand will help them stand out. All I’m saying is how much difference can 50mm make.

With important factors like your budget to consider, there has to be a better way to enhance your exhibition stand flooring.

Free Photo-Floor from Quadrant2Design

We’ve already told you how brilliant our photo-floors are. Having had a look at our gallery, you’ll agree that they are impactful.

Now, our photo-floors can help you to exhibit on a budget.

We’re giving away a free photo-floor with every new stand. This offer is available for a limited time only. Email our design consultants to find out if you are eligible to receive a free photo-floor worth up to £1200.

If you don’t need loads of power or a water supply, raised floors will drain your budget. But sometimes you’ll still want one.

The great news is, you can take advantage of our photo-floor offer whether you decide to raise the floor of your exhibition stand or not.

Why spend more on stand out, floor-to-ceiling graphics when we are giving them away for free?

Written by Natalka Antoniuk

Originally published at https://www.quadrant2design.com on October 1, 2020.