Stand design
hris Litchfield, creative
director at Rapiergroup,
says that being a 2020
Winner in the World
Exhibition Stand Awards (WESAs )
has added “real authenticity” to the
company’s achievements. Rapiergroup
won a Diamond award in the Best
Feature Area category at the 2020
WESAs for their client SWIFT
Discover’s stand at the major Sibos
convention.
“We trust our process, our skills,
experience and instincts, but the
recognition that comes from being a
winner in the WESAs is confirmation
of what we believe in.”
As far as adapting to the coronavirus
work culture, Litchfield says: “We
literally adapted overnight to remote
working. Fortunately, we had invested
in the technology that meant all of us
could do our jobs perfectly all through
lockdown.
“We have all sharpened up our
communication skills, but we have got
to a point where we would like to see
each other face-to-face. Teams and
Zoom are no replacement for the real
thing!”
Litchfield thinks Covid-19 is here to
stay, which has big implications for the
way the company approaches stand
design and experiences.
“We have lots of different ideas on
how we could design environments and
experiences, but each situation will
need to be approached as bespoke and
unique. Defining strategy for user/
visitor experience from the outset will
be more important than ever before.
“From that design will be about
meeting the objectives of that strategy,
and doing it safely and within whatever
SWIFT future look
WE MEET TWO OF THE CREATIVE BRAINS DRIVING
FORWARD GLOBAL EXHIBITION STAND DESIGN. FIRST,
RAPIERGROUP’S CHRIS LITCHFIELD
restrictions we need to work to.”
Like most, Litchfield predicts events
are going to have to become more
hybrid. Limitations on travel and scale
of physical gatherings, will mean a
different approach, he says, “but the
potential here is truly exciting, and it’s
the way the industry should be heading
anyway”.
He sees an opportunity for a much
wider reach to a truly global audience
and models that can be more
sustainable.
“There are opportunities for
operating events within local regions,
and then harnessing technology in
order to bring them all together, to
make something bigger. The potential
here is enormous,” he says.
There may not be a place for just
designing a typical stand, Litchfield
believes and says, “We will need to
think cleverly about the true purpose
of each stand we design, and the
experience it must offer. We will then
Below: SWIFT work
and swift
recognition for
Rapiergroup
The next, 2021 edition of the
World Exhibition Stand Awards
will include categories that
allow entrants to showcase
their work to overcome the
challenges of coronavirus.
Additionally, the awards will
reflect a longer period of entry
qualification to allow
companies the maximum
opportunity to showcase
historic work and will be open
for submissions shortly.
For further information on
the WESA 2021, visit www.
worldexhibitionstandawards.com
need to create designs that deliver on
that, but work within whatever
restrictions we are facing. Simplicity in
design will be the key to this (easier
said than done!)
“In the future, we shouldn’t just be
designing for the physical exhibition
hall experience. We should be
designing environments that need to
be fit for a much wider reach.”
And Litchfield says he is looking
forward to things being different. “The
challenges we face are solvable, and I’m
looking forward to embracing them…
Despite the big hit our industry has
encountered, we have the opportunity
to make something better as a result of
it.”
He adds that we need to think
carefully about the purpose of stands,
we need to think more about the bigger
picture and where a stand sits within a
wider customer/user/visitor
experience. “Then we need to deal with
the physical environment we are
operating in, and a global situation that
is continually changing. The trade
show stand can still be a sound
investment that offers tangible,
valuable and relevant experiences, but
it’s time for us to really challenge
ourselves on why and how we create
them.”
40 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / ISSUE 108