Feature
Chris Litchfield,
creative director at
Rapiergroup, says that being
a 2020 Winner in the World
Exhibition Stand Awards 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 its client
SWIFT Discover’s stand at
Sibos.
He says: “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 now got to a
point where we would like
to see each other face-toface.
Teams and Zoom are
no replacement for the real
thing.”
Litchfield believes Covid-19
is here to stay, something
Shine bright like
a diamond
Rapiergroup’s award-winning creative director
tells EN that the potential for designing better
experiences for the future is enormous
which has big implications
for the way the company
approaches stand design and
experiences.
He explains: “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
restrictions we need to work
within.”
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 enthuses.
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 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,” he concludes.
“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.” EN
22 — September