The great thing about island displays is that much of the work of catching eyes is done for you, simply because of what an island display is. In a packed room with nothing but booths and frantic attendees, an island display stands apart from a lot of the action. This visual irregularity baits eyes to look and see what’s going on over there and brings their eyes directly to you.
What is an Island Display?
An island display has no back wall. It has an aisle on all four sides. The floor isn’t lava, but you could imagine that it’s ocean; inline displays are landlocked states and an island display is Hawai’i–just easier to get to.
Island display floor space tends to go for a premium for the same reasons big houses in crowded cities do. You still have neighbors, but they’re not right on top of you.
Benefits of an Island Display Booth
If you have the budget, there is pretty much no downside to an island display. You can always impose your own “back” and “front” if your needs dictate.
There are two main benefits of an island display: visibility and access.
With an island display, nobody has to look through another booth to see yours. People can see in from all sides, even when they’re visiting other booths. This can turn out to be a huge advantage.
Now, when you’re being seen from all sides, it can help to have at least one extra person staffing the booth. Because there’s more than one way in and out, it’s easy for attendees to enter behind you, look around, and leave before you ever notice them. So you want to do what you can to catch them quickly, before they leave.
Extra staff, of course, means bigger budget. But again, if you can afford the upfront cost, an island display design with the appropriate number of staff can yield major returns on your investment.
Creative Island Display Ideas
Your creativity has fewer external limits when it comes to island displays. You can do anything, face any direction.
One creative way to control the crowds and lend some structure to your design is to section your booth off into two, three, or four zones. The various zones can all have the same purpose–say, talking with attendees in a smaller, less chaotic space–or they can have complementary purposes. Maybe you create an area to demonstrate products and another to hold meetings in.
You can also build up instead of just out. It’s much easier to incorporate lofts, exciting lights, or just decorative ceilings with an island display than with an inline one. Just be sure to verify the venue’s height limits.
Creating an Island Display for your Next Trade Show
Creating an eye-catching trade show display is an art, and art is always about communication. It all comes down to what you want to communicate with your trade show booth. That’s not always a word-based message. Maybe it’s a feeling, or a memory.
Reach out to us and let us know what you’re looking to accomplish, with or without an island display. We’ve been doing this for a long time and we’ve seen what works. We love talking shop and finding new roads to trade show success.