You have the space, the dates, and the budget. That leaves the one question that determines everything: what goes where? That’s exactly what good booth design is all about. It’s not about adding decorations at the end of the project, but about planning the layout of the space from the very beginning.
At ENJOY, we’ve been designing and building these spaces for sixteen years, with all our specialties under one roof. And that makes all the difference at a trade show. Here’s why.
Table of Contents
- What exactly is booth design?
- The Four Elements of a Good Booth Design
- Open booth or partitioned booth: Should we close it off?
- How to Set Up a Booth at ENJOY
- Decorate Without Throwing Things Away
What exactly is booth design?
This is how the functions are distributed across your square meters. Where you entertain, where you display things, where you chat, and where you store things. Nothing more, nothing less.
The benefit is immediate. A visitor who feels at home stays longer, and a team that feels at home works better. A well-designed booth layout draws people in before you’ve even said a word. Conversely, a poorly laid-out space is immediately obvious: traffic flows poorly, people crowd together, and visitors just walk right by.
The Four Elements of a Good Booth Design
Zones, above all else
An exhibit booth should be divided into three or four functions—no more. Reception, demonstration, interaction, and storage. Any more than that, and the space becomes confusing, and no one knows where to go.
Traffic, which determines who gets in
A counter across from the entrance, and you lose half the walkway. An open corner facing the alley, a wide entrance, a clear path: visitors should be able to step right in without feeling like they’re intruding.
Furniture: Not Too Much, Not Too Little
Three well-placed seats are better than ten lined up in a row. Booth furniture should be chosen for what it offers: a place to sit and talk, a spot for a standing demonstration, or a place to set down bags. We build it in our own woodshop, so we tailor it to the centimeter rather than ordering it from a catalog.
Lighting and Storage
These are the two elements most often overlooked in trade show booth design. A closed storage area keeps cardboard boxes from piling up in a corner, and a well-calibrated LED lighting setup defines the space. These are two details that go unnoticed, yet they are what really bring the space together.
Open booth or partitioned booth: Should we close it off?
Both have their merits. An open booth attracts passersby and generates a high volume of leads. A partitioned booth provides privacy for meetings, which is important when negotiating on-site.
So you decide based on your goal. If it’s brand awareness, you open everything up. If it’s negotiations, you keep one room closed and open everything else. In practice, it’s almost always a mix of the two. To take it a step further, here’s how to stand out at a trade show, and how to choose between a customizable or custom-built booth.
How to Set Up a Booth at ENJOY
Setting up a booth involves five steps.
- First, the brief. We listen to your goals, the size of your team, the trade show floor plan, and your setup constraints.
- Next, zoning. We map out the functions on the plan and check the traffic flow before drawing anything that looks nice.
- Then there's 3D. You walk around your booth before it even exists, and we fine-tune it together until it's just right.
- Next comes the manufacturing process. Carpentry, printing, structural work, electrical work, and finishing: everything is done in our workshops, without outsourcing.
- Finally, the setup. We set everything up, adjust the lighting, and check every angle before the doors open.
Decorate Without Throwing Things Away
There’s no reason for a trade show booth to end up in the dumpster on Sunday night. The aluminum structures can be taken apart and reassembled from one trade show to the next, the graphics can be replaced without having to rebuild everything from scratch, and the furniture can be stored and reused. Beauty and sustainability aren’t mutually exclusive: it’s the same design philosophy, one that looks beyond the first trade show.
This is what we put into practice at every booth, and it’s what our EcoVadis silver medal attests to. It’s a standard that the entire events industry now upholds, with organizations such as UNIMEV leading the way.
Your booth design project starts here
At ENJOY, every project is a creation. Discover our expertise, tell us where you’ll be exhibiting and to whom, and together we’ll map out your next trade show.
→ Get started on your booth design project
ENJOY — Exhibition booth designers, image creators. Alsace | Paris | France & International
