hen Hafele Australia Pty. Ltd., a manufacturer of architectural hardware, wanted to draw attention to its wide range of products at DesignEX, the Dandenong, Victoria, Australia-based company used symbols and branding where others might only use nuts and bolts.

Helped by Exponential Design in Richmond, Victoria, Australia, Hafele crafted a 52-by-33-foot island booth in the form of a cross. The lowercase-T shape seemed to make its 1,716 square feet feel longer and wider, and the configuration also referenced the company's A-Plus shelving products that use a "+" sign for their logo. While the exhibit structure alluded to one of Hafele's lines, its ivory-white exterior walls also served as a canvas for Museum of Modern Art-like displays: On one side, Hafele arranged 45 drawer pulls in a plus-sign shape, while on the opposite outside wall, it placed kitchen accessories in a polygon-shaped display case.

Inside the exhibit, the company extended the same elegant - and sometimes quirky - approach. Painted in Hafele's flame-red corporate hue with a white, laminate floor intermittently marked by plus-sign-like red symbols, the interior consisted of four separate modules (kitchen, bathroom, home office, and bedroom) that Hafele outfitted with its offerings, from pulls and knobs to shelf brackets and moldings. The modules, as well as some display areas inside them, featured plain boxy angles meant to suggest corporate stability and product gravitas. The walls, counters, and various other surfaces, however, were the opposite of plain, with a glossy-red satin finish communicating the brand's stylish cachet. Obtuse cabinet shapes and glass backsplashes added to its prestige.

By designing parts of the booth to resemble product logos, and using colors to suggest product preeminence, Hafele attracted 14,472 visitors, a 10-percent improvement compared to the 2010 show. Turns out, you don't need to look like a hardware store to sell hardware. e