The show floor is a veritable cornucopia of colors, shapes, sounds, and more. What are some simple design strategies to communicate our offerings and cut through the clutter?

In the show-floor mayhem you just described, attendees tend to make quick, vision-based decisions about who deserves their focus. Your exhibit design must quickly grab their attention and then shift it, along with the help of your staffers, to the products or services that best fit their needs. While it sounds a bit complicated – and you can develop a full-blown strategy around wayfinding tools, graphics hierarchies, color selection, and more – here are four ways to help attendees quickly notice and assess your offerings.
1. Make new offerings prominent. If you've been exhibiting for a while, some attendees will likely be aware of your company and what you offer. And when they see your booth, they may make immediate – and perhaps erroneous – judgements that you don't have anything to offer them. In fact, however, you may have a novel tool or product-line extension that's just what they need. To make sure they don't pass you by, put your newest offerings front and center in your space or directly aisle side. Accompany them by brief, effective graphics that say "New!" along with a key benefit statement about how your offerings can help attendees.
2. Promote your best-sellers. While the familiar faces in attendance may be interested in your new products and services, your best-sellers may still define your company in the eyes of first-time attendees. So at minimum, make sure your back-wall (or central) display and signage communicate the defining elements of your business and/or its core products. Sure, many people attend trade shows to see what's new, but it's important that you also put tried-and-true products in easy-to-spot locales.
3. Add motion. Given the frenetic trade show floor, even the best designed booths and graphics can fade into the background. But adding an element of motion can catch the eye and give you that one valuable second to help your exhibit stand out. Depending on your products and strategy, movement could include everything from a rotating sign to a Rube Goldberg-like product display.
4. Consider analog avenues. In this era of augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and more, it's easy to convince yourself that the only way to attract attendees is through high-tech wizardry. But analog games and old-school technology can sometimes make for clever, eye-catching attractions with a nostalgic hook. So consider ramping up your creativity and crafting an analog option that meets similar objectives.

Competing for attendee attention is a never-ending process. But if you use some of these basic principles, you can have a memorable presence in any exhibit environment.