Going into Lightfair International, luxury LED lighting firm Soraa Inc. was hoping to attract high-end architectural designers to its space. That's why Soraa enlisted a host of designers and fabricators – including Kevin Alter LLC, lighting designer Gabrielle Serriere, and Motif Events Inc. – to craft an ultra-exclusive gallery environment similar to the target market's end-use locales. "Our customers are very thoughtful and frankly critical of light quality," said Dawn Andersen, Soraa's senior director of corporate and channel marketing. "It was important to create an environment that felt like a real-life scenario, such as an art gallery." The resulting 20-by-50-foot stand impressed Exhibit Design Awards judges, one of whom referred to the space as "a well-dressed gentleman surrounded by fellas in socks and sandals." At its core, the booth was a white box with three sizeable openings, the full complement of which was capped with an 8,000-pound canopy that played host to artfully arranged Soraa luminaries and required cabling.

Within the glowing space below, designers employed seamless wall surfaces and gallery-quality finishes to highlight Soraa's products. One wall featured a kaleidoscope of vinyl strips in various PMS colors. Designers arranged them in a sequence they felt would visually energize attendees and added a mix of 2-D and 3-D letters that spelled out "Experience Perfect Color." Opposite that display, an all-white surface featured the word "Create" along with a plethora of Soraa Snap System lenses. Here, the "A" in "Create" was cut out to provide a window of sorts looking out to the aisle. Pairing high-end elements with luxury products, Soraa's stand was an oasis of elegance and an irresistible lure for discerning lighting designers. E