Over and Above

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Over and Above
Failing to use the space above your exhibit is like only utilizing the two front seats in a four-seat car. You've already paid for the concrete, so leveraging the space above it to capture attention, aid identification, and brand your booth is a no-brainer. Here are six exhibitors that did just that by deploying full-fledged ceilings and elaborate fabric components to form riveting overhead elements. By Linda Armstrong

PHOTO: Cole Group

Blue-Ribbon Design
Exhibitor: Intervet Inc. (dba Merck Animal Health)
Show: Veterinary Meeting and Expo
Design: 3D Exhibits Inc., Schaumburg, IL, 800-471-9617, www.3dexhibits.com

Creating a powerful skyward presence, designers crafted a pair of sweeping ribbons inspired by the intertwined elements of the brand's logo. While rigged to the ceiling, the ribbons attached to a single floor-based touchpoint from which they grew wider as they twisted upward.

PHOTO: 2-Scale

Two-Part Harmony
Exhibitor: Lear Corp.
Show: Technology in Motion Conference
Design: 2-Scale, Holland, OH, 419-865-4006, www.2-scale.com

When shaped just right, a suspended structure can also function as an interior wall. This two-part ensemble, featuring ground-based and dangling elements, acted as a singular assembly. Once inside, attendees perceived the upper ring as an extension of the surrounding walls.

PHOTO: Katherine Wermke

Louvers Lane
Exhibitor: Cisco Systems Inc.
Show: Mobile World Congress
Design: MSM Inc., Rochester, NY, 585-232-4020, www.mirrorshow.com

Cisco Systems Inc. employed a series of fabric louvers suspended over the front portion of its double-deck stand. Dyed in Cisco's corporate-blue hue and lit with high-intensity fixtures, the 23 louvers – each of which was custom cut – created the sensation of visual movement.

PHOTO: Imagination the Americas

Shell Shocked
Exhibitor: Royal Dutch Shell plc
Show: National Plastics Expo
Design: Imagination the Americas, Houston, 832-445-9925, www.imagination.com

Royal Dutch Shell plc opted for this louvered fabric canopy to debut its new Shell Polymers business. Comprising silicone-edge graphic panels, the 50-by-80-foot structure used theatrical accent lighting and precise positioning to create a powerful overhead punch.

PHOTO: Global Experience Specialists Inc. (GES)

Sky's the Limit
Exhibitor: Bell Helicopter Textron Inc.
Show: International Consumer Electronics Show
Design: Global Experience Specialists Inc. (GES), Las Vegas, 702-515-5500, www.ges.com

Within its 60-by-80-foot exhibit, Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. staged a headset-based virtual-reality experience that took visitors on an air-taxi journey. To attract attention to the small-scale experience, designers enlisted two enormous fabric ribbons that hovered like a couple of Hueys.

PHOTO: Kathryn Rapier Photography

Do the Twist
Exhibitor: American Honda Motor Co. Inc. (Acura)
Show: New York International Auto Show
Design: George P. Johnson, a Project Worldwide Agency, Auburn Hills, MI, 248-475-2500 www.gpj.com

Auto shows are filled with rectilinear architecture, so this curvaceous ribbon immediately stood out. Fabricated from aluminum framing and polymer fabric, the ribbons gave the appearance of metal and wood, an effect furthered by the use of those actual materials in the ground-floor space.