EuroShop ist Wunderbar!

exhibit design

	EuroShop Awards Honoring excellence in exhibit design, EXHIBITOR hosted its first EuroShop Awards competition at this year's show. For photos and profiles of all three Best of Show winners and the four Honorable Mentions, visit our EuroShop microsite: (www.ExhibitorOnline.com/ EuroShop).

great flame follows a little spark, wrote Dante in "The Divine Comedy." While penned in the 1300s, this truism is alive and well today, as evidenced by the myriad exhibit- and retail-industry aficionados who trek to EuroShop, The Global Retail Trade Fair. Held once every three years in Dusseldorf, Germany, EuroShop draws more than 100,000 attendees in search of not only products and services, but their own little sparks of inspiration. While retailers anticipate that this creative go juice will eventually lead to a sales firestorm, exhibit designers hope the show's inspirational embers will ignite an inferno of inventive exhibit designs for years to come.

Thus, along with a host of U.S. exhibit designers seeking inspiration in Deutschland, EXHIBITOR staff packed up their cameras, memory cards, and comfortable shoes, and headed to EuroShop 2011. Our goal: Bring readers a bevy of sparks to ignite the fires of invention in their own exhibit programs.

The 2011 show was not only a smorgasbord of ideas, but it was also the largest EuroShop ever. The show hosted 2,038 exhibitors (up from 1,911 in 2008), which hailed from 53 different countries. Attendee numbers were also on the upswing, as the 2011 show drew 106,000 attendees compared to 104,766 in 2008. Plus, according to show organizers, visitors hailed from more than 90 countries, and the show experienced a sharp increase in the number of attendees from Italy, Brazil, and the United States. In fact, 60 U.S. companies took part in the exhibition, which totaled nearly 1.2 million net square feet within 17 exhibition halls.

The show itself was divided into four different segments: EuroConcept (lighting, store furnishings, shop fitting, etc.), EuroSales (visual marketing, sales promotion, and point-of-sale marketing), EuroCIS (information technology and retail-security technology), and EuroExpo (exhibit and event design and construction). Needless to say, EXHIBITOR staff spent considerable time in each segment - and seemingly in every nook and cranny the show had to offer.

In addition to covering the show, EXHIBITOR offered its own awards program - the EuroShop Awards - honoring excellence in EuroShop exhibit design. Open to all exhibitors, the program drew entries from eight countries and was judged during the show by a panel of international exhibit-design experts. Three Best of Show winners and four Honorable Mentions were announced and presented with their awards on site at Messe Dusseldorf.
The following pages, then, offer some of the most inspirational sparks we found at the show. But if you're left wanting more, visit our EuroShop microsite at www.ExhibitorOnline.com/EuroShop, which features more photos, profiles of our EuroShop Award winners, info about our judges, blogs from our visit, association-related happenings, and more. E



Avenue + Fusina This animatronic display springs to life with a 30-second performance, during which the hats move and the hands clap.	DLV Netzwerk Ladenbau A repetition of traditional forms combines to create a stunning lounge.	Armstrong DLW GmbH Variations in angles and forms urge attendees to enter this "tilted" exhibit.

Van Keulen Interieurborw B.V. Frozen in unexpected poses, these shopping carts make the most of the exhibitor's floor - and vertical space.	JMT International Whether you call it a white geyser or paper tree, this colossal structure is an iconic element inside the exhibit.	Konhauser GmbH A rainbow-hued ewe proves the perfect surface upon which to demonstrate Konhauser's lighting.

Blachere Illumination S.A.S This display pairs various-sized lamp shades with oversized ornamental balls and light-string tinsel.	Hungseo Ind. Co. Ltd. A honeycomb-style façade highlights Hungseo's digital-lighting options.	Kunze GmbH A white, overhead structure mirrors the shape of the black meeting area below.

Buzzoni s.r.l. More art than exhibit element, this glossy blue structure takes center stage and doubles as an artistic bench.	Arthemagroup Srl Black and white and stunning all over, this exhibit resembles a giant bar code, with various-width lines that proceed from the exhibit's front corner up its back wall.	Ansorg GmbH Draped yellow fabric and sculpted "heads" act as can't-miss canvases to display this exhibitor's lighting capabilities.

Xicato Inc. Perfectly at home in a chic fusion restaurant, this contemporary hospitality area oozes quiet yet colorful sophistication.	Kohlhaas Messebau GmbH & Co. KG Hundreds of orange Styrofoam balls seem to levitate in glorious waves above and throughout this exhibit.	Winkels Messe- und Ausstellungsbau This stunning neon-green overhead canopy descends floor-ward on each of the exhibit's four corners.

Findeisen GmbH Unfinished wood and animal-pelt fabrics create an au natural aura inside this minimalist exhibit.	Fachhochscule Dusseldorf pbsa Highlighting Green exhibition techniques, students illustrate how bicycle power can create inventive, air-filled elements.	Hans Boodt Mannequins To reinforce its tagline, "Creating Characters," this whimsical display shows three "characters" in various states of undress.

Bohnacker Ladeneinrichtungen Like a band of Cirque escapees, these dangling mannequins create an aisle-side attention getter.	Designatic Production GmbH When your product is as cool as these "Sonic Chairs," ancillary elements are simply unnecessary.	Jacky Mannequin & Hanger Ltd. Three mirror-ball mannequins stand aisle-side, beckoning attendees to visit the booth behind the bedazzled bodies.

Burkhardt Leitner Constructiv Lenticular-like panels reveal a message in white letters when viewed from one side, and black letters when viewed from the other.	D'Art Design Gruppe GmbH This stark-white display features wall-mounted tables and chairs that turn perception on its side.	Evonik Rohm GmbH Colorful, angular Plexiglas sheets comprise this exhibit's exterior walls.

Interieur a/s The back wall of this exhibit features line drawings of the elements within the space - including attendees and staff.	3A Composites GmbH Life-size human cutouts comprising various composite materials highlight 3A Composites' wide product range.	DG Studio Dega Part ceiling element, part exterior wall, this dynamic structure seems to wrap the exhibit space in a glowing cocoon.

Pearl Mannequin Co. Ltd. These walls display myriad components that combine to form a mannequin.