Traditional pharma companies rarely go rogue. But judging by its exhibit at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology show (aka ARVO), Telios Pharma Inc. is anything but traditional.

Telios needed to generate awareness for its TL-925 Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor — a dry-eye treatment. “But to tell the story of its groundbreaking product, Telios wanted to push the limits of typical exhibit design to create an avant-garde experience that would educate and captivate visitors,” said Shawn Eady, account director at The Taylor Group.

The Gold Award-winning stand, co-designed by Taylor and Cognition Studio Inc., was little more than a raised 20-by-30-foot platform with a giant, two-sided circular screen rising from it. The pristine white floor comprised steel frames and CNC-cut millwork panels, which featured concentric-circle inlays to direct the eye to the screen. The central circular structure, what Taylor called the Eye Gate, was the design's pinpoint focus.

This 11-by-13-foot circular portal housed double-sided LED walls offering dynamic content. Designers positioned the feature atop a circular platform with drawers that hid all cables and controls while allowing for easy access. Here, ongoing content alternated between scientific insights, study results, and an impossible-to-ignore blinking eye that appeared healthy at times, and at others, exhibited painful symptoms of dry eye disease.

Hailed by judges as a “daring departure from traditional trade show norms,” the stand not only captivated visitors and relayed the product story, but also served as a powerful catalyst to generate product awareness. E