How to Breathe New Life Into Your Old Trade Show Booth Design

There it is. Your well-used booth. You paid a small fortune for it, and it got you through some crazy shows. Eventually, a major rebrand, a new marketing strategy, or modified trade show exhibition goals rendered your current exhibit obsolete. At this point, a trade show exhibitor is asking three questions:

1. Could my old trade show booth design be updated in any way to match my new exhibiting needs?
2. Is my old booth too damaged to be viable?
3. Do I need to buy a whole new booth to achieve my trade show exhibition goals?

In this case, your best bet is to bring in the professionals. It takes a breadth of experience and knowledge of design and refurbishment processes to consider the full scope of trade show booth ideas and make the right call.

Here’s what goes on during an evaluation by our Exhibit Options experts:

• Budget assessment: How much would you be able to spend on a booth refresh? How much would a new booth cost? Which option maximizes your budget without sacrificing quality? Are there new trade show booth ideas that you’re eager to incorporate?
  
  
• Full inspection: The viability of your trade show booth design is largely dependent on its condition. Your Exhibit Options consultant will check carefully for damage to laminate, graphics, and structural components.
  
  
• Go over your options: With a full understanding of what your booth would need to become serviceable and accurate knowledge of how much these alterations would cost, your consultant will recommend one of the following: refresh, redesign, or repurchase.

Booths with extensive damage or very outdated colors and materials may need to be fully retired. If it is determined that your exhibit is destined for a trip to the junkyard, don’t panic! You also have the option to restart your booth.

Thankfully, many exhibits are great candidates for an update.

1. Refreshing your booth

If it is determined that your booth would make a great fixer-upper, you have some options:

• Add/replace graphics to accommodate changed branding, updated logos, or new marketing initiatives
  
  
• Add/replace infill panels to create a cohesive, brand-aligned color scheme
  
  
• Update flooring with a more modern vinyl wood grain or a brand-cohesive carpet color
  Add a hanging sign
  
  
• Implement new trade show booth ideas to modernize the exhibit, such as lightboxes, AV upgrades, and touchscreens
  
  

2. Redesigning Your Booth

A redesign changes the structure or layout of your booth to give it a new look or functionality. Often, certain elements of the booth can be repurposed or retooled to create a new design.

The Exhibit Options design department takes the reigns here, matching a visionary eye with a full scope of in-house manufacturing and fabrication capabilities to determine the best course of action:

• Keep the same aluminum frames, but rearrange them into a new design
  
  
• Reconfigure custom wall panels
  
  
• Keep some pieces and rent whatever else is needed to create an improved exhibit
  
  

3. Crunching the Numbers

The Exhibit Options team understands that your booth is an investment and a substantial piece of your marketing budget. Your trade show exhibitor budget stays at the forefront throughout the process. Seeing how creative we can get within your financial comfort zone is part of the fun!

If you’re interested in updating your trade show booth design, reach out for a consultation. We’d love to lend a hand.