There are many reasons why organisations exhibit at a trade show: it could be out of a need to meet and connect with potential customers, learn about new developments in the industry, or to establish new partnerships. Regardless of the reasons, trade show booths are indispensable.
On top of addressing basic needs such as storage for promotional materials, they can be customised to communicate the ethos of a brand; they function as a meeting place, and with the right message, they aid a brand's marketing efforts.
Traditionally, trade show booths have been made from wood, metal, plastic, or a combination of each, but as Paper Carpenters, we wanted to showcase some captivating trade show booths we’ve made from our unique blend of 100% recyclable cardboard paper.
1. Paper Carpenter - International Furniture Fair
Every exhibition is a war for attention. Brands, small and large alike, compete in a tug of war to capture the audience’s interest. Some do this by displaying large and sprawling banners, a couple devise intriguing games and challenges while others use creative design elements to capture the interest of their customers. All are viable strategies for sure, and our team at Paper Carpenter opted for the latter at the International Furniture Fair.
The Paper Carpenter Team developed an installation titled Pyramid of Notion, featuring new and unique pieces of furniture and accessories artfully displayed in a pyramid structure.
We wanted to demonstrate how we were able to push the design horizons of a material (cardboard) typically used for packaging. The title of our installation was called Pyramid of Notion, made from a special range of strong but light-weight corrugated boards developed by Paper Carpenter that we’ve come to call Gaia Boards™..
What makes Gaia Boards™ especially unique is that it is both fire and water resistant and performs exceptionally in preventing flame spreads and smoke development.
With the help of our proprietary cardboard material, we developed Pyramid of Notion around the creative use of vertical space to arrange furniture.
While it can’t be considered a booth in the conventional sense, the Pyramid of Notion served its purpose, which was to showcase our mastery of cardboard as a sustainable material, that’s lightweight and easy to assemble. We expressed our expertise, and sparked new conversations about cardboard as an alternative material for furniture.
2. Busy Bees Asia - The Best Start in Life - Play • Nurture • Grow!
Busy Bees Asia, one of Singapore’s largest childcare services providers, decided to hold an exhibition in Suntec City.
Titled The Best Start in Life - Play • Nurture • Grow!, this exhibition incorporated activities such as the Eco Car Challenge where families could build craft vehicles from recycled materials and join exciting hourly races.
What makes this a strong case for a captivating trade show design is how they maximised space, incorporated mesmerising design elements, and used sustainable materials (Paper Carpenter’s Gaia Boards™) to create a wholesome and eco-friendly experience.
3. HDB - Community Week
It is notoriously difficult to design community events to be fun and interesting, but the Housing and Development Board (HDB) threw it out of the park at the HDB Community Week. The event included various performances, workshops, exhibitions, activities as well as fascinating community projects.
This event proved what we already knew: with enough creative input, cardboard can be used to build almost anything. For this exhibition, we made use of our PaperConnect System™ - which is essentially highly compressed square bars made of cardboard and joined up with recyclable plastic connectors - to create an open and airy exhibition, replete with a host of activities to foster public engagement.
4. Hilton - Suntec Summit
Hilton commissioned Paper Carpenter to facilitate bonding in the form of an F1 team building exercise, and design an eco-friendly exhibition to reflect their commitment to sustainability. The event featured a 3-day conference for 700 of its regional leaders in Asia Pacific as part of their 100-year anniversary celebration.
The result was a stunning success. The event demonstrated that captivating designs doesn't necessarily lead to higher expenses. In fact, cardboard displays are more affordable versus displays created using traditional materials.
The booths were elegant, spacious, and functional resulting in a novel and classy experience. Team-building exercises, wrought from our unique blend of cardboard formula, proved that a little creativity and good company are all you need to have a wonderful time.
5. Singapore Press Holdings - SPH Book Fest
For seven days, Singapore’s largest book fair was held within the heart of the Civic District. Previously, the event was held at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre. Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) – the organiser of the event – this time wanted to rekindle a love for reading among city dwellers.
Besides housing a wide array of books, the book fair featured plenty of other literary highlights including book launches, signing sessions, and movie screenings. A creative culture zone was also created where local designers could show their work.
Paper Carpenter’s contribution to this event was on two fronts: a launch mechanism in the form of a giant pop up book as well as the creative licence induced by the our PaperConnect™ System.
The pop up book and exhibition booths at the book fest were made from our PaperConnect™ system. Being such a modular and collapsible system, we were able to rotate the pop up book exhibition after two weeks for a new and refreshed look.
With a total of 7 layers, the giant pop up was used by the Ministry of Education as a launch mechanism for the opening ceremony. We take pride in the design of the pop up book because we were able to not only demonstrate the potential of Cardboard Carpentry™, but also articulate the theme of book fest.
Final Thoughts
Shock, wow, and keep your brand on point - and you may find yourself with more exhibition inquiries than you can handle. We hope these few examples serve to inspire your next trade show - you’ll find that the best designs are those that leave a lasting impression.
Intrigued by these fascinating exhibition booth designs? Consult our experts to find out how you can minimise costs and leverage sustainable materials. Send us an inquiry today.
