Tip of the Week #11 - The Importance of Lighting on your Exhibition Stand

Exhibition and trade show lighting is one of the most important and flexible sales tools and should be considered during the early stages of design. This is because effective and creative exhibition illumination that lights your stand in the right way can determine if visitors’ attention is captured and influence where they look, what they look at and how long they stay at your stand. It has also been proven that different emotions can be evoked depending on colour and intensity.

Why lighting?

Far too many exhibitors don’t give enough credit to the importance of lighting. Lighting on a stand does much more than just providing light; it’s also about portraying a message and creating an ambience. For example, low or dim lighting can create a more peaceful atmosphere compared to a bright glare. Softer lighting may be suitable for a meeting or rest area where you want people to stay for longer and perhaps look through any exhibition collateral you may have. Contrastingly, strong lighting is effective at attracting people to your stand or for launching a new product as you will want to light this up with as much glare as possible in order to draw attention. Amidst the thousands of visitors and multitudes of exhibition stands, you need to stand out from the crowd and reinforce the message you want to portray. Light is an excellent tool you should use proactively in your stand design.

Choosing the right light source

When choosing your light source you should consider the context in which it is to be used. For example, spotlights can be used to highlight certain areas of your stand while low energy LED lights is a great option for stands representing a company with a strong environmental profile. If your main priority is colour and aesthetics, LED lighting shouldn’t be used, as it isn’t ideal for colour reproduction. If colour reproduction is important, pick a light source such as halogen or a type of metal halogen that has a high colour-rendering index.

Light positioning

It is important to position your lighting so that your stand looks inviting and also effectively highlight your products for attendees looking into the stand from the outside. It is generally better and more appropriate to light into the stand rather than outwards, but be mindful of light direction within the stand. This is because you don’t want light to be directed into the eyes of your visitors and it is not ideal if they have to squint or cover their eyes with their hand.

Lighting can be dramatic, inviting or comforting depending on your message and the light source used. Talk to your designer and exhibition stand builder for advice and make sure that they take lighting into consideration when they are designing your stand and showing you initial concepts. They should also be able to advise on any electrical issues such as power limitations (if any) or costs for extra power. If budget is not an issue, it is a great idea to use lighting as a ‘feature’ on your exhibition stand!