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Trade Show Booth Design – The Lighting Effect

Tradeshow_3The setting, design and effect of your booth constitute the first impression that you will leave on the attendees of a trade show.  All of these elements can be turned into more effective resources if your lighting in your booth is set in a way to catch attention and entice people to learn more about what you do.

–          Dim lights are mainly useful in settings with a tone of romance such as a bar or restaurant.

–          Bright lights work best in a retail environment in order to keep shoppers alert and engage them in a fun experience.

The lighting of your booth creates the experience for your audience and adds a factor of engagement. As you design your booth and trade show setting, keep in mind the role of light so that you tailor a satisfying and appealing experience for your visitors as you introduce your company and services. With the right choice of light, you can bring focus to specific products/services or simply highlight your booth details.

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Effective Design for Trade Show Booth

Tradeshow_2Getting ready for a trade show could be an exhausting task that requires a lot of planning in addition to the actual set up of your space or display booth. Here are a few tips to help make your job easier:

–          Reach out to the management of the event and learn all the details including size, wall space availability, access to electrical outlets, and more.

Your products/services need to be the center of attention. As you plan your display, make sure that you do not overdo and clutter your space.

Keep your message simple and to the point. Stay focused on your core message that will leave a lasting impression and try to avoid bombarding the attendees with tons of messages that will go unnoticed.

Consider including a video on a widescreen projection/TV screen that can capture people’s attention.

Think about the reasons of why the attendees will stop at your booth – is it the product/service? Is it the design? Is it your welcoming message and nice attitude?

Keep it simple but be creative – Focus on building your brand and creating awareness for your product/service.

Consider opening up your booth by eliminating the table across the front and eliminating any barriers that will prevent the attendees from “walking in”.

You may want to implement the use of large, clean and attractive images. Keep it simple but consider bold for lasting impressions.

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The Right Font for Your Business Signs

SignMaking the wrong choice might simply hinder such a process.

Keep your audience in mind and think carefully about them when you start your design process.  Can you get their attention to read a lot of text?  Where will your sign be located? Is it going to be at a busy street where drivers are rushing to get to work or next to a cash register where your clients will have time to read it?

With the thousands of available fonts, try to keep the following in mind as you are making decisions:

  • Serif fonts, such as Times New Roman, are usually perfect for brochures, newsletters and business plans.
  • Sans Serif fonts are easy to read with large size text.
  • Script and Cursive fonts are perceived to be stylish and used for invitations and place cards.
  • Text fonts are the most difficult to read.
  • Novelty fonts can work either way depending on how you use them.

Another element to think about is the use of capital or lowercase letters. The use of all capitals might project yelling. A combination of capital and lowercase letters should be the easiest to read.

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Many Reasons to Use Business Signage

Asset Protection: Acrylic Backing W/ Dimensional Acrylic Lettering & Vinyl by Focal Point Costa Mesa

Signage constitutes an important part of leaving a first impression. It attracts your customers’ eye while offering the opportunity to grow business. Companies see and understand the importance of branding as a venue to stay top of mind with your current customer base while building exposure within new markets.

Here are some of the top reasons why signage is important for your business:

  • Being one of the least expensive forms of advertising, signs have proven to be the most effective.
  • The financial commitment to creating new signage is limited to only one time. No recurring fees are needed or required.
  • Signs offer you a continuous advertising opportunity, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
  • Signs build exposure by introducing your business to potential customers, while creating a consistent presence for your existing clients.

lobbysign

Signage offers you the opportunity to be identified well so you don’t miss out on new and repeat business, while reminding consumers of your existence.

Your sign offers a space for you to share the most important information you would like to communicate with your target market while allowing you to grow your brand’s exposure. Having clear and simple design makes your sign easier to remember. In addition to your message and content, your color combinations play a major role in its effectiveness. Stay true to your brand!

Think of your signage as a mix of elements that include:

  • Marketing message
  • Audience reach
  • Visual acuity

Your sign’s job is to get the reader’s attention in an instant. Your reader is usually moving and your sign has only a few seconds to be seen, read and understood. Your sign has to make people stop and take action by calling, ordering, or even entering your location. The goal is to have a call to action and to get your customers to respond.

The following are other factors that have an influence on the effectiveness of your signage:

  • Placement
  • Size
  • Illumination
  • Height
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Custom Monument Signs created for Orange County Businesses by Focal Point Signs in Costa Mesa

exterior business Monument Signs

Custom monument sign
Custom monument sign

Today more than ever there are a multitude of materials used in sign making. We’ve ushered in the new age of versatile, durable, synthetic construction materials that stand up to weathering at significant savings to traditional monument signage.

If you’re a contractor, builder, or property manager read on because you’re going to love this.

What if I told you there is a monument sign alternative that will not rust, peel or delaminate.  Imagine telling your client you are installing a top of the line, state of the art monument that is resistant to rot, termites and moisture? A sign superior to traditional brick and mortar structures for impact resistance.  This alternative is a foam core monument signs so durable (because of the 100% aggregated acrylic stucco finish over our Poly Armor coating) they come with a 5 year guarantee.

The other great advantage to a foam core poly armor monument sign is that the footing isn’t a huge slab of concrete. Instead we use an aluminum alloy mounting system with internal painted post sleeves over galvanized steel pipe.  This system allows us to dig only four holes (one for each post) and pour cement in each hole instead of laying down a costly slab.   Our clients love this because it saves them money, and if for any reason down the road a change needs to be made, the signage updated or moved all together, it’s much easier to deal with;  no need to jack hammer out yards of cement.

Have we sold you on this concept yet?  Let’s go back to the installation.  Because they are relatively light weight there is no need for heavy equipment.  Lastly if there is an unfortunate accident where someone comes crashing into the sign, the sign will not be destroyed like brick and mortar, and there will be significantly less damage to the car and driver.  This alone is a huge plus!

We can add panels, LED Message Centers, illuminated cabinets and more.  We can add raised or recessed “in-sign” graphics and hand sculptured stone and accents.  We can add columns and column caps, pediments and other architectural accents.  There are 40 standard lay outs to choose from which act as the base model – from there you choose how custom you want to go.  If this alternative sounds interesting to you, give us a call at 714-204-0180.

Need a monument sign?  Think Focal Point “where your business is the center of attention”.  Conveniently located near John Wayne Airport where Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Irvine meet.

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Window Graphics and Decals created and installed by Focal Point Signs in Costa Mesa

Custom Exterior Business Vinyl Decal Costa Mesa

Finding ways to increase brand awareness is a constant goal of advertising. Signage is advertising, and in this video you’ll see how vinyl graphics are applied. The process is simple and can be used on office, business, and retail store fronts and on your vehicle too!

Vehicles for advertising is booming right now and while the best look, undoubtedly, is a full vehicle wrap, there are options.  As you start out your business, if you’re working on a tight budget, consider doing something beyond just lettering – incorporate your logo as well.  The printer and products we use for these jobs turns out stunning graphics and at an affordable rate as well.

About the materials we use:  Doing a window treatment using vinyl requires the selection of material specifically for that job.  There are conditions at play that must be taken into consideration.  If the project means the graphics will be in full sun we will only use the top of the line 3M cast vinyl along with a laminate that is UV treated.  This helps protect the color of the graphics and the integrity of the vinyl.  You want your window or car signage to last for years to come, and so do we.  If you are thinking of jazzing things up a bit and doing your windows, or are looking for an alternative to a full vehicle wrap, give us a call at 714-204-0180.