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STAND TALL Booths capturing the attention of FRAME AWARDS MILAN turned trade-fair presentations into immersive physical experiences Words
FLOOR KUITERT
MANAGING TO STAND OUT from the visual pollution that marks today’s trade fairs is a participating brand’s biggest challenge. And nowhere is eye-blinding chaos more irksome than what we find in Milan every April at the Salone del Mobile, the mother of all design fairs. It’s here, in an environment crammed with colour and commotion, that exhibition design can play a decisive role in visitor numbers. To draw attention to the value of strong spatial presentations at trade fairs, Frame honours Salone’s best stands with the Frame Awards Milan – a spin-off of the Frame Awards. Across four categories – Best Use of Colour, Best Use of Light, Best Use of Material and, of course, Trade-Fair Stand of the Year – an international jury of designers, along with Frame’s editors, selected this year’s most successful booths. The design strategies observed were diverse, but what the winning projects had in common was the use of grand architectural gestures. Their designers were unambiguous and selective in their choices, sending one clear message, making one bold statement. Far more than stages for the display of products, the stands that came in on top were part of the brand presentations and not just backdrops for new designs. Grabbing the attention of crowds rushing through the fair is one thing, but a branded space should never overshadow the products on display. ‘Stands must be consistent with, not compete with, what they contain,’ says jury member and Frame
research editor Anouk Haegens. One effective way to achieve the consistency she refers to was seen in stand designs that made a company’s products not only the starting point, but the actual building blocks of spatial constructions that pushed products to their limits – allowing them to demonstrate their full potential. Another noteworthy development was an increased awareness of sustainability among exhibitors, a consideration carried through to a brand’s physical context. The ephemeral character of trade fairs prompted companies to think about what might be done with a booth after the event’s closing date. The solution, in some cases, was a modular, often transformative, system that adapts to almost any space or floor plan. Such a booth can be reused in different locations. Although we saw progress in Milan, there’s still a lot to gain when it comes to the design of temporary structures. A few brave attempts aside, generally speaking the Salone suffered from a lack of real public engagement. The visitor experience should be centre stage, and audiences should be encouraged to interact with brand presentations. Jury member and cofounder of Space Encounters Remi Versteeg agrees, and is optimistic: ‘In the future I expect to see more immersive installations at trade fairs, which hopefully will feel more like museums.’ frameawards.com
Submissions for the Frame Awards 2019 are open until 1 October 2018
