15 Ideas for Exhibition Stands That Guarantee You Get Noticed
Your stand is the first thing visitors notice. It’s your opportunity to make a strong first impression that sparks curiosity and starts meaningful conversations.
This guide provides 15 exhibition stand ideas to help you stand out and engage your target audience. Apply them to your next event and leave with a pipeline full of quality opportunities.
1. Keep Your Branding Bold and Consistent
Your stand should look and feel like your brand from every angle. Every visible surface, from the back wall to the flooring, needs to reflect your company’s colours, logos, and typography in a way that is instantly recognisable.
Extending branding into less obvious areas like countertops, flooring, or even the sides of plinths can create a more memorable presence. With a bespoke exhibition stand, you can integrate consistent branding across every surface, ensuring a cohesive and immersive look.
This Harri stand is a great example, using a cohesive blue palette and a striking illuminated logo to deliver brand clarity at first glance.
Expert Tip: Carry your brand colours into your staff uniforms and giveaways for a complete, unified presence.
2. Use High-Level Branding for Maximum Visibility
If people can see your stand from across the hall, you’ve already won half the battle. Features like hanging signs, branded cubes, or illuminated banners instantly lift your visibility above neighbouring stands.
K Rend nailed this approach, using a high, open structure that rises above the competition and pulls visitors in from all directions.
Expert Tip: Ask your venue about height limits as soon as you book so you can plan your design to take full advantage.
3. Create an Inviting Layout
The right layout can turn a quick glance into a full visit. Keep the entrance open and easy to walk into so people feel comfortable stepping inside. Avoid putting big counters or displays in the way; instead, use furniture and product displays to lead visitors through your stand.
Motan Colortronic did this brilliantly with a wide, open-plan design that naturally guided people from one product area to the next. Our modular stand systems allow you to build open, flowing layouts that adapt to your space and keep traffic moving naturally.
Expert Tip: Position your most striking feature just beyond the entrance to encourage people to explore further.
4. Make It Interactive
If you want people to stick around, give them something to do. This could be anything from touchscreen demos and VR or AR simulations to physical games and challenges.
The longer visitors spend at your stand, the more opportunities you have to start meaningful conversations.
Athlon’s stand is a great example, using a giant timed word game wall that quickly became a hotspot for activity.
Expert Tip: Pair interactive elements with a quick sign-up form to capture leads before participation.
Be the Stand Everyone Posts About
With the right interactive elements, your exhibition space can become a must-visit destination on the show floor.
Start My Free Interactive Stand Design
5. Showcase Products Front and Centre
Don’t hide your star products in the back. Position them prominently, ideally near the perimeter of your stand, so they capture attention before visitors even step inside. Use focused lighting to highlight their features and draw the eye.
GVS demonstrated this perfectly by placing their safety equipment right at the front under bright, targeted lights, making their offering instantly clear to anyone passing by.
Expert Tip: Display smaller products on raised pedestals to bring them into eye line and give them a premium feel.
6. Offer an Experience, Not Just a Display
The most impactful stands go beyond displaying products. They create experiences that visitors remember. Whether it is tasting samples, trying equipment, or joining a live workshop, these moments build stronger emotional connections with your brand.
Flavita demonstrated this well by offering drink samples in a vibrant, welcoming space that encouraged visitors to pause, chat, and enjoy themselves.
Expert Tip: Incorporate sensory elements like scent, music, or tactile materials to create a richer, multi-sensory brand memory.
7. Integrate Technology
Technology can add movement, light, and energy that draws people in. A well-placed screen can turn heads from across the room. LED walls, animated graphics, or projection mapping give your stand movement and energy that static displays cannot match.
Sun International used this to great effect with a huge LED video wall display that made visitors feel like they were already on holiday before they even spoke to the team.
Expert Tip: Keep video content short, looped, and with captions so it works even in noisy environments.
8. Use Vertical Space Creatively
Limited floor space does not have to limit your presence. You can increase visibility and make your stand feel larger by building upward with tall shelving, branded towers, or tiered displays. This tactic is especially effective for smaller stands where every square metre matters.
Selecta Systems used this approach to great effect, adding tall branded structures that extended their visibility well above head height, giving their stand a strong presence.
Expert Tip: Reserve upper display space for premium products so they are protected and attract attention at eye level or above.
Explore All Our Stand Designs
See how we’ve helped brands of all sizes create exhibition stands that attract, engage, and convert.
9. Design for Comfort
Creating a comfortable environment can significantly increase the time visitors spend with you, which means more opportunity to build rapport. This might mean adding lounge chairs, bistro tables, or a refreshment counter.
The Correll Group went a step further with a stylish café-inspired setup, complete with bar stools, a serving counter, and a welcoming atmosphere that encouraged people to sit, relax, and talk.
Expert Tip: Install charging stations to give guests a functional reason to stay while they learn about your brand.
10. Make Lighting a Feature
Lighting can completely transform the look and feel of your stand while guiding attention exactly where you want it. Use spotlights to highlight products, or LED strips to outline your stand and add depth.
Revolut Business executed this brilliantly, integrating LED strip lighting along the floor and counters to create a sleek, high-tech atmosphere that reflected their brand identity.
Expert Tip: Choose warm tones for hospitality-focused stands and cooler tones for tech brands to reinforce your message.
11. Use Themed Graphics and Storytelling
Your graphics should tell your story instantly. Large-scale visuals, bold typography, and human-focused imagery can convey who you are and what you offer before a staff member even says hello.
St John Ambulance achieved this with bold statistics and emotive imagery that made their mission instantly clear, sparking curiosity and emotional connection.
Expert Tip: Design graphics with a clear hierarchy so the most important message is visible even from 10 metres away.
12. Offer Giveaways with Purpose
A giveaway is only valuable if it is relevant and useful to your audience. Branded items like reusable bottles, tote bags, or tech accessories work well, but they should always be paired with a lead capture method.
DCBL executed this strategy perfectly. They handed out branded coffee that drew people and opened the door for natural conversations with their team.
Expert Tip: Limit the number of giveaways per day to create scarcity and encourage early visits.
Pair Giveaways with a Stand That Sells
We design stands that seamlessly integrate product displays, lead capture points, and branded giveaway stations.
13. Bring Your Best People
Even the most creative stand design depends on the people running it. Choose a team that is friendly, confident, and knowledgeable about your products or services. Staff who engage with visitors in an authentic way, offer helpful insights, and make attendees feel welcome will leave a stronger impression than any display alone.
Expert Tip: Rotate shifts and give staff time away from the stand to keep their energy and enthusiasm high.
14. Promote Your Stand Before and During the Event
Visibility begins before the first visitor arrives. Announce your stand location on social media, in newsletters, and through event-related hashtags to put yourself on attendees’ must-visit list. When the event is underway, keep sharing live updates, crowd shots, and highlights so your stand stays top of mind for those still walking the floor.
Expert Tip: Tag the event organiser and sponsors alongside the hashtag to boost your reach even further.
15. Work with Stand Design Experts
Event budgets grew by 12.3% in 2024, proving that face-to-face events are thriving again. To stand out, you need a design that delivers maximum impact.
Professional stand designers understand how to maximise space, budget, and impact while avoiding common pitfalls. Plus Exhibition offers a free stand design service to help you visualise your space before you commit, ensuring your next stand is perfectly tailored to your brand, your goals, and your audience.
Expert Tip: Share your event goals, target audience, and past event feedback with your designer so they can create a solution that delivers measurable results.
Making Every Square Metre Work Harder
Your stand should do more than just look good. With the right design, layout, and team, you can attract more visitors, hold their attention, and turn interest into business.
At Plus Exhibition, we know how to create stands that deliver. Contact us today for your free stand design and let’s make your next event one to remember.
