The impact of colour in your exhibition

The success or failure of your exhibition plans can sometimes be linked to something as simple as colour. Colour appears everywhere from your website homepage to your brochure, but at a show the place colour makes its greatest impact is in your display. Yet without some forethought a small miscalculation in choosing the right colour can spell disaster.

It used to be so simple. The discussion of colour came down to cool or warm colours. Cool colours are blues, greens and whites; the warm colours are red, orange and yellow. But there is so much more to the discussion.

Which Colour Should Dominate

Colour ties your display to your product. When it is well done, colour creates a visual image that sparks the imagination of the visitor. Your ultimate goal is to focus attention on your product with the display as background. While this is the general rule, some products in themselves are rather uninspiring visually and need the help that the display can offer. If your products fall into this category—for example, products such as small automotive parts, some hardware items, software, certain packaged goods—then you must create a display that compensates visually for what your product lacks. For these examples, a strong colour for the display will draw attention to the product, yet not overshadow it. You can select contrasting colours on the colour wheel.

If, however, your product easily lends itself to colour—such as giftware, linens, clothing—then highlight the colour in the product and let the display blend into the background with subtle tones.

Another scenario is where the product colour and display colour work in harmony. For example, an upscale line of clothing might be well displayed in an exhibit that has colours that reflect the quality of the product.

Corporate (Brand) Colours

Part of your brand is colour. But in an increasingly competitive world there are few brands (and their colours) that are powerful enough to achieve universal recognition.

If you have strong, identifiable corporate colours, use them in your display; think about Starbucks’ green, Coca-Cola’s red and DeWalt Power Tool’s yellow. Every brand, large and small, is attempting to build a level of awareness. These recognized colours become a crucial part of your display. Consumers get familiar with the logo and colour. If they attend a show and do not see corporate images, they might simply walk by the display without recognizing the exhibitor.

Colour and Culture

Various cultures have their unique interpretation of colours. For example, in Japan the colour yellow represents grace; in the United States it represents caution and in China the imperial colour is yellow. In France red represents aristocracy, while in Britain it is purple. White is the predominant colour in North American bridal shows yet in Japan it’s the colour of mourning. In China red symbolizes good luck and in South Africa red is the colour of mourning. If you are creating a display for a particular culture, it’s important to pay attention to its colour sensitivities. However, if you are creating a display for a global, multicultural audience, then consider using an array of colours found in nature.

If you conduct a Google search for “colour and culture,” you will find information that focuses on cultural interpretation of colour.

When you are developing your display it is well worth having a discussion with your display builder about colour. The discussion should include, in addition to a description of your product and brand, a detailed list of the countries where you plan to exhibit.

But what if your trade show plans are limited to a domestic market? Does the discussion of culture become irrelevant? The simple answer is that it is highly unlikely that a domestic marketplace is one homogeneous mass of people, populations are a mixture of cultures and ethnic backgrounds. If you have identified your customer profile properly it will give you strong clues that need to be incorporated into your exhibition plans.

Colour can make or break an exhibit, so plan carefully.