Businesses participating in trade shows and showcase events must have a dynamic banner to attract attendees to their booth. Here are 5 tips to create a banner that works for you, not against you.
1. Think of your banners as billboards. It needs to attract attention and be easy to read. Your information needs to be quickly grasped by show attendees. Keep ideas and designs simple and clear.
2. Most businesses leverage their brand by integrating their logo and tagline. If you’re running a special or offer, please limit your message to 7 words.
3. Use your brand colors or bold, bright colors. Use high-contrast colors to increase legibility at longer distances.
4. Use solid colors or gradients to avoid patterns and cluttered backgrounds.
5. Include your contact information – your website and/or phone number. You do not need to include your street or postal address.
Banner display
Lightweight vinyl banners are easy to transport and set up. You can use grommets spaced about a foot apart (to prevent sagging), or add pole pockets for aluminum or PCV piping. You can buy a lightweight, self-contained retractable or roll-up banner stand for around $100. Booths are usually 8 or 10 feet wide, so you can have a 10′ wide horizontal banner or a 6′ tall vertical banner. These are easy to transport and set up. When installing the banner, check that it is visible from a distance and does not block important parts of the booth.
banner material
Flexible banners are available in vinyl, scrim or paper materials. Eco-solvent vinyl banners are resistant to UV-induced fading, waterproof and extremely durable for outdoor displays. They may last 3 to 5 years when displayed outdoors, and many years when only used indoors. Eco Solvents are more environmentally friendly than past solvent inks. Water-based paper and scrims banners are more prone to fading and water damage and are primarily used for indoor trade shows. Water-based banners used to have excellent graphic resolution, but now eco-solvent banners are just as good quality.
banner artwork
Create your banners with a professional package of CMYK color inks and deliver your files to banner or sign suppliers. PDF or eps files in vector format can be enlarged to any size without loss of graphic quality. If you’re using a photo (in raster format), be sure to use the highest possible resolution so that it’s still sharp when you zoom in. A rule of thumb is to create jpg, tif or Photoshop files at full size at 1/2 or 150 DPI to maintain crisp results. Keep in mind that banner presses work with CMYK inks, so sometimes they may not exactly match the PMS inks often used in logo designs. Print a sample sample of your logo before making your banner.