One of the simplest ways to stand out on the trade show floor—regardless of the size of your exhibit—is to use lighting to draw attention. The Dexcom exhibit, which debuted at American Diabetes Association (ASA), is a great illustration of how lighting increases the visual weight and appeal of a trade show booth.

Dexcom, a leader in glucose monitoring systems, faces competition from several big pharma players who have deeper pockets. These companies attend ADA with booths much larger than Dexcom's 30' x 30' space. However, thanks to strategically designed booth architecture and lots of lighting applications, Dexcom stood out with a presence that was substantial, solid and sophisticated.

The 3D Exhibits design team did a great job designing solid, sturdy architecture—but it's the lighting that enables that architecture to really shine.

So what does a thorough approach to lighting an exhibit look like? In Dexcom's case, lighting applications included:

1. Unified color temperature. You know how sometimes you replace a light bulb at home and it's either much brighter/bluer than your other lamps—or sometimes more subdued and yellow? This is due to the color temperature which—even with "white" lighting—can range from cooler blue tints to warmer yellower tints. Dexcom ensured a strong, unified look by selecting a color temperature in the middle—a true bright white—and making sure that every lighting element in the exhibit matched.

 

2. Designed for reflection. While the vertical surfaces in the exhibit are a dark wood laminate, Dexcom made sure that the major horizontal surfaces were light in color to reflect light and increase the levels of ambient light in the exhibit. These surfaces included the underside of the overhead canopy and a wide white floor inlay.

3. Internally illuminated logo. The Dexcom logo was a fabricated can sign—like the kind used by many retail stores. This ensured that Dexcom's highest level signage (both in messaging hierarchy and height) was highly visible from across the hall.

4. Backlit fabric graphic walls. Several large walls—including those facing the aisle with secondary level messaging and the walls behind the two Genius Centers—were backlit to draw the attention of visitors walking by the exhibit.

 

5. Can lighting. Recessed lighting highlighted the walls that weren't backlit and added light to corners of the exhibit that otherwise would have been in shadow. The result was that there were no dark spots ANYWHERE in the exhibit.

6. Large format video. Monitors running video that explained the science behind the products added more light, color and motion to the environment.

7. Overhead spot lights. Spot lights hung from the hall ceiling ensured that even the outside corners of the booth were bathed in light.

8. Pendant lights. Four custom-designed pendent fixtures added a warm, approachable touch to the design while providing additional light to areas where the canopy blocked the light from the overhead spots.

 

9. Accent lighting. Final touches included halo lighting to define the Genius Center counter tops and backlighting to spotlight the inset literature racks.

 

Which types of different lighting do you use in your exhibit?