A necessary part of research was to look at past winners of the competition to gain an idea of what style/delivery the judges are looking for. It is also helpful to see the banners and pop up stands on display, so I'll know the scale I'll be working at. For the final stages the judges, select five finalists then whittle it down to three winners, below are last years finalists:
1st place winner James Ainsworth and Michael Jackson from Blackburn College came first with this peacock feather response, this is what they had to say about the design. "This campaign aims to promote The University Centre At Blackburn College. This is done with vivid, eye catching displays." "We chose to use animals as visual metaphors, that are also recognisable based on aspects of their appearance." Its a very strong visual response with the collage of the feathers which I believe prompts diversity due to the vivid mix of colours. In term of the social/cultural benefits of studying at Blackburn College, Its an ambiguous message with 'Be a peacock' the only possible message other than the imagery. It remains consistent when applied across both the pop up stand and banner stand which makes this design cohesive. This may prove to be a part of the design that resulted in James and Michael's design winning, the judges are looking for a design that can be applied to both the pop up stand and banner. This design definitely ticks that part of the criteria off, therefore I think this is the best of aspect of the winning response.
Fiona Havelock from University of Edinburgh come second with a intricate design that focuses on the collaboration between NASA and University of Edinburgh. Fiona said the following about her design "The inspiration for my design is the current collaboration Edinburgh University has with NASA. The Robot depicted here is the Valkyrie which is held at the school of Informatics." "I chose to use this subject as I wanted to highlight the interconnected qualities of Edinburgh University." "I hope that this design will show prospective students that by choosing to study here they are opening their horizons outward to a multifaceted intellectual community."
I like the overall design of this response but maybe the inclusion of some bold colours would add so much more to this work, the colours used are very dull and aren't engaging in my opinion. On the banner stand design, you can see different colour has been used which in way brings the illustration more to life. So I don't know why the same hasn't been done with the pop up stand design.
This minimalist, primarily typographic design from Emmeline Hewstone from University of Reading is very much so a graphic designers response. Using a strict grid and Swiss typography Emmeline has created a visual striking banner that abides by swiss graphic design such as pioneers such as Josef Muller Brockmann. "To appeal to prospective design students, I needed to create a consistent brand. I took inspiration from a design style that I have never experimented with before, but one that I absolutely adore – Swiss typography." "I wanted to represent the historical and educational aspects of the course, having been exposed to Swiss typography and its influential designers through lectures and seminars focusing on the history of graphic communication."
Ive gained a great amount at looking at previous winners such as not focusing just on the University but trying to be specific to a course such as minimalist response above who focuses on BA Graphic Communication and Typography. By doing this Emmeline was able to focus on her inspirations relating to her course. The design that came second looked elsewhere for inspiration, by looking at exterior collaborations with NASA. This creates enthusiasms in my opinion by linking the University with notable names. In my research I'll be keen to look into links my university has within the creative industries and elsewhere.
A helpful resource was provided by Display Wizard which I used as research, they provided entrants with a guide to designing the perfect exhibition stand. The steps below are the key pointers for designing a promotional piece:
Keep it simple
Display stands are often placed in high-traffic locations such as exhibition halls and reception areas, and as such usually aren’t looked at by passers-by for a long period of time.Whilst you may want to list all the best things about your organisation, an exhibition stand should be designed as an at-a-glance overview of your company, with the biggest focus on your logo and illustrative pictures rather than text.
Use relevant high resolution images
Images are a vital part of any exhibition stand design: if a low-resolution image is supplied, the final display will be blurry and look unprofessional. To avoid this, I need to make sure the images I submit are a minimum of 25% of the finished size, at least 300 DPI and in CMYK format.
Colour it in
Colour is a key consideration when designing any type of display-to-go so I need to make sure I think carefully about the best colour scheme for my marketing message. Different colours evoke different responses in people, so I need to make sure I know what response I want before I design my stand.
For example, an unknown start up business exhibiting at a new event might utilise brighter colours such as red, orange or yellow to attract new business, while a more established business might choose calming, authoritative colours such as blue or green to give off a professional tone.
Follow brand guidelines
Display Wizard recommends to follow brand guidelines, If you work for a larger company or organisation, you may already have brand guidelines which you have to follow. Even if you haven’t got these yet, you may have created other printed promotional material such as a company brochure which can help you with inspiration for your display. Maintaining similar design elements throughout your promotional material will give your organisation a consistent brand identity, making it more recognisable as time goes on.
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