News
07/27/10
Building an icon for I.C.O.N.
When you walk up and down the aisles at any trade show, it’s easy to be impressed by some of the elaborate booths (if you can even call them that anymore) that you see on display. What most people don’t realize, though, is just how much work goes into creating these customized spaces. Version-X is quickly becoming seasoned at creating these environments for their clients in order to bring their brands to market. In addition to a complete rebranding, packaging and website redesign, we took full-service to another level this year, at CosmoProf 2010, when we personally went to the show to setup our newest environment for I.C.O.N. The entire Version-X team lent a hand into the lengthy physical construction of the booth which led to world class results and had the masses stirring to get a glimpse of the finished space.
The process began months before the show with brainstorming and lots of sketches of initial structure and layout ideas. From there, fabricators were brought on board to create digital renderings of the booth to judge for scale, spacing and proportion. This process involves going back and forth with the show management to obtain height clearances, pad width and many more constraints to take into consideration.
Once the initial structure was locked down, artwork was designed to be placed into the various panels of the structures. More renderings are created, now with the art in place and from there, the fabricator begins constructing the frames, panels and trusses that will be used to construct the space. During the weeks of fabrication, flooring, furnishings and decorative materials were ordered from various vendors and freight and shipping arrangements were made to have everything delivered to a central location.
Finally, the show approached and the weekend before, the Version-X team traveled to Vegas to coordinate and assemble the booth for the show. Construction began with layout out the flooring to set the base for the environment. Nearly 200 individual carpet tiles in various colors were assembled to form a specific pattern that would encase the tall structure area and serve as cornerstones of the booth. Each of the 12 foot tall walls was then constructed from individual framed pieces. Printed fabric panels were then attached to these walls as they were lifted into place where the individual walls were assembled together to form the main structure.
A few large pieces remained like shelving, a front counter, furnishings and an 11 foot tall hanging sign that was suspended above the main structure to stand out as a beacon to the booth.
To finish up the space, final touches were assembled and added such as stand-up obelisks with printed graphics, lighting and the big highlight for the front of the booth - a 12 foot tall faceted chain curtain.
The final product was an amazing, head-turning show space that highlights I.C.O.N.’s new brand for their U.S. launch. The vibrant colors, black and white contrasts and big height of the environment served as a meeting space, product demonstration area and a social lounge area. Not only has the booth served the purpose of introducing I.C.O.N. to the U.S. market, but it will also serve as a show environment that they can use for years to come. Booth assembly doesn't generally fall into the job description for most design companies, but we aren’t like most design companies. As always, we wanted to go the extra mile for the client, and in this case, it definitely showed.
