Ever wondered whether the exhibition industry follows an annual design trend? Well, this is in fact true. After reading up about Euroshop 2017, the number one retail trade fair in the world, we thought these 2017 exhibition design trends were too interesting not to share.

2017 Exhibition colour of the year: Greenery
According to Pantone, Greenery is a “fresh and zesty yellow green shade that evokes the first days of spring when nature’s greens revive, restore and renew”. Despite green being our favourite colour (for obvious reasons), we love how versatile this particular colour is. Picture fresh plant life, botanical wallpaper, graphics and flooring, bringing a sense of life to your next exhibition stand.

Sustainable exhibition stand designs:
Traditionally speaking, the events and exhibition industries are not the most environmentally friendly of industries. However, as we mentioned in Inspiration Station, sustainable exhibition designs are becoming increasingly popular worldwide. This involves the use of more sustainable processes and products when designing, manufacturing and implementing your final exhibition stand.

If you’re still not entirely sure what is meant by this, think reused, recycled and re-purposed materials and fabrics to create your next visually appealing exhibition stand. Incorporate elements of the 2017 colour trend and you are good to go.

Creating a virtual reality:
Digitisation along with immersive technology is fast becoming the key element to include in your overall exhibition stand design. The reason for this is simple – attract more customers, increase engagement and get visitors to explore your brand even more.

So, how can you create a virtual reality? Look to incorporate live streaming, interactive touch screens or experiential games to ensure exhibition-goers stop by your exhibition stand. Our post, Game On! elaborates on how an experiential game can be an effective addition to any exhibition stand.

Innovative lighting solutions:
This year, exhibition stands are deemed to become even more ingenious through the use of LED technology. Incorporating elements of this year’s sustainability trend, the use of recyclable lighting solutions is increasingly being used in exhibition stand designs around the world.

When contemplating how to attract visitors to your exhibition stand, be sure to consider the innovativeness of lighting and how it triggers a sense of emotion in exhibition-goers. Incorporating lighting that is smart, emotional and flexible, is bound to boost your exhibition stand and brand image as a whole.

So whether you are looking for a bit of colour, structural, technological or lighting inspiration let this year’s exhibition stand design trends guide you. Additionally, take a look at our Gallery to get a few more ideas for your next exhibition stand.

Pair these ideas with some of this year’s design trends and you are destined for success. Contact us to turn your concepts into reality.

Shades of Green is a proud supporter of Earth Hour.

This year, earth hour is between 20h30 and 21h30 on Saturday the 25th of March. Millions of people as well as organizations worldwide participate by hosting an event during this time or switching off all electricity for an hour. People participate by going star gazing together, having earth hour parties or even having candle lit dinners to support earth hour and make as much noise as possible for action on climate change.

Here at Shades of Green we go the extra mile by trying to live each day in a sustainable way, by planning and implementing events and exhibitions in a way that is socially and environmentally friendly. At Shades of Green we are passionate about helping clients not only plan and execute, but do so in a way that reduces environmental impact, while increasing economic, social and environmental benefit. We as people of this nation need to take responsibility for environmental and social performance.

In our previous blog post “Inspiration Station”, we have shown sustainable exhibition designs from around the world and as well as some done by the Shades of Green team.

Earth hour supporters have definitely helped make a change over the past few years. Many supporters have successfully received some climate friendly laws and policies which may include those that banned plastic located in the World Heritage site of the Galapagos islands.

Climate change begins with ordinary people like you and I, it is our responsibility to protect our planet, because it’s our home.

We at Shades of Green, are huge believers that small steps equal big outcomes. We challenge all businesses as well as clients to be acknowledged for your sustainability leadership in 2017. We as people of this nation need to take responsibility for environmental and social performance.

To sign up and take part visit https://www.earthhour.org/

Founded in 1987, the Southern African Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI) is the umbrella body of the conference and meetings industry of South Africa. SAACI is recognised as the official body and mouth-piece of the conference industry by South African Tourism and government.

Each SAACI branch (Eastern Cape, Western Cape, KwaZulu Natal and Northern Territories) is responsible to host an annual congress in their province. It was KZN’s turn to host the SAACI 2014 Congress and Exhibition in the chosen destination of St Lucia, iSimangaliso Wetland Park.

The Local Organising Committee (LOC) from SAACI appointed Shades of Green Events and Exhibitions to do an environmental audit as part of a sponsorship agreement.

Shades of Green Events and Exhibitions interviewed the LOC prior to the Congress in order to establish an understanding of what environmental measures the committee had put in place during the planning stage of the Congress. Shades of Green Events and Exhibitions then performed an on-site inspection during the event, using the findings in the report. The key areas that the report looked at were:

• Waste Reduction and effective management
• Energy Efficiency
• Water minimisation
• Transport
• Eco Procurement
• Venue & Accommodation
• Communication, Awareness & Training
• Social and Economic Development
• Biodiversity
• Monitoring and Reporting

Attending the congress gave the Shades of Green team the opportunity to network and keep up to date with the latest developments in the conference and meetings industry.

Shades of Green Events & Exhibitions are committed to delivering outstanding service and surpassing every client’s expectation. For more information on how Shades of Green Events & Exhibitions can help you with your environmental audits or carbon footprint analysis please don’t hesitate to contact us.