UKFast, the leading web hosting company have recently changed there corporate identity. Ignition has had a great relationship with UKFast over the last few years and woud like to congratulate them on a great identity. Ignition designed their exhibition at Internet World and have enjoyed the energy of the marketing team there. Custom exhibition stand for UK fast
UKFast at Internet world
November 27th, 2009Commercial Interior Design in Manchester
November 24th, 2009Ignition is fast becoming one of the leading Commercial interior design companies in Manchester. Ignition has been designing and building interiors and exhibitions for the lasts 10 years and the portfolio of work is growing in both quantity and quality.
One area that Ignition is keen to develop further is Commercial Interior Design in the Manchester and the North West. Despite tight budgets cool and funky office interiors and reception areas can be achieved with limited funds. Jonathan Absalom, Creative director commented “At Ignition we enjoy all challenges. We are constantly pushed to deliver creativity but more recently we have been asked to work within clients reduced budgets. This makes us work harder. It would be really nice if all of our clients had unlimited budgets but they don’t. We are in a economic climate where all projects need to have a form of commercial justification and interior design is no different. It is just another form of marketing. Customers feel good, staff feel good and the knock on effect is that the business becomes more effective.” Ignition is now out looking for commercial interior design projects in both Manchester and the Northwest so if you feel like benefiting from some appropriate creativity get in touch.
Rain to Bring Good Fortune for World Expo Shanghai 2010 Exhibition Design
November 17th, 2009US Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton was in Shanghai, China, today, speaking (in the rain) about the USA Pavilion at the World Expo Exhibition Stand Design.
The World Expo Exhibition Stand Design Shanghai 2010 is set to open in 166 days, and Secretary Clinton talked about the role of the USA pavilion Exhibition Stand Design, to strengthen the cooperation and partnership between the US and China.
“We’re grateful for your generosity and your steadfast belief in the importance of the Expo, the American role here and what this USA pavilion here can do to strengthen cooperation and partnership between the American people and the people of China.
We are building it and we believe that when the Expo opens in 166 days 70 million people will come.
And with this rain today, maybe a hundred million people with even greater good fortune will come. Thank you all very much.” Secretary Clinton Exhibition Stand Design
The history of the Everton exhibition
September 18th, 2009
Everton fanns eagerly await the Everlution exhibition!
Ignition has been working on an exhibition of Everton Memorabilia that is due to open later this month. The exhibition has been commissioned by the Liverpool Archive Office and funded by HLF. Ignition is working with Cube3 Creative Marketing, a Bolton based PR and Marketing company who has strong links in the sports and football industries.
The exhibition design provides a backdrop to showcase a private collection of Everton memorabilia through the ages. Visitors are invited into the Picton Reading Rooms at Liverpool’s grand Central Library through a players tunnel. The exhibition consists of a series of themed exhibits where visitors can explore the history of the Club, watch video while sitting in a mock up Goodison stand and pick your ‘all time 11′ team form bygone years.
Ignition has worked on permanant installations in the past but these have been more specifically aimed at the commercial sector. Lewis (Director at Ignition said “it is always a pleaseure to work on exhibitions that deliver an educational function. We are often involved in commercial trade exhibitions that are built for three days and then returned to storage. This exhibition is going to be open to the public for about twelve months which is great because I can invite my nephews along to see it. Especially because they are Liverpool fans!”
If you find yourself needing an injection of culture, sport, architecture and fun, get along to the FREE exhibition at the Central Library Liverpool.
Wet Wales and the joys of 21st century camping
September 10th, 2009Rain, Rain, Rain….that was my overiding experience of camping for two weeks in Wales in August. Apparently it was the wettest August on record. I left the team at the office to fend for themselves while I waded about in Crocs (I must blog (and wax lyrical) about the wonders of Crocs next) through 3 inches of Welsh mud.
On day four I am called from the office as we have been invited to pitch on an exhibition design project that needs to to be presented while I am under canvas. I had my laptop with me (it is a really useful tool when making sandcastles) and by chance was staying on a campsite that not only had wireless internet access but also had a little desk.
The creative exhibition stand design proposal was emailed over to me and I was able to break it down into critical components to be able to quote against. All this was emailed back to the office and I was left to continue sitting in the rain while the exhibition stand design was presented back in Manchester.
We won…which made me start to wonder whether there is any need for an office at all? Should I move into a tent, set up a desk and manage all my responsibilities from a tent in Wales.
If only it stopped raining!
Technology In Trade Show Booth Design
June 20th, 2009
Over the past five years or so trade show booth design has take a big shift towards incorporating new technology and becoming more interactive. This shift couldn’t have been any more apparent at the years E3 expo which is one of the worlds biggest exhibitions for computer games. Although some huge budgets were spent on stand there the use of clever lighting and inviting props shows just how useful technology can be in trade show booth designs.
At Ignition we have a great appreciation for technology and when the right projects come along we can’t wait to use it. You might remember the stand we did for Plastribution for example where we used some clever lighting effects. We have a lot of fun with that project and the E3 expo reminded us that if technology is used in the right way and can be used to magical effect.
Read the rest of this entry »
How To Produce Powerful Exhibition Designs
May 27th, 2009
Producing powerful exhibition designs is what we love best at Ignition but such things take practice, skill and of course a little bit of perfectionism. We regularly get asked about how to add flare to a design and create powerful designs so we thought we would share some of our ideas and inspirations with you.
Inspiration
Inspiration comes from many places and in many cases comes when you least expect it and is core to any project.
a product of your creative thinking and work
When beginning a project we look at creating a brief and use our current understanding of a product or service to generate idea’s. These ideas and brain storming sessions generate new thought patterns and in turn inspiration. Inspiration for most comes from their personal interests and we also use exhibition events and online resources as a source of inspiration.
Understanding the Brief
We often go on about getting the brief right on our site but we can’t stress the importance of understanding your client when creating a design. Afterall the design is supposed to not only attract people to the stand but also tells visitors about a companies products and services in an informative and exciting way. Essentially you will find it extremely difficult to create a powerful exhibition stand design without this understanding.
Design
Now that you have some form of inspiration and understand you clients business it’s time to get down to creating the design. This is the fun part. In most instances i will first look at the shape and size of a stand and plan a visitors journey. We want to look at designs that will make people interact with the stand. It is important to make the stand flow effortlessly and not create barriers to visitors interactions. Nice open spaces usually work best.
At Ignition we use computer software to produce designs however one very important design consideration is materials. The choice of materials is literally endless but the skill is to find materials that blend well. You then of course have to consider technology, lighting and colour schemes. We usually use company colours as a foundation of our schemes but blending in exciting and eye catching tones can help create a truly powerful exhibition stand.
As with many things detail is crucial. Detail can be the difference between a medicore and a truly exceptional design. For example while a representative is talking to one group of people what can the others do in the stand. Are there facilities to hang a coat, have a drink or even sit down? All details worth thinking about. It is also worth keeping the design flexible so clients can add things in.
We hope the ideas here have been useful and you can see many examples of our exhibition stands on our client pages.
Why I love this Job…
May 15th, 2009We are busy designing a beautiful exhibition stand for a potential new client. This client is a Lighting Company interested in presenting themselves as cool, architectural and high value. Perfect. I love a brief like this for several reasons. Firstly, lighting is one of those products than can really make a difference in an environment, architects and designers use it to great effect to show off their creativity and it adds dazzle to colour and form. Secondly we are free to explore with little limitations on the brief and thirdly someone else has been looking for creative exhibition design solutions, found our website and given us a call.
Exhibition designers don’t get to indulge in lighting design too much, lighting is used in a different way, Exhibition designers need to remember that the clients service or product is the champion and this needs to be presented in an appropriate manner. If exhibition designers go mad with lighting the results can be a dramatic stand that looks wonderful but misses the most basic requirement of showcasing the client. But this new client is selling lights, we can go mad, we can explore shape and form and the lighting needs to be the champion. We have applied all the rules that we would normally apply to a brief and considered branding, site lines, space management, storage, hospitality (the list is endless) but we have been allowed to play with the lighting to such an extent that the design is alive with architectural detail and beautiful shapes. Let’s not get carried away, this is a pitch and new business is hard to get but I guarantee the client will be blown away.
At the moment our work is confidential but what ever the outcome I will be either publishing the visuals soon or (hopefully) the photos later.
Exhibition Stand Choices
May 1st, 2009So you have chosen your venue, picked your exhibition spot and set your budget. Now all that is left to do is chose your exhibition stand. With so many exhibition stands to chose from what should businesses be looking at and which will achieve the best results for that hard earned marketing budget?
These are questions that we often face in our industry and like many things it comes down to research. Investigating what is available to you is key. What type of stands are there?
Pop Up Exhibition Stands
These are light weight multi use stands that usually consist of a large graphic and stretchable metal holder. You often find these in print shop and are designed for multiple uses. If you have a small budget and need a modest presence at an event then this could be the stand for you.
Banner Stands
Again these are one of the most popular types of stand as they tend to make a big impression using very limited space. These often consist of large graphics and held in place by a tall narrow steel frame. These won’t stand up in large halls however the use of large graphics make them a real head turner.
Modular Exhibition Stands
A step up from your banner and pop up stands the modular exhibition stand fuses flexibility with scale. The modular design means you can create stands as large or as small as you like and can be transported from venue to venue with ease. These are usually medium sized stands and create a space for people to walk into and talk to the hosts. Typically you will find modular exhibition stands being used in supermarkets when trying to promote a new drink or product.
Bespoke Exhibition Stands
These are the types of stands that you find being used in large exhibition halls and attract large audiences. This is because they offer a level of interactivity that is simply not possible with other stands. They are designed to meet a businesses exact specification and use clever designs to draw people in to the stand. These types of stands are almost like rooms in themselves and help businesses promote their products and services in an exciting and innovative way.
At Ignition we provide bespoke exhibition stands because we belive them to not only be the best quality best also offer excellent return on investment. This is because our clients can create a unique customer experience which allows audiences to engage directly with their products and services. Businesses can carefully craft their marketing messages as users travel through their stands. The stands are built to such high spec that audiences couldn’t fail to remember your stand and in turn think about your products.
Our experience tells us people like bright, interactive and interesting stands. This is exactly what we try to create.
No time to blog!
April 28th, 2009I have made a note in my diary to ‘Blog’! I should be blogging twice a week I am told. I don’t have time to do anything ‘non essential’ twice a week. I clean my teeth fourteen times a week, put the bins out once a week and other than that it’s grab time in between work and projects.
The good news is we are busy and more importantly working on some really great exhibition design projects. One that I really want to talk about is FILMCLUB, a government funded organisation that helps schools set up film clubs in secondary schools. The benefits are obvious, “Setting up a film club is a great way to stimulate and inspire young minds - it’s a shared experience that encourages debate, discussion and social interaction.
It provides pupils with a unique opportunity to be inspired by the magical world of film while gaining new insights into other cultures.” Have a look a the website www.filmclub.org, set one up in your school! The refreshing change in this project is that it is for the benefit of schools and their pupils. There is something extremely rewarding about providing a service that is outside the B2B or B2C sector. Another similar project we are working on is a joint venture with Manchester based events company Ear to the Ground. We are working on the design and production of a huge event that will be in Cathedral square later this year. It is a mix of museum design and exhibition design. We have been asked to design and develop a series of interactive displays to help a multinational household brand celebrate 125 years of business. I can’t say much more but keep an eye on this space for more ‘public’ updates. That’s all for know, Blogging complete for a few day’s, back to work!