Top exhibition design trends

With the change of the clocks officially marking the start of spring, you might expect to see beautiful blooms popping out - if you visit an exhibition this season, you won’t be disappointed.

That’s because, according to our in-house experts, ‘botanical’ is a major design theme right now. In our Feature Trend Forecast, our creative team used data from trend forecasting specialist WGSN to pick out the key looks they expected to influence exhibition design this year.

Proving they were right, let’s take a look at how ‘nature’ is providing inspiration for organisers and exhibitors at this season’s biggest shows:

Going Bonkers for Botanical

Spring Fair - Birmingham

Spring Fair is the country’s leading home and gift show so it’s no surprise that the botanical trend was in full swing here. Some highlights included the use of full-height palm trees inside the exhibition hall, giving it a lush, jungle feel, and giant, immersive wall graphics of plants, flowers and outdoor scenes.

Glee - Birmingham

Potted flowers and pastels abounded at outdoor living show Glee. Pastel tones are another big trend for spring/summer (see more in the Feature Trend Forecast), with the lilacs, pinks and moss greens of springtime being replicated in painted wood. Glee also demonstrated how hanging foliage, decking, stones and water features could be used inside to great effect.

Jewellery & Watch - Birmingham

This season’s wallpaper designs are bursting with blooms, offering exhibitors a quick and easy way to get in on the trend. Simply paste a bold print to a feature wall and enjoy admiring glances, just like this exhibitor at Jewellery & Watch.

Pure - London

Living walls were everywhere at fashion trade show Pure. A very clever move by the organisers was setting up movie premier-style photo opportunity amongst the greenery, so attendees could share their show adventure on social.

Executive Hire - Coventry

Even amongst the metal and machinery of the Executive Hire Show, a trade-only exhibition for the tools, equipment and plant hire industry, some hanging greenery appeared, successfully softening the industrial aesthetic.

Business Travel Show - London

American Express combined two of SS19’s hottest trends when it featured botanical bamboo with colour-pop blue (more on this trend can be found in the Feature Trend Forecast). Brick walls, also seen on this stand at BTS, are another way to channel this season’s natural look.

Scottish Wedding Show - Glasgow

If only you could have the delicate beauty of flowers with the imposing stature of a tree… you can! These innovative, lollipop-style floral trees created the perfect catwalk entrance at the Scottish Wedding Show.

Gulfood - Dubai

You’d expect to see fruit at a food and beverage trade show, but this stand by Del Monte at Gulfood shows how fresh produce can be used as a design feature. Pineapples in particular are an important motif of the botanical aesthetic - simply lining some up on a shelf can be effective, while hanging bananas also adds to the tropical theme.

The Photography Show - Birmingham

Camera brands exhibiting at The Photography Show wanted to give attendees something on-trend to photograph, dressing stands with beautiful spring flowers and creating a whimsical woodland scene, complete with forest queen.

Want your space to be totally on-trend? Take a look at our Feature Trend Forecast for insight into all this year’s hottest looks and how we can help you recreate them.