Looking back now, this is a fairly straightforward design project. It worked well in terms of striking a balance between establishing visual presence in a busy trade show environment and functioning ‘on the ground’ to facilitate Axis staff in engaging their audiences.

Context – Swedish-based Axis Communications is a market leader in network video for the security and surveillance industry. At the time, following a substantial increase in trade show participation across European markets, as well as a corporate identity refresh, Axis needed to bring its stand presence at shows up to a level more representative of a world leading brand. The task: design a completely modular and cost-effective scheme over three tiers for use in Europe, and produce guidelines for other global markets to follow.

Show audiences – Distributors (over 12,000 globally), partners (in more than 70 countries, including resellers, system integrators, and total solution providers), and end users (security and IT professionals). Most show visitors already knew and trusted Axis as a benchmark; they would visit the Axis stand to investigate new technology and products. Product demonstration would be a key requirement. We also needed to communicate the brand’s core values – ‘open, dedicated, and leading expert’ – while showcasing the product’s superior image quality, network management capabilities, and the broad product portfolio.

Design – We firstly identified the existing brand equity and explored ideas around this while avoiding drawing too directly from the Axis brandmark. I identified the 60º angle as a feature that could have potential, and this was explored across the design language as a chamfered edge feature at varying scales. We also limited the use of red and yellow to the brandmark signage to emphasise standout, retaining a clean and bright look and feel for the rest of the stand.

Some design principles, in the context of a busy trade show, were: roof to control light levels (paradoxically, create a semi-enclosed space to create a sense of openness); high level panoramic graphic, with brightly illuminated light blue ceiling, creates a bright and welcoming space, and communicates a sense of ‘global overview’.

The first new stand was for the IFSEC (International Fire and Security Exhibition and Conference) show, at NEC Birmingham, in May 2008. A 130sqm plot, max build height of 6m. Build budget £150k, including test build prior to show.