teejay's own - greysquare photographics' show booth

our talented photographer Lara from Greysquare Photographics was an exhibitor of the Grand Wedding Show at Canada Place last weekend. jw and i had been working on the design of her booth all week long. please excuse the horrible photos... afterall, we're designers, not photographers.

we wanted to create a cozy environment that could make visitors feel like home. we knew right away that we'd provide comfortable seatings for people to talk to Lara and view albums and slideshows. we wanted to generate enough storage to hide supplies and backpacks and effective ways to showcase her photos without cluttering the space.this was a 10' x 10' corner booth. this rendering reflected the original information we recieved from the organiser - a 8' backdrop divider and a 3' side divider. later we found out that both of the dividers would be full length @ 8', we decided to hang the saree onto the black side divider to brighten up the space.

once Lara okayed the general direction of the booth design, we started working on the design details and building. here's jw working hard on building the backdrop panels.

here's Lara at her booth - all set up and ready to go! since Lara's thinking about doing several shows this year, we wanted to give her something versatile, easy to assemble, and easty to store. the 3 light weight shelves covered in burgundy satin provided table top space for the monitor screen, prize draw box, contest entry forms, prizes and the post cards for visitors to take home. they also provided enough storage space underneath. with her portfolio albums and giveaway post cards on the coffee table, a comfortable 3-seater couch, and home-gallery-style backdrop to show off her photos, the booth generated a cozy, relaxed environment for visitors to enjoy Lara's photos and conversation with her.

we had Lara mounted these beautiful 11" x 14" photos on foam cores. we then placed them off-centered on these 21" x 21" frames that we customized for her. we used black paint for the frames and white silk on the mat. they made the photos seem popping out of the grey walls so they effectively caught visitors attention. this is a good way to show off her works without needing to print very large photos. also, thanks to Studio 306's great and fast job on making the large sign for the logo across the top of the backdrop. the illuminated sign made a huge difference.

the Grand Wedding Show started as Cultural Wedding Show; the record shows that the majority of attandence has Asian cultural backgrounds. we added Asian-influenced accessories such as pillows, a vase, orchids, and a colourful saree to spice up the booth. when Lara's going to exhibit at different types of shows later on, she can simply change the accessories to create a different theme.

together we picked 4 of her photos and printed them into post cards as giveaways. each of them may appeal to a different crowd. this was a thoughtful, generous and effective idea for visitors to remember Lara when they go home. there's all her contact info on the back. also, visitors can send them to friends and Lara can get even more exposure. although the accessories represent different cultures, we used the colours to tide them toghether. the autumn-colour orchids brightened up the black corner. for a small booth, one flower arrangement is often enough to make a statement (of course, unless you're a flower vendor).

we decided to make 9 "grey squares" and bolt them together to form the backdrop panels to showcase 3 of her photos. these squares echo her company name. also, she wouldn't have to worry about where to store a 7' x 7' panel because all the squares come apart easily. this set up will fit into her smaller booth (8' x 8') at later shows.

Lara had a very successful show; the response was great. she had minimal downtime. many visitors love her photos, her work and her personality; i'd say they enjoyed the booth as well. i'm so very happy for you, Lara. it was a great first show. i hope you get great businesses out of this!