“We need new concepts for trade fairs as places of chance encounters. This might also be showrooms and brand worlds in places where people and ideas converge. What we need are open forums for critical and competent dialogue.” You will find lots of demands like this one expressed by Ranger Design in this special edition: The industry has given us an outlook of the near future and shows what they have achieved in the last few months, where they had to find alternatives, what new concepts evolved and how the trade fair format has changed in recent months (centuries).Sabine Marinescu and Janina Poesch are both architects, journalists and founders of PLOT – the network in the field of spatial staging. Since 2008 they have been publishing their own print and online magazines and reference books about scenography.The standard reference work in the trade fair design world.Search inside on  ISSUU.com

Until spring 2020 the trade fair sector was still boasting: “You can’t email a handshake!” Then corona came along and everything was turned upside down: exhibitions were postponed, cancelled or relocated into digital space. It also brought forth new concepts with which we had not reckoned a couple of years ago: virtual twins, AR or VR walk-through stands, online exhibitions with new meeting formats, or quite different ideas that are currently turning the sector upside down, providing new impetuses and making the trade fair a place as we have never known it before. The new Trade Fair Design Annual presents not only the most exciting exhibition settings of the previous year but also entices us into virtual space. Sabine Marinescu and Janina Poesch are both architects, journalists and founders of PLOT – the network in the area of spatial installations. Since 2008 they have been publishing print and online magazines as well as reference books in the wide field of scenography.#designbooks: Book introduction with Sabine Marinescu and Janina Poesch on YouTube (German only)#designbooks: Interview with the editors on YouTube (German only)Search inside on ISSUU.com

So-called instagrammability has long become part of our communication policy – has the design of trade fair stands also changed as a consequence? Is the presentation's focus no longer the product but rather the potential customer and their interaction? How important are live experiences in order to draw the full attention of visitors? What effect does this have on the communication strategy and on the spatial design? These are questions pursued by the new Trade Fair Design Annual with 60 exceptional examples. Sabine Marinescu and Janina Poesch are both architects, journalists and founders of PLOT – the network in the field of spatial staging. Since 2008 they have been publishing their own print and online magazines and reference books about scenography. The standard reference work in the trade fair design world. Search inside on ISSUU.com

The standard reference work in the trade fair design world  Change and transformation are currently characteristic not only of our society and our socio-cultural structures, but also of our economic structures and therefore the exhibition industry: traditional approaches to brand communication no longer appear to take full effect, although the core of the longstanding trade fair business perhaps holds the key to the future of the traditional platform: in real encounters and individual exchanges.In accordance with this, over the forthcoming years it will increasingly be about shaping this discussion, creating spaces for it, enabling especially personal contacts amidst a communication guided by bots, thereby shaping change. Of course, this edition of the Trade Fair Design Yearbook is not oblivious to this either: since October 2018, the publication has been issued in a new, even higher quality design, extending increasingly into digital as well as real space.Search inside on ISSUU.com

20 years' Trade Fair Design Annual! This anniversary edition breaks all the records: more trade fair stands, more pages, more trends. Including an interview on the future of the trade fair. Current brand communication is increasingly moving towards real-digital narratives. The storytelling trend plays a major role in this, as well as the type of communication, in times of complete digitisation. Particularly at trade fairs, personal discussion is still the key aspect of every presentation. With this edition of the Trade Fair Design Annual, the authors present a series of successful examples of transmedia storytelling, attaching particular importance to the accomplished use of means of communication. What is decisive, however, is the exceptional design of the overall presentation, which can add communicative and therefore informative value for the exhibitor, as well as provide an emotional experience for the visitors.

The reference work in the trade fair design world  The fully connected "Industry 4.0" has also found its way into the corporate presentations at trade fairs: real worlds are digitally extended by augmented reality or merged with virtual spaces to create new, all-engulfing brand experiences. And yet trade fairs remain places where personal contacts are made, networks enlarged and innovations brought to market – in some cases without any digital add-ons ...This standard work once again documuents the best trade fair stands of recent years and uses powerful visuals and informative texts to identify future trends.

Finally available as a bundle: Trade Fair Design Annual 2017/18, 2016/17, 2015/16! Three standard books on the exhibition scene.

The reference work in the trade fair design world  If all five senses are appealed to in brand communication, then it significantly intensifies the emotional bonds between the brand and the consumer. Therefore it is no wonder that multi-sensory aspects play a particularly important role in trade fair presentations. The at­mosphere of a trade fair hall can easily lead to a sensory overload.Exhibitors are therefore not only engaged in product competi­tion, but also in a perceptual competition. In light of this, authors of this Trade Fair Design Annual have once again brought together the best 60 trade fair stands of the past year and show a cross-section of trade fair design that appeals to all the senses.

The reference work in the trade fair design world  To this day, trade fairs are considered to be settings for important inventions and many a time bold predictions for the future were made on the basis of innovations. "The future needs the past" – the previous Trade Fair Design Annual's motto is also incorporated in the 15th edition of the successful reference work.As usual, the jubilee edition 2014/15 documents the best trade fair stands of the past year and presents current trends and tendencies for the future by means of large illustrations and descriptive texts. The book is rounded off by interviews with experienced trade fair experts.

The reference work in the trade fair design world  For quite some time now, the architecture of the stand alone no longer decides about the success of a brand presentation at trade fairs. More subtle elements such as light, materials, audiovisual media or even a skilful perspective and perfect infrastructure are what now trigger a wow effect from visitors and customers. And this is demonstrated by the most recent edition of the Trade Fair Design Annual: once again, the editors Sabine Marinescu and Janina Poesch have compiled and analysed more than 50 presentations of international top brands. Large illustrations, detailed plans and interviews with designers explain the standards for trade fair design of the future.

Trade fairs and weekly markets have a number of things in common. They are by no means just points of sale. Both market hawkers and exhibitors want to make contact with old and new business associates, nurture customer relationships, inform about new products, groom their image and above all to be seen and heard in order to create publicity. With these goals in mind, effective stand architecture can create the initial basis for successful dialogue.The outstanding examples contained in the Trade Fair Design Annual 1012/13 have been selected to show how unique brand appearances can be created by blending architectural and communicative elements and what role audiovisual media, convincing graphics, light productions or different materials play in this.Rainer Häupl, Sabine Marinescu and Janina Poesch offer an insight into state-of-the-art trade fair staging and take a special look this time at the phenomenon of curated trade fairs. Another first: the designers themselves have a say in a number of interviews.

The authors again have selected more than 50 trade fair stands from German speaking countries for this annual. Prime criteria for inclusion are the overall idea and the quality of the design, but of course also a functioning infrastructure, the presentation of the exhibits or services as well as materials, lighting, colour concept, graphics and the realisation of the brand philosophy.Exceptional trade fair design for adidas, Création Baumann, Gaggenau, Kaldewei, Vodafone, Vorwerk, etc.Karin Schulte, interior designer, works at the Weißenhof-Institut of the Arts Academy in Stuttgart. Tobias Glaser works as a freelance interior designer. Furthermore, he teaches, curates and consults in the field of design.

The numerous examples presented in this edition of the Trade Fair Design Annual are once again testament to the ability of designers to consistently tailor trade fair stands to exhibitors’ needs whilst setting standards in the field. Of particular interest is how stands evolve over the years through long-standing cooperation between designers and clients and how, even in changing economic circumstances, corporate design themes vary without losing brand recognition.The author Conway Lloyd Morgan is Programme Leader in New Media Publishing at the University of Wales, Newport, and the author of numerous books and monographs on design and architecture.