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 yearbook 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.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 WorldChange and transformation are currently characteristic not only of our society and our socio-cultural structures, but also our economic structures and therefore also 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: from October 2018, the publication will be issued in a new, even higher quality design, extending increasingly into digital, as well as real space.

The standard 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 booths of recent years and uses powerful visuals and informative texts to identify future trends.

The standard work in the trade fair design world If all five senses are appealed to in brand communication, then it significantly intensifies the emotional links between the brand and the consumer. Therefore it is no wonder that multisensory 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 a product competi­tion, but also in a perceptual competition. In light of this, authors of this year’s trade fair design yearbook 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.