In 2008, I was planning to represent Oxford Lasers at an exhibition to showcase a new product. At the time, the only exhibition stand that we possessed was designed for a 3m wide booth, but the space at the exhibition was much smaller than this. I designed a replacement graphic for en existing pop-up stand that we already had in order to reuse the stand frame.

The banner had to quickly convey the message that we produce high-speed imaging systems and that they are suitable for a wide range of subjects. I also wanted to highlight the techniques that we deliver rather than the systems themselves since a potential customer is more interested in the problems that you can solve than the way that you actually solve them.

Stuff

I decided to produce a stand that showcased the four main techniques that we utilise, with images that can be used as art of a sales pitch to an interested enquirer. The four techniques are particle sizing, spray pattern measurement, flow measuring, and weld viewing. I decided to use few words on the poster to make it possible scan the offering very quickly, and to allow the images to speak for themselves. Additionally, I chose some interesting images from the company image library to build into the background to addy visual interest and to provoke questions and discussion. I built the background image up in the GIMP photo editor, which is a very capable open source photo editing package. Then, I used Adobe Illustrator to build the poster itself by punching round holes through the main image and displaying 4 eye-catching images (one for each of the headings) inside them. A gradient fade at the top of the image to highlight the main headline and a black background at the bottom completed the image.

The final image and poster is shown, along with the gimp layer scheme for the background.