There’s a moment at every trade show when a passerby slows down, makes eye contact with your booth, and decides whether to stop or keep walking. In many cases, it’s your banner design that tips the scale. From retractable signs and fabric panels to bold overhead displays, banners are the front line of your exhibit. But to be effective, they need to do more than fill space. They need to command attention in seconds.
In this post, we’re sharing our top tips for attention-grabbing trade show banner design, plus practical printing and file prep advice to ensure your graphics are show-ready and stress-free.
Design tips to make your trade show banner stand out
1. Start with a single, clear message. Trade shows are fast-paced environments. People aren’t going to stop and read a paragraph. Focus on one big idea or key takeaway, whether it’s your brand promise, a product launch, or a bold statement that sparks curiosity. Use short, punchy language and keep your font size large enough to read from 5-10 feet away (or more, depending on placement).
2. Prioritize brand consistency. Your banner should feel like a seamless part of your brand. That means using your official logo, fonts, brand colors (more on that in the printing tips below). A disjointed or off-brand display can hurt your credibility. A consistent look builds trust.
3. Use large-scale visuals for high impact. Large visuals are more effective than a collage of small ones. Go for one bold image that reinforces your message or creates an emotional connection. Make sure any photos or background images are high-resolution and suitable for large-format printing.
4. Think top to bottom, left to right. Design your banner so the most important info is at the top, where people’s eyes naturally go first. Work your way down or across with supporting elements. If your banner is placed behind a table or counter, avoid putting anything critical near the bottom.
5. Design for your space. A banner used in a wide-open island booth needs to do something different than one placed on the back wall of a 10x10. Consider how your banner will be seen and from what angle, and tailor your layout accordingly. Need help visualizing your layout? STAR provides templates for all our standard Featherlite exhibits and banner stand products.
Don’t forget these printing and prep tips
Even the best-designed banner can fall short if it’s not prepped correctly for large-scale production. Here are a few tips from our design team:
Use Pantone colors for brand accuracy. Pantone is a universal color matching system that ensures your brand colors stay consistent—whether printed on fabric, vinyl, or anything else. Always provide Pantone values for any critical brand color in your design file.
Build your file in Adobe Illustrator. While some designers prefer Photoshop or InDesign, Adobe Illustrator is the industry standard for large-format graphics. It allows for vector-based design, easy Pantone application, and smooth preflighting.
Always package your files. “Packaging” gathers everything your printer needs: images, fonts, and links. In Illustrator, go to File > Package before submitting your file.
Pro tip: Outline your fonts before packaging if you don’t expect future text edits, especially if you’ve used cloud-based fonts.
Link your images, don’t embed. Linking allows for better quality control and faster preflighting. Just make sure you send those linked files along with your packaged artwork.
Know your image resolution. Before you blow up an image, check the resolution. You can do this in Photoshop under Image > Image Size. For large-format printing, we typically recommend 100 dpi at full size. Bonus: Our team can help assess and upscale your image using AI-enhancement tools if needed.
Vector vs. raster: know the difference. Use vector files for logos and illustrations (.ai, .eps, .svg, .pdf) and raster files for photos (.jpg, .png, .tiff). Vector graphics can be scaled without loss of quality – perfect for large signage.
Preflighting catches the small stuff. Our team performs a preflight check on every large-format file to make sure it meets all print requirements. This step prevents errors, saves time, and ensures your graphics look flawless when printed.
Need help designing or printing your trade show banners?
STAR’s in-house graphic design team specializes in large-format, booth-ready graphics that are built to perform. Whether you’re using one of our Featherlite portable products or creating a fully custom display, we’re here to help bring your vision to life, beautifully and accurately. Reach out to get started.
