Aug 01, 2019
Booth Ideas & Examples
2019 San Diego Comic Con Booth Recap
Over 10 days of trade show event management accounting for 34,000 square feet of booth space, 14,000 miles traveled (not including one very important trip to Japan) and 9 total trade show booths and exhibits. A busy SDCC? Very. But a flawless one nonetheless.
Konami
Konami received a complete redesign this year in an effort to create an even more engaging booth than years past.
Changes included:
• Upgraded Yu-Gi-Oh competition tables with inset lighting and backlit card mats.
• An enlarged sales section integrated into an oversized storage and break room.
• New demo stations for the release of Konami’s Yu-Gi-Oh game on Nintendo Switch and iOS.
• A prize wheel feature for lucky trade show attendees.
• The old floor to ceiling card booth display was also integrated into the new design.
• The existing photo-op was strategically placed to route attendees through exclusive product section.
Dark Horse Comics
“If it ain’t broke, Don’t fix it”. The layout of Dark Horse stayed relatively the same sans a few small changes. The biggest change was an update to the old 3D Logos that held up over six years, countless shows and seen more U.S. cities than most Americans. The new 3D Signs were fabricated with the option to change color and effects using multi-function LED’s.
IDW Publishing
A change from a 40×40’ to a 40×50’ booth space yielded some small changes for IDW but booth layout stayed the same. Of course, the use of SEG Fabric Graphics made it easy to swap in new up to date promotions. Something many of our Comic-Con exhibitors take advantage of.
Bandai
Bandai secured the same booth space as last year – a prime spot along the Harbor Boardwalk but using a completely different design and promotion. This year the activation space was left open with plans to support the 780+ fans that would successfully attempt to break the Guinness World Record for ‘World’s Largest Kamehameha‘.
The space included:
• A massive 2-story custom cone truss structure.
• Countless custom display cases.
• Tents coverings to protect fans and products from the elements.
• Realistic Faux Grass.
• Multiple truckloads of coordinating foliage.
• Life-sized character statues for photo-ops.
TOHO
Being the creators of the original Godzilla 65 years ago, TOHO has been making a big push in promoting their box office release of Godzilla – King of Monsters. The 20×30′ trade show booth was a tribute to just that, including a photo-op with the original Godzilla costume worn by the actor 65 years ago.
A segment by local news network Kpbs covered our involvement in the TOHO Booth, SDCC 2019, and an inside look at the Godzilla costume. The booth was a hit but the true star of the show was the King of Monsters himself.
Tamashii Nations:
Tamashii took a big departure from their booth in 2018 utilizing the space to promote some of their bigger name products instead of focusing on just one. The old oversized custom displays were scrapped in order to make space for a larger quantity of smaller displays. A shift in objectives from awareness to sales yielded the need for a larger storage room. Finally, a truss display was erected to house new custom-built backlit logos that fall under the Tamashii umbrella.
We especially liked how our trade show booth designer capitalized the intrusion of an enormous column by wrapping it in a two-story SEG Fabric Graphic display.
Gundam:
A few doors down (and a few floors up) stood Gundam. The 20×20 trade show booth shot twenty feet in the air.
The exhibit was constructed of:
She-Ra:
New York Comic-Con 2018 was a big year for Netflix and SHE-RA. Since then, it’s been an ongoing push to promote the series. At SDCC19, SHE-RA managed to land an exclusive booth space and repurposed some of their more engaging pieces from last years show. The illuminated sword structure from New York Comic-con was wrapped with two walls of modular booth structure and accompanying graphics.
RockLove:
The officially licensed jeweler for Disney and subsequently Star Wars was combined into a larger Star Wars display this year. Their section needed to blend in with the adjoining exhibit as well as effectively promote RockLove’s products. To do so, the booth featured:
• Lighted curved canopy.
• Integrated display case.
• Storage and display desk.
• Our standard 4K SEG Fabric Graphics.
Final Thoughts
Given the exhaustive list of clients this year (9), it was perhaps the most flawless Comic-con in our history at the show. Our team is now a “well-oiled machine” that understands their client’s needs, respective booths, navigating the hectic nature of this show and a genuine motivation to make every show we do our best.
We’re now proud to say we are the #1 exhibit house serving both New York Comic-Con and now, San-Diego Comic-Con!