Custom stand or modular system: how to choose

Custom builds get the glossy photography, so exhibitors tend to assume they are the serious choice. Often they are. Just as often a modular system does the same job for half the money, and we say so.

Choose a system stand when

• You exhibit three or more times a year
• Build-up is a single evening
• Your floor space is 18–50 sqm and broadly rectangular
• You are upgrading from the organiser’s default shell scheme
• Budget certainty matters more than a distinctive silhouette

Choose a custom build when

• The stand has to carry a brand identity no frame can fake
• You are showing heavy machinery or need a load-bearing floor
• You want a double-decker or an unusual ceiling feature
• Your space is 100 sqm or more, where a plain frame starts to look thin
• This is a flagship show where the stand itself is the statement

The option most people miss

Most of what we build is neither: a Maxima or Octonorm frame carrying custom-built reception counters, storerooms and display plinths. Modular where it does not show, bespoke where it does. You get most of the custom look for close to system money.

The frame is a cost you pay once. Graphics are the cost you pay every show. Designing so that only the printed panels change between events is the cheapest long-term structure there is.

What it means for lead time

A system stand can be ready in four to five weeks. A custom build needs six to eight from design sign-off, plus freight. If your show is seven weeks away and overseas, that decision has effectively been made for you.