Clint Honn

Exhibition Design 101

What is exhibition design, and is that what you guys in the industry reference it as?

That is probably the most commonly known terminology. I still hear trade show design and experiential design. It even tends to lean a little bit closer to hospitality design, as far as the closest parallel industry.

What I mean as far as hospitality design is that it can be essentially any space where there are people. Outside of the tradeshow floor, we've done installations of restaurant interiors, hotel ballrooms, and corporate lobbies. When you walk into an environment, what are you supposed to see, think, and feel?

For example in a corporate setting, say for medical clients, they wanted to portray a feeling of forward-thinking and technology focused, but also clean and sterile. There are certain words and phrases that you pull from the client that allude to their brand and represent how they want to be perceived in the marketplace. You try to bring that alive through architecture, finishes, messaging, and touchpoints that the person will be interacting with within the space. For instance, in a trade show environment, those touchpoints are demos and touch screens. In a lobby or hospitality-type environment, that's going to be the check-in desk or the waiting lobby.

It just depends on what the client's goals are and we are sure to pivot our design direction to help them achieve those goals. My definition of exhibition design through the lens of Steelhead Productions is to create visually stunning and functional trade show experiences that are in harmony with our commitment to people and the planet.

To summarize it in a very broad term, It's architectural marketing. It’s trying to get your brand noticed, and we're building a space that is your brand.

Do the lines get blurred (when you're talking about spaces outside of trade shows) with interior design? I imagine a lot of the things you explained also fall into the bucket of interior design.

That is one of the things that I absolutely love about this career path. You're absolutely right, there is a huge amount of crossover between interior design and what exhibition designers do because we are both designing spaces. We have four walls around us with the goal to captivate our audience. Whether that’s the inside of a building, or on the trade show floor, you're walking into a space and you're supposed to feel that brand, feel that product.

You also need to know a bit about architecture. In a trade show sense, you have to build these exhibits to be self-supported, they have to be able to be set up in typically 3 to 4 days for a pre-stage and they must be standing for the entirety of the show. Then they have to collapse and be packed down to ship to a different part of the country. So you get a little taste of architecture and flat-pack engineering as well.

Oftentimes when we're trying to sell the idea through renderings or conceptual visualizations, then we're getting to play in the graphic design realm. We take the brand guidelines and the marketing collateral from our clients and apply it to the spaces that we're designing for them. I have 12 client projects ongoing right now and for each one, I have to do for-placement-only graphic design. I wouldn't necessarily want graphic design to be my everyday job, but it’s nice to be able to jump in, conduct a study, explore colors and layouts and messaging and all that, then fade out and go into architecture and begin putting the walls up.

We also get to dabble on the industrial design side of things a bit through furniture studies: reception counters, desks, demo stations, etc. For example, how do lounges function? There are all these studies of how the human body position at specific furniture levels helps drive the length and depth of the conversations that you're having within these spaces.

The function of a high-top bar is that your conversations are quicker and more impromptu because you're propped up and interacting at a higher level. But when that knee breaks past 90° and you're more into lounge seating, those conversations last longer as people tend to be more comfortable and spend more time in those environments.

From the client’s side, they have to think, do we want to allow a lot of people through quickly and drive 5 or 10-minute conversations, or do we want to sit down with somebody and have 20, 30, or 40-minute conversations? Those sorts of goals and decisions from the client will help dictate how we lay out the space and the furniture selections we make or even design.

So you get an opportunity to work within all these different practices without having to be a master at any one.

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Louis Vuitton, Uncomfortableness, and Rapid Paces

How did you get your start in exhibition design?

To be honest, exhibition design was a career path that I didn't know a whole lot about. Going through school, I didn't feel very passionate about one particular direction of design. I studied industrial and product design where we learned how a human interacts with a product on a 1-to-1 scale, but I was also exposed to interior design - we were in the same studio spaces as the architecture students and the CRP (Community and Regional Planning) majors. There were little things from each of the design majors in that building that became very interesting to me.

In my junior year, I got an opportunity to have an internship with Neal Feay in Santa Barbara. They made anodized aluminum products and applied them to architecture. Their main business was product-based, but I had an opportunity to work on a project for Louis Vuitton, where we designed and developed anodized aluminum panels and outfitted this mall front.

That was my first opportunity to design something on a much grander scale. I helped create a transformation from this mall space they were renting, to what felt like a true Louis Vuitton store. I was able to walk into that space and feel Louis Vuitton, and that was through design. Ever since then, I thought holding a product you designed would always be cool, but being immersed in your own design was next-level.

After that internship and after graduation, I was applying for jobs in the industrial design field, but I also threw out a couple of longshot applications for exhibit design jobs. Eventually, I had an opportunity to either go design bicycles or design trade shows. At the same time, I didn't know if I'd ever get an opportunity to be exposed to that environmental style of design again and I felt like I could always go back to industrial design if exhibit design didn't work out. So I chose exhibition design. That one large-scale project exposed me to a whole new industry.

You were recently promoted to Creative Director at Steelhead Productions, what has that been like?

It's been a journey man, it's been exciting. I've always had a passion for design, but I also really wanted to understand the business side of things. Forecasting, marketing, how to motivate team members, how to get the best out of people. I didn't think I'd have this opportunity in my early thirties. I thought it was something that was going to come later in life. So I appreciate Steelhead for giving me the opportunity and mentorship and all the time they've invested in me. It stretches me every single day.

"systematize the predictable, so we can humanize the unpredictable"

As a Creative Director, I still get the opportunity to design but I'm faced with other unique challenges to support the team. We'll look at our overall design process - the steps we need to take to move the project through the company - but how we evolve from each stage of that process can be different. We have such a large volume of projects moving through the department that it's now my role to determine what needs to be done to keep everything moving as efficiently as possible with the least amount of friction for our team and the clients. A quote my boss often uses is, "systematize the predictable, so we can humanize the unpredictable". Processes are important, but there are times when you have to use your creativity to come up with a new solution.

This role is providing me an opportunity to come up with those solutions. That's what keeps the job exciting for me. Being put in this position and having the opportunity to try things out and if it doesn't work, they give me enough leverage to try again. I can't say enough about the leadership team here and the team that we have in place. It's been a fun journey so far.

I think it's important to be continuously exposed to a certain degree of uncomfortableness to be sure that you're not becoming stagnant with your growth. I remember in a past position, almost every day I felt like probably the dumbest person in the room. I was learning so much that I didn't really care. I've always found value in that. It sounds like you're the type of person who also appreciates being thrown to the fire, so I think creative director only made sense for you.

I couldn’t agree with that more with the uncomfortableness. As a designer, you're presenting to your teams and to your clients, but for the most part, you're kind of within the project. When you step into a leadership role, not only are you getting evaluated on the designs that the department produces but you’re also being evaluated on your thoughts and how those thoughts are going to evolve the company, evolve the industry. 

That is such an exposed, uncomfortable state for me. I'm used to being able to hide behind the project a bit, hide behind the design. You're transitioning from simply working in the moment to working ahead in the future. Being a thought leader is definitely something that puts me in an uncomfortable position.

Do you see more or less of your fingerprints on your work now that you're a creative director? I'm just curious if being in the position of a creative director, you are able to see the fruits of your labor more immediately, or if it's more of a future type thing.

Design is subjective, so I never want to be the type of leader that says my way is the best way, you know. One thing I'll say about our team here is that they're all very experienced and very talented. So I'll offer suggestions and if they disagree with me, I don't take that personally.

We have a junior designer who is fresh out of school and I will say that I try to persuade them in certain ways, but I still want to give them creative freedom. So I do see my influence on their projects a little bit more, but I try to be very careful with that. I don't ever want to turn anyone on the team into someone that's producing somebody else's idea, especially one that they don't agree with. It's like trying to explain why I think it should be done this way but ultimately giving them the freedom to succeed or fail on their own merit.

A lot of my job is storytelling - this is why I think this environment is perfect for you to sell your new medical device - and that is very subjective. We're taking a lot of things into consideration that the client and the production team aren't. So if the designer is passionate about a certain thing, that's gonna come through when they're telling the story and explaining the design concept. If I find that I'm overinfluencing their design, it doesn't go over as well during the presentation or pitch. Just because they're doing something slightly different than what I would have done, I've still seen more success through their excitement when presenting their own ideas.

So I would say as far as my fingerprints and influence go on design projects, I would say it's less, but that's intentional.

How long is the design and development process for you?

I do think the exhibition design industry has the benefit in that our project cycles usually only last a month. We will have a concept from sketch to full production rendering done in a month, maybe two months at most. Our optimal Proven Design Process is for the project to be in our hands for only 21 days. The clients will extend that timeline as they review on their side, but if we are hitting every milestone within our own process the project life cycle should be about 3 weeks. It’s very rapid in this industry.

I have to imagine that is probably the fastest development cycle throughout all creative industries. Is that because trade shows come and go so quickly and brands are wanting to change their perception so often, or is it because you have the ability to be that quick?

It's the industry’s ability to be so quick. There is a certain formula that every trade show booth has to have. Typically they need a meeting room, they need somewhere to demo their products, places to serve coffee, a check-in counter, etc. - there are the bones of the structure that you are able to put together really fast. There are also the limitations in which it has to flat pack, it has to be set up in four days and tear down and be able to ship. There are certain constraints that allow you to make 60-70% of the decisions very quickly.

The last 30% is where you spend most of your time designing, collaborating with the client and the internal teams, and refining the details to make the space special. There are things that you can do to really amplify the space, but you have to do it quickly.

I'm looking at our calendar right now and we have 2-3 trade shows every single month that are key milestones for us. We're going to all these shows and each program has 8-10 shows per calendar year.

In the industrial design realm, I would imagine if you have a product launch and something catastrophic happens, you can push that product launch back a week. If something catastrophic happens on our end, they're not going to move the date of CES, the largest trade show event with thousands of exhibitors, because my company and my clients miss a deadline.

The creative process through the production process to the shop time is built for efficiency and we try to move things through very quickly, and very seamlessly. Ideally, we aim to get it done in 21 days. It's such a crazy rapid pace that a lot of people can get burned out in this industry because of the intensity and the fact that the deadlines never let up.

By nature does that make exhibit design a competitive field or do you feel like there's a lot of opportunity?

I think on an entry level it's wide open because it's still such a relatively unknown design field. If you want to get into the industry, it's rather easy, but once you're in, the weeding out happens quickly. Designers either cannot keep up with the pace or the creative ideas on demand.

People that don't truly have a passion for it are weeded out quickly and those that have a skill and talent for it tend to rise up really fast. There's quite a bit of opportunity to get your foot in the door and you'll probably know right away if it's your path or not.

We find a lot of people that start in design and end up going into engineering or estimating. If they do stay in the industry and they just can't keep up with the design pace, they pivot to a different position within the industry that still lets them use the knowledge that they've gained.

It takes a lot to be creative in a short amount of time, but if you can do it, you can be rewarded with a pretty successful career.

I think that that carries over to all industries. You have to spend your personal time creating a bank of inspiration because you don't really have a lot of time on the job to go searching for inspiration. I'm sure when you're just out on the weekends with your family and you see a great product, you're like, oh I'm gonna save that the memory bank, I'm gonna take a photo, this is really cool. Maybe you don’t have anything to apply this to right now, but you wanna remember this great design.

I do that every single time I walk into a building or a restaurant. I have the luxury of coming from San Francisco where there is amazing retail display. To Las Vegas where you see the extravagant design and the incredible attention to detail. 

Very few places in the country invest so much into their hospitality or retail spaces as Las Vegas and San Francisco. I've been fortunate enough to live in both of these areas for a long time. So as I interact with my environment on a daily basis, I'm constantly pulling ideas, pulling inspiration, so once that project does come in, I know I’ll have an idea for it.

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VR, AI, and The Surprising Near-Future of Exhibition Design

What does the future of exhibition design look like in your mind?

I think the pandemic really branched off another avenue for trade shows and events. It forced the industry to pilot virtual and online events exclusively, so you see Web3 and the Metaverse continually being developed, applied, and adopted by the industry.

However, I just don’t think the technology is quite there yet to replace that connection on a humanistic level. What I think is great about trade shows is the opportunity to build relationships. See somebody that you've been interacting with over email, over the phone, finally in person.

I don't think it will be, at least any time soon, solely built upon Web3 just because so much of trade shows are built on relationships and being able to connect on a human level that I believe people still want to meet in person.

Often times the information that is being presented at these trade shows can be found on a website, so that's not why attendees go. Sure, they want to know about the latest launch, but they're also trying to determine if they want to work with a particular company or person. Do I trust them, do I want to be in business with them?

The only way you really do that, at least in the world that we have now, is by being able to connect with them in person. Sit down and talk over a cup of coffee together, go out to dinner. I don't see those human touchpoints going away within the next five years.

If you were able to throw on your VR headset and do all the things you're talking about within a well developed software without having to leave your office or hop on a flight to Vegas, I feel like it is inevitable.

Absolutely, it is going to happen, it is inevitable, I just don't see it happening tomorrow. As the technology for virtual interactions becomes better and more adopted, that's where I see the future of the industry headed but not in the next five years.

One thing we are currently working to understand is video game development. We're looking into software like Unreal and trying to better understand how gamers interact while they're in these virtual worlds, being able to interact and talk to each other. How do we pull that into the trade show world? Where you can jump online and play all night with a team, but when the game is over and everyone shuts the console down, did you really feel a connection with the random players that you were on a team with for the last two or three hours? Now just imagine you're having dozens of 15 minute conversations with people over a four day period. I don’t think you’re really building those special, lasting connections.

I find it’s going to be really hard to achieve that business relationship side of things through VR. It's the same reason we have our manufacturing partners still fly over from China and come visit the office for a few days. Even though we can communicate clearly over the internet with whatever software we're using, it still doesn't get the job done like being in person does.

What was interesting at CES was all of the auto manufacturers who were showcasing the future of autonomous driving had physical spaces primarily used for lounging and conversation. When the attendee wanted to interact with the product or get an understanding of the technology, they would put the VR headset on and enter an immersive room that would put them directly into the context where that software thrives and excels. But as soon as they took the headset off they would sit down, exchange business cards, and began the process of talking contracts.

During the pandemic, I felt the explosion of Web3 in the reverse. I felt like, oh this is coming and this is coming fast. But after piloting it ourselves and hearing all the feedback within the industry, it seemed like people are more excited to get back on their business trips and meet up with the people that they've been emailing, calling, and Zooming with for the last few years rather than throwing on a headset. The business side of it all felt like it became a little stagnant.

Obviously there are some personality types that excel in remote roles and find it beneficial to not have in-person interactions. It will be interesting to see how this technology aids to those people.

I think it's interesting that you mentioned types of personalities. I think it might level the playing field a little bit. Typically in sales, you’ll find the most extroverted people, people that can walk into a crowd and talk to anyone. And now, as the world trends more and more towards virtual interactions, you're going to see the introverted able to excel in these worlds because they're no longer having to go into a crowd of 100,000 people. They're now able to enter a virtual room and be highly selective with who they interact.

I consider myself to be introverted in some ways as well and being in big social settings can drain me. I have to go and recharge my battery before I'm ready to go out and start interacting again. I know for other people, being in those big, crowded social settings energizes them. I feel like the extroverts with this old-school way of how to get business done are the best salespeople in this day and age. As this new technology enters the industry, I think it's going to level the playing field.

I just imagine a funny split of people in the future: all the extroverts showing up in person to the trade shows, staying up late, going to the after-events; and then all the introverts attending the trade shows virtually via their VR headsets, closing down shop early and getting a good night sleep in their own bed.

I’m gonna be interested to see how those metrics shake out. Is it gonna be the people that stay home that can attend five trade shows in the night because they're just joining via their headset, or is it that one person that physically goes to the trade show, but is invited to the steakhouse afterward and closes the deal over dinner? I'm really curious how the business of it all will shake out in favor of one or the other.

Speaking to the future of exhibit design, how is AI impacting the way exhibit design is currently done, and do you anticipate its influence to continue growing in the future?

We're exploring tools for inspiration searching. There has always been Pinterest and other websites with image-based resources but now when I'm looking for something specific there are new AI tools that are able to scrape the internet and make it so much easier. They scrape the internet for images that you're able to put onto an inspiration page and then AI will generate ideas based on your inspiration page. So for us, we’re just beginning to integrate it. We want to stay ahead of it.

In the past, there were marker renderings and that's how you portrayed your design idea. Then 2D and 3D software came along and designers were able to render using the computer. The designers that didn't adapt to the new tools lost a step compared to the rest of the industry. Hardly anybody today communicates the final idea through market renderings. It's great for ideation but to really produce the final design, you need to have proficiency in 3D Software.

To me, AI is the next tool in the designer's toolkit. You need to be able to harmonize with the technology that AI is offering. It’s important to think about how to use the tool to your advantage. One, so it doesn't replace me, but two, how do I use this to become a better storyteller? How do I work with the prompt output? How do I use this to produce ideas for designs at an even faster, refined rate?

We’re in a scramble to understand how we integrate it rather than think, ahh that's scary, I’m going to stay away from it. You have to embrace the technology and use it to your advantage now.

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Clint Honn is the Creative Director at Steelhead Productions in Las Vegas, Nevada USA.