Lallemand Baking IBIE 2022

Student Designed Exposition Booth at the Largest Baking Exhibition in the Western Hemisphere

Trade shows are a crucial part of generating and creating international business relationships. A successful trade show will "attract new visitors, promote the show, and provide networking opportunities to industry professionals beyond geographical and time constraints" (Singh et al., 2015, p. 399). Trade show booths communicate who and what a business is about, display products, facilitate dialog, and showcase the brand. Trade shows or exhibition design is the process of conveying information through visual storytelling through an immersive environment. A successful trade show booth involves a dedicated team to create an atmosphere that displays complex compositions of architecture, graphics, media, and exhibits that build an environment for the immersion of visitors (Schittich, 2009, p. 92). Trade shows provide companies with a unique opportunity to create new connections, learn about new technologies, and generate business opportunities.

One of the largest baking expositions in the Western Hemisphere takes place every three years in Las Vegas, Nevada. The International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE) features over 1000 American Baking Association members, exhibiting their latest innovations, developing new relationships, and educating one another on recent baking developments. IBIE is one of the most critical trade show events for grain-based food, featuring baking professionals from around the globe. The exposition provides exhibitors and attendees the best opportunity to connect with baking professionals and manufacturers worldwide. 

A worldwide leader within the baking community is the 100-year-old privately-held Canadian company, Lallemand. Lallemand specializes in developing, producing, and marketing yeasts, bacteria, and their derivatives to a worldwide audience. Lallemand breaks into eleven technically-driven business units, such as Health Solutions, Bio-Ingredients, Pharma, and Baking Yeast, with Baking being the foundation of the company. At the previous IBIE in 2019, Lallemand had an exposition booth that was 600 square feet. In order to take full advantage of the opportunities provided by IBIE for the 2022 exposition, Lallemand went all in and doubled their previous exhibition to two adjacent booths measuring over 1200 square feet. 

Trade shows are vital for initializing and developing international business relationships, monitoring international competition, and enabling market entry for companies from various sectors. A solid narrative display is needed to attract visitors because there are "about 45 seconds to get your message across for any particular exhibit element before you lose your visitor's interest" (Toxey, 2009, p. 8). In order to take advantage of the 1200-square-foot advertising space, Lallemand would need a team of dedicated designers to accomplish their exposition goals.

An Incredible Opportunity

As a global provider of yeast and baking solutions, Lallemand is always searching for new and innovative ways to be more efficient and sustainable by looking for the next generation of its workforce. President and CEO of Lallemand Baking, Audrey St. Onge, began researching Northern American universities that produce young professionals who could join the Lallemand workforce. One such university, ranked number 1 in innovation by the Washington Journal for eight years, is Arizona State University (ASU). ASU is consistently recognized as a top-ranked knowledge enterprise that produces exceptional professionals in various industries. With 16 different schools and over 350 majors, ASU has much to offer to students and the worldwide community. Audrey began developing a new relationship with the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering and sponsoring graduating students and their capstone projects. As this relationship developed, she looked into other programs within ASU, such as AZNext, a public-private partnership designed to create a sustainable workforce development ecosystem. As well as the Graphic Information Technology program, housed in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, that educates students in visual communication and information technology.

The GIT program lives at the intersections of creativity, visual design, and technology, preparing students to create visual content for multi-channel distribution – print, web, photo, video, and animation. Students in the program are trained by simulating real-world projects with creative briefs, research, and final deliverables. Less than a year from IBIE 2022, Lallemand still needed an eye-catching exposition booth, and the GIT program provided a perfect opportunity. Shamla Moodley, Marketing Manager for Lallemand Baking, reached out to Dr. Laurie Ralston, Principal Lecturer of the GIT program, to present a monumental opportunity: recruit a team of student designers to design their 1,200-square-foot booth for the largest baking convention in the western hemisphere. After receiving an initial brief from the Lallemand marketing team, Dr. Ralston wasted no time reaching out to various students with this new prospect. 

The project had such an enormous scope, therefore it needed a dedicated and attentive student. Dr. Ralston recruited recent undergraduate and now-graduate student John Blair to lead the team. John graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science from the GIT program in December 2021 and began his Master's program the following semester. In addition to being a student, John works at the ASU Print and Imaging Lab as a full-time Print Coordinator and Designer. A requirement for a Master of Science in Graphic Information Technology is for the student to either research a thesis topic and write a paper, create a portfolio focused on their projects from their Master's degree, or an applied project. An applied project involves the application of advanced planning methodologies to a specific, real-world planning problem. The scope provided the perfect opportunity for John to act as the direct communicator of the project and manage the project from start to finish. 

As the 2022 spring semester was close to starting, the next step was finding a team of talented undergraduate and graduate students to take this project on. The unique opportunity made the pitch to join the team extremely easy: an actual real world client, incredible experience, and a 1,200-square-foot deliverable. By the time the first week of the spring semester ended, Dr. Ralston and John found several eager students who were more than excited to join the team. The team consisted of undergraduate and graduate students with various skills—Tejaswini Barde, an international graduate student studying user experience. Tejaswini also holds a Bachelor's of Architecture, which provided skills that vastly improved the experience and outcome. August Johnson, a graduate student in the GIT program (print and digital design). Nicole Peterson, a GIT undergraduate student (web design and user experience). Tom Rodriguez, an undergraduate student focusing on video production and the owner of TJR Designs, LLC., a small graphic design firm. Lastly, Anna Tran, a GIT undergraduate student focusing on graphic design. The class would end up as a session B class, which meant the first day of class would be seven months before the exposition.

While the class would not start for a few months, Dr. Ralston and John started working because "the most important decisions that contribute to success or failure of projects are made in the very beginning, even before particular planning has taken place" (Schittich, 2009). 

Dr. Ralston and John outlined and developed the class structure, the goals of the project, and the schedule the team needed to follow to meet their deadline. The goal for any exhibition or trade show booth is that the design must aim to maximize participation benefits and focus on promoting an enterprise-friendly image (Huang, 2011, p. 77). The first step was to conduct a literature review focused on trade show design, exhibition design, and project management. This research revealed several key elements to exhibition design: concept follows content, exhibition architecture, and visual communication. The display needs to feel inviting to the visitors and immerse them in an in-depth brand experience, "by looking across the exhibition floor and through the aisles, a new realm has to make itself noticed" (Schittich, 2009, p. 142). Exhibition visitors will rely on a central theme that helps them comprehend the connections between the brand, the display, and the story.

In addition to researching, it was essential to learn about the Lallemand brand, its history, and its goals for this exposition. A brand’s image serves to represent the beliefs and attitudes of a multidimensional construct (Medway and Warnaby, 2008, p. 642). Lallemand Baking has a history and commitment to consistent quality, excellent service, innovation, and knowledge. Every customer interaction within the exhibition booth must deliver a cohesive and lasting impression of Lallemand’s competence, character, and care. The Lallemand brand uses vibrant red in combination with white and black to convey its primary source of visual identity. The brand combines bright imagery of scientific efforts and warm, appetizing pictures of products using their yeast products. 

GIT 494/ 592 Trade Show Exhibit Design

The class would start with an introduction to the Lallemand brand, exhibition design, IBIE, and the rules and regulations for the event. The team determined the exhibition's narrative, objectives, and critical results and established an identity and a consistent voice for their designs. The final part of the schedule would be to develop and refine three different concepts to present to the Lallemand executives on the last day of the spring semester.

The requirements for the exhibition space was a kitchen area that would include a kitchen line, an oven, a refrigerator, an industrial baking mixer, a storage area, and a meeting room. The team experimented with different structures and experiential designs, including virtual and augmented reality, as well as other innovative technological creations, while keeping in mind the flow of booths. There must be circulation spaces to avoid bottlenecks for the separate booths to be a continuous flow (Toxey, 2009, p. 15). As the ideas began to circulate and settle, the team narrowed several ideas into three concepts. The team divided up the work, with the graduate students taking on more responsibilities, and began the prototyping phase of the design process. In just a few weeks, the students polished three robust designs and were ready to pitch their ideas to the Lallemand marketing team.

The Pitch

After eight intense weeks, the team quickly learned a new discipline, brainstormed, and prototyped three potential exhibition designs for the IBIE booth, and it was finally time to present their hard work to the client. The Lallemand executives met with the design team at the ASU Polytechnic Campus, eager to see the team’s results.

From left to right: Concept 1, Concept 2, Concept 3

The first concept was a small bakery where tradition meets modernity, reminding visitors of the past while showing them the future of baking. The booth was complimented with a warm design using eye-catching tiled wood floors, a brick archway, and a massive curved screen. Additionally, the booth had a beautiful use of juxtaposition between natural imagery of wheat stalks and wood textures and a digital overhead banner and a seated 3D interactive table. 

The second concept was an open-spaced backyard. The idea included a family-style entertainment area with picnic tables, backyard games, an outdoor kitchen, and white furniture on green indoor grass. The building featured very modern backyard landscaping and furnishings using white as its prominent color, which had a very serene feel in combination with the  green landscaping and red accents. In addition to virtual reality and several video monitors, this booth pushed the envelope by including a second story that supported a massive digital video panel structure (see Figure 6), which wrapped around the booth space. The digital signage would provide both branding and attention-seeking visuals to draw visitors.

The final concept was a highly technological booth directed by interactive and immersive structures. This concept features highly sophisticated designs to demonstrate Lallemand’s jump into the future. The booth was focused on the circulation of visitors. Once within the booth, exhibitors would be directed by various interactive structures, graphics, and lighting. The booth used a very open concept that was very inviting and would attract visitors with its technological interests and architectural feats. 

After the presentation, the Lallemand executives were intrigued by the digital video panel structure and architecture of concept 2. The second story and use of digital video were incredibly unique and an opportunity the Lallemand team wanted to explore. However, the second concept lacked the brand's visual impact. In contrast, the first concept had an inviting aura and promoted the Lallemand brand. The Lallemand executives also realized the space taken up by the private meeting room would be better utilized as an open bar area, appearing more inviting and friendly and a chance to showcase their fermented beverages. The Lallemand team requested another concept using their feedback of keeping the structure and layout of the second concept, replacing the meeting room area, and merging the branding and warmth of the first concept. 

The class was officially over at the end of the presentation, but the job still needed to be finished. With IBIE only a few months away, Lallemand needed to submit a design to the construction company in Las Vegas, Freeman Construction Company, about a month before the show in September. Since the semester was over, the students were not obligated to continue helping with the project. However, the students remained committed to the project, working quickly to rework the exhibition design around the feedback and new concept. 

The newly blended concept retained the same structure while using the Lallemand red and natural wood elements in combination with the clean, white design. The design team also added a digital overhead banner wrapped around the structure so each facade would actively advertise the Lallemand brand. The Lallemand Marketing team was thrilled with the new results and the design team perfectly combined the two concepts into a fresh look for the Lallemand Booth.

The Final Push

Once Lallemand received the estimated budget to produce this two-story, immersive exposition booth, Dr. Ralston and John went through the proposed estimate. After evaluating the construction costs, they concluded that the most significant expenses came from the concepts that won the Lallemand team over. The least practical items included the secondary story, and its supporting structures, the overhead digital banner, and the massive digital panel structure.

The revised estimate for the scaled-down design was approved by the Lallemand executives and sent back to Freeman. The booth had lost its grandiose luster, but the layout was still very similar to the team's final concept. After eliminating the digital advertising features of the booth, it needed new design elements to attract attendees and advertise Lallemand Baking's brand. For the next several weeks, John created new graphics that aligned with the narrative created at the beginning of class and the Lallemand brand. The new booth kept the warmth and structure of the previous concept while creating a consistent Lallemand image, "consistency is the most important guide to follow, it will lead to unity, which, in turn, supports your theme"(Toxey, 2009, p. 24) The new design used a white brick element on various panels that dominated the booth in combination with a vibrant red that would attract attendees. Inside the booth, there were several points of interaction for exhibitors. The two booths were separated by exhibition and reception areas that "provide[d] seating, themed to the exhibit, so that visitors interact with the setting and have an opportunity to rest" (Toxey, 2009, p. 30). Once Lallemand approved the graphics and other visual elements, the materials were sent to the convention construction company for manufacturing.

The Convention

The exposition took place in both halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The entrance introduced an impressive three-story display screen that advertised the exposition. A few steps into the hall, "across the exhibition floor and through the aisles, a new realm has to make itself noticed" (Schittich, 2009, p. 142), and very quickly, it was easy to identify the vibrant red Lallemand facade and the overhead banner with the word "ENZYMES" in full view. The 10’ exposition's colors and imagery complement one another and the digital images now standing 8’ tall, appeared sharp and extraordinary.

The first of the two booths was the exposition booth. This booth entertained visitors with baking demonstrations and baked goods. The kitchen features large windows so passersby would be interested in the demonstration and walk into Lallemand’s booth. In addition to the window, the booth's exterior and interior featured overhead imagery of Lallemand's yeast production process. Adjacent to the kitchen was the storage facility, so the kitchen staff could easily access their ingredients. The booth contained red countertop chairs and sofas that balanced the imagery and white facades. Since this booth was closest to the entrance, the final piece of this booth was a physical four-sided overhead banner with the Lallemand Logo on two sides and the words "yeast" and "enzymes" on the two facades. 

The secondary booth acted as a reception area and had two elements as secondary demonstration areas; a presentation stage and a bar counter. The dominant visual feature of the booth was a 30' long red banner that captured attendees' attention as they walked by. The 30' red facade extended to the floor through four internal pillars that had the words "Sustainability," "Technology," "Science," and "Innovation” that created a visually appealing effect. The bar counter matched the kitchen area with the same graphics and open windows. This secondary bar's use came during the afternoon tastings of alcoholic beverages using Lallemand's product without interrupting the kitchen's flow.

As with any design, it is interesting to see what other designs and concepts companies did. The first thing noted from the exploration was that the students' design successfully competed with the many professionally designed booths in the halls. Other booths used nontraditional digital screens, like curved, ultrawide, and vertical screens, to persuade attendees into their booths. An ideal trade show booth is a fresh, scientific, modern, and immersive environment. Various booths within the convention utilized a three-faced and open layout, which is the most economical and practical design (Huang, 2011, p. 77). Booths used a variety of textures, from faux patterns to steel and even an old-fashioned food truck. Whether companies advertised baked goods or innovated machinery, designers took full advantage of translating advertising messages and cultures into a symbolic and functional environment (Schittich, 2009, p. 142). After exploring several booths, the second floor allowed booths to appear grand and intriguing, but the second floors were usually empty and unused. The costs for a second floor did not produce a profitable return.

The booth had a positive reaction with the Lallemand team at the event. After the show, Shamla created a survey internally with the 28 Lallemand executives and representatives. The survey reported that 89% believed the graphics were an excellent representation of the Lallemand brand. Additionally, their feedback aligned with the findings of incorporating more digital advertisements. Together, the two booths provided an immersive environment that was impressive in size and storytelling. Attendees had multiple points of interactivity and immersion; internally and externally, exhibitors could immerse themselves into the environment immediately (Schittich, 2009, p. 142). The combined 40' x 30'x 10’ Lallemand booth was a stunning display that conveyed a narrative of the Lallemand brand and its core values, such as sustainability and innovation. 

The GIT student design team successfully designed two adjacent 20' x 30' exhibition booths, while exploring exhibition design and experiential technologies. The efforts of this project had many working parts; from Dr. Ralston and her student design team, Lallemand's executive team, and Freeman Construction's project managing team. Together, the three parties successfully designed and produced two stunning exhibition booths.

Exhibitions and trade show booths are more than a backdrop and a table. Immersive exhibits extend beyond the objects displayed and into the setting, which is experienced and interpreted (Toxey, 2009). They are great works of marketing and storytelling that attract consumers and convey a story. As high-end technology becomes more easily accessible, there are several ways to incorporate technology in trade show designs to capture and retain attendees. There are immersive technologies, such as virtual and augmented reality, that can be used to provide a secondary environment.