Walkthrough: From Brief to Approved Booth Design

A made-up exhibitor's stand, from the first brief to client sign-off, logged stage by stage.

This walkthrough follows a made-up exhibitor's stand from the first brief to client sign-off, with example dates and hours for every stage. It shows how to log each revision in the client's words and what to record at approval. You get a revision log and a timeline to write up a project of your own.

A booth design case study is only useful if it shows where the time went. This walkthrough logs one stand from the first brief to client approval, designed in Monet. The exhibitor, the show and every date and hour below are made up to show the method. Use the same log to write up a real project of your own.

A made-up exhibitor and show

The example exhibitor makes industrial sensors. It has booked a 6 by 6 meter corner stand with two open sides and a 4 meter height limit. On the exhibitor's side, a marketing manager and a product lead run the project. On the design side, there is one designer and a project lead.

The brief

Mark every gap against the one-page brief in How to Brief an Exhibition Stand Designer. A gap found in the brief costs a question. The same gap found after the first concept costs a revision round.

In the example, the brief leaves out two things. It does not say how many people the meeting area must hold. It does not mention storage for brochures and giveaways. Both turn into revision rounds later, and the log shows it.

First concept

In Monet, the first concept is a stand generated from a prompt. It is placed to scale on the hall plan, with renders, a plan and elevations from the same model. The clock starts when the brief arrives, not when design begins.

In the example, the brief arrives on day 0. The first concept is shown on day 3, after 7 person-hours of work.

Revisions

Every round goes in one log. Write each request in the client's words, not yours. Then the log shows what was asked rather than what was understood. Hours to respond count every person's time, from the request to the new version shown. Copy the log. The rows are invented.

• 1. Date requested: Day 5. Request, in the client's words: We need room for six people in the meeting area. Hours to respond: 3. What changed (plan, renders, drawings): Meeting area enlarged in plan, renders and drawings. Date shown: Day 6.
• 2. Date requested: Day 8. Request, in the client's words: Where do the brochure boxes go? Hours to respond: 2. What changed (plan, renders, drawings): Storage added behind the back wall. Date shown: Day 9.
• 3. Date requested: Day 11. Request, in the client's words: Can the product display face the main aisle? Hours to respond: 4. What changed (plan, renders, drawings): Display turned and counter moved. Date shown: Day 12.

In Monet, one change regenerates the plan, the renders and the drawings, so each round's views match. Name every file with its round and date, so nobody works from an old version. In the example, rounds 1 and 2 trace straight back to the two gaps in the brief.

Sign-off

Sign-off records four things. They are the date, who approved, the exact version approved and what they looked at.

In the example, the marketing manager approves version R3 on day 14, after seeing a walkthrough video and the front elevation. The running order that gets a design approved in one meeting is in how to present an event design to a client.

The booth design timeline

• Brief received. Date: Day 0. Elapsed days: 0. Hours: 0.
• First concept shown. Date: Day 3. Elapsed days: 3. Hours: 7.
• Round 1 shown. Date: Day 6. Elapsed days: 6. Hours: 3.
• Round 2 shown. Date: Day 9. Elapsed days: 9. Hours: 2.
• Round 3 shown. Date: Day 12. Elapsed days: 12. Hours: 4.
• Sign-off. Date: Day 14. Elapsed days: 14. Hours: 1.

Elapsed days are calendar days from the brief. Hours are person-hours across both teams. In this invented timeline, 17 hours of work sit inside 14 calendar days. Most of the elapsed time is waiting for decisions, so that is where to look first.

Compare with other stands only if you have records of comparable projects, and say how many the median covers. Hours are counted the same way as in how to measure planning time saved with AI.

What the log is for

After sign-off, the drawings go to the builder. What your stand builder needs from you covers that handover. Track your next stand with the same revision log and timeline.

If you want to time your own next stand from brief to sign-off, you can start a free trial of Monet and log each round the same way.