Stand design
Laying out an 18 sqm exhibition stand
Lokman Türkoğlu · Founder & Head of Design · 3 min read · Last updated:
Short answer
What can an 18 sqm exhibition stand hold?
Eighteen square metres — usually 6×3 metres — is the first size that can carry storage, a meeting area and a product display at once. But what determines the layout is not the area: it is how many sides are open. On a corner plot visitors arrive from two aisles and the stand is read from two faces; on a row plot everything stacks onto one frontage.
Plot type first, drawing second
Eighteen square metres comes in two shapes and they do not carry the same stand. On a row plot (6 metres of frontage, 3 metres deep) one face is open. Because the depth is shallow, storage is buried in the back wall and the meeting area moves to one end of the frontage. The whole design is read from a single 6-metre surface.
On a corner plot two sides are open, and that changes the layout entirely. The corner point is the most valuable spot on the stand: the flow from two aisles meets there. Putting storage in the corner is therefore the most expensive mistake; storage goes into the closed corner and the entrance into the open one.
Starting to draw before your plot number is confirmed usually means drawing again. Who you are next to on the hall plan matters too: if there is a tall stand opposite, your own frontage height reads differently.
Enclosed meeting room or an open table
Eighteen square metres can carry an enclosed meeting room, but the price is heavy: roughly 4–6 sqm, a third of the stand. That trade is only worth it if you will hold scheduled meetings at the fair. If you are trying to draw visitors in from the aisle, leaving the same area open with a table does more work.
The middle option is a half-enclosed layout: a half-height screen or a shelving unit separates the table from the aisle visually without closing the stand. Outside sectors where meetings are expected to be private — textiles and defence among them — this is usually enough.
Storage is not up for debate at this size: 2–3 sqm of closed volume is set aside. Brochures, coats, sample boxes and cleaning materials stay out of sight, and that determines how the stand looks on the third day of the fair.
Three common mistakes at 18 sqm
Narrowing the entrance. A display case or table placed on the frontage stops visitors stepping in. At 18 sqm the entrance opening should be at least two metres; anything narrower keeps the visitor in the aisle.
Filling every surface. Printing graphics across the whole six-metre frontage means none of it is read. One message readable from a distance and a few details readable up close are enough.
Leaving lighting until last. Lighting is the item most often cut from the budget and the one that damages the result most. At this size, the right light falling on the product makes more difference than an extra display case. How the design process runs is set out on our stand design page.
Can an 18 sqm stand have an enclosed meeting room?
It can, but it takes about a third of the stand. If you will hold scheduled meetings the trade is worth it; if you are trying to draw visitors in from the aisle, leaving that area open does more work.
Is a corner plot worth the extra fee?
At 18 sqm it usually is. The second open side changes not only visibility but circulation inside the stand: visitors can enter from one side and leave from the other, which lets the stand host more people without feeling crowded.
How many days does an 18 sqm stand take to build?
It varies with the system and the level of detail; what decides it is the build window the organiser gives you. We plan the schedule around that window and close production noticeably earlier.