What a 3D visual shows and what it hides

Plan, section, elevation

the drawings to request alongside the visual before approving

Stand design

What the visual tells you honestly

A render comes from a model, and the model is dimensioned. So the width, depth and height of the stand, the wall thicknesses, the table positions and the size of the graphic panels are all true in the image. Whatever space a logo occupies on the wall in the visual, it will occupy on site.

Layout is true as well. Where the visitor enters, where the store lands, how open the meeting table is to the aisle: all of it reads off the image. Which is why it helps to put the floor plan next to the visual at the approval meeting.

Height relationships are real too. If the neighbouring stands were put into the model, you can see how your wall will sit beside theirs. How that ties to the stand type is covered on the stand types page.

What the visual leaves out

First, light. The light in a render is the light the designer chose; the cool ceiling wash of the hall and the glowing screen on the neighbouring stand are not in the model. A colour that looks deep in the image can come out washed out on site.

Second, texture. A surface that reads as timber on screen might be laminate, veneer or solid. Texture is decided from a sample, and the sample should be looked at in daylight and under artificial light separately.

Third, life. Renders have no people, no boxes, no cables, no bins. Two hours into the fair a stand has visitors, coats, cups and boxes. When approving the image, ask where those three are going to live.

What to base the approval on

A visual on its own is not an approval document. The approval pack should hold the floor plan, at least two sections, elevations of the open sides, a material schedule with sample photographs, and dimensioned drawings of the graphic areas.

There is a contractual side too. Asking in writing that the approved visual becomes an annex to the contract ends the argument before it starts. A piece of furniture visible in the image but absent from the schedule will be absent on site as well.

Finally, a revision limit. Two revisions close most jobs. If more are wanted, find out what is still undefined; there is usually a brief question nobody answered. Writing the revision count into the contract settles both sides: with a limit in place, nobody expects a fresh concept in the final week.

Is an animated fly-through necessary?

On most jobs, no. Two good angles and a floor plan get a decision faster than an animation. Fly-throughs earn their place on large island stands and double-deck structures.

Should our products appear in the visual?

Yes. Without the size and weight of the exhibits in the model, display heights come out wrong. Even a dimensioned block in place of the product is enough.