Design jobs come in all sizes large and small from exhibition stands to business cards but regardless of their stature (or weight!), we put the same amount of creativity as well as blood, sweat and occasionally tears into every project! International Parking Systems (IPS) Group UK recently commissioned oodle to create a stand for Parkex which is the leading parking conference in Europe, organised every year by the British Parking Association. Although it sounds quite niche, Parkex brings together policymakers, strategy leaders, project directors and buyers from across government and the wider public sector as well as specialist contractors, civil engineering, ITS and technology firms.
With this in mind IPS Group UK, which is a subsidiary of the US-based IPS Group Inc., wanted an eye-catching stand design which would reflect the company’s status as a leading innovator in the parking meter market, but also have minimal impact on the environment. In collaboration with IPS Group UK Managing Director Freddie Jones, our graphic designers came up with two concepts for a totally bespoke stand, incorporating all of the colours from the brand’s palette to make it as vibrant as possible. The 6m x 7m stand had to be open plan to encourage a constant flow of visitors, have plenty of room for storage as well as plinths at the front to display the company’s smart parking meters and a large TV screen to help capture the audience’s attention and promote the company’s key messages in an interesting and engaging way.
One of the challenges was incorporating the 4m-high plinths which required strengthening the floor with steel plates to withstand the weight of the 95kg parking meters! The components of the chosen stand design could also be recycled and reused by the business, thereby minimising unnecessary waste. By working closely with the client, we were also able to keep production time to a minimum with the project taking two weeks in total to complete over a period of two months. As we also supply IPS Group UK’s other marketing collateral from business cards and brochures to maintenance and repair manuals and corporate merchandise, we could ensure the branding was consistent throughout.
Similarly to IPS Group, our mission is to offer the highest levels of customer service and project management, so we were delighted to help Freddie and his team achieve their objectives.
Freddie said: “From IPS Group’s perspective, working with oodle created a wonderful stand – we couldn’t have been more thrilled with it. Not only was it visually stunning but it supported what we wanted to achieve from an environmental point of view in terms of reusing materials and reducing waste.
“I loved the whole approach, the flexibility and the thought process that went into it. I also really appreciated the opportunity to see the stand in a workshop before the exhibition so that we could think about it and refine it. In fact, I was delighted with the whole process from start to finish!”
Here’s more from IPS Group UK Managing Director Freddie Jones.
