ASHLEY KIECKER

As a designer at CEP, this was an exciting and challenging project for me to tackle. This was one of the first projects I headed with CEP-- They had won the client over after MG closed it's doors and the team was just diving into the entire process of a new design in my first couple of weeks. I never worked on the booth at MG; however, I remember hearing about it and seeing it being built in the shop, so I was at least aware of the goals, trials and objectives that stood in the past. The way I approached this project was not necessarily by aesthetic inspirations, but rather designing to solve their issues. As most designers know, we're more than "artists", we're in fact problem solvers... This project was a perfect example of just that. 

From the start, the client had a clear and precise vision of how they wanted the booth to both function and look-- To visually demonstrate the work their machines do, they have light travel, route and re-route through the representations of the colored light bars. (They use the same display in their show room, so they wanted to carry this through and keep it consistent) We just had to make it in "tradeshow fashion". So we listened to their wants, needs, wish lists, pain points, issues, etc. When we knew what we had to fix, we designed to that. These are examples of some of our solutions...

1) FLEXIBILITY
Problem: In the past all AV and lighting technology were supported from the ground level. This left no flexibility in the arrangement of the floor plan or their machines.
Solution: Suspension from the air, eliminating all poles and freeing the floor space for any arrangement.

2) IDENTITY
Problem: Curved banner from past design was not visible from all sides, got lost in the sea of signs and blocked product on the floor.
Solution: Overhead banner broken into pieces for flexibility of growth in larger spaces, full coverage branding and option of a backlighting punch.

3) FLOOR ARRANGEMENT 
Problem: With products that weigh over a ton, the smallest misplacement caused so many issues with the wire management, AV poles, and light supports.
Solution: Overhead suspension eliminated the need for poles or supports... So now, even when the machine is off by an inch or two, it won't effect the architectural structure or design.

These were only a few of the major pain points we had goals to fix; however, the client was thrilled with all of our solutions. It was a blast to work closely with engineers to realistically execute the design and also the client to bring their vision to life.

This design made it's bright and bold appearance in February 2019. It not only met all of the client's expectations and erased their pain points, but it also won an award-- Distributech 2019's Best of Show for Most Innovative & Creative Design. This was a job so well done by my entire team at CEP.