Buying Portable Display Boards
Portable display boards continue to be the tools for clubs and businesses to effectively communicate special events to gathering and ‘drive-by’ clients. The largest change that has occurred over the last ten years is the shear variety of signage options that are available. Price, design, and size vary to meet every niche in the display market.
Types of Portable Boards
Tri-Fold Displays
For indoor presentations, trade shows, and job fairs the traditional tabletop display still reigns supreme. Generally, with a tri-fold design, these vary in size from 30” tall to full height 72” tall behemoths of the trade show floor. Each can be designed with custom graphics or be generic solid colors, ready for the application of your information of the day. Surfaces vary from cork to fabrics of grey, blue, or black. Custom headers are available, as well as many other forms of customization.
Outdoor Displays
Outdoor display boards include Poster Displays, Sandwich Boards, Banners, Flags, Letter Boards, LED static displays, programmable flashing message boards, and outdoor light boards. Depending on your budget and the function, you need to fill, the outdoor portable display solutions are as varied and the users considering them.
Classic Styles of Portable Boards
These visual assistants come in many surfaces and styles. Depending on your purpose, a different type of portable display board may meet your needs. Surfaces vary, from the poster-board of single use displays intended for such functions as science fairs, to highly adaptable hook and eye surfaces that allow Velcro application of visuals to custom printed banners in full-height floor displays. Even cork surfaces remain available, speaking to their clean looks and ease of modification.
Recently, display boards with swinging panels have returned as a “story board” for products, organizations, and services. These standing units allow the client to examine part or all of the visual presentation, packing more information into less space than a format, which presents all the information at once. This can be a useful means to provide on-site briefings in areas where the technological support does not exist for a PowerPoint ™ presentation.
Where to Find Visual Presentation Boards
Today, the right portable presentation board is available somewhere, the difficultly is in narrowing down where to find one. Local office supply stores offer some solutions, while mail-order catalogs and the internet host a spectrum of options. In some instances, it takes a marketing maven to decide the right board for the right method of conveying information. The Internet has a broad spectrum of offerings. The key is to find the right solution to meet your marketing message needs and your budget.
Putting Power to Your Message
In most industries, bigger is better. While having a tabletop tri-fold display with color Inkjet print on letter-sized paper might do for some venues, it will not handle all of them. Bigger has now become portable. Pop-up displays using much of the same fabrication used in back-yard shelters can now make portable a trade show display that once took days to create on site. Better yet, you can pack it away to be used again in the next city.
These impressive visual display units come in a wide array of sizes and designs, including backlit screens, and mounts for flat screen monitors to allow integration of video into the overall design. Many accordion-fold or break into multiple small components to minimize shipping space. Intended for retail spaces, trade shows, and incorporate special lighting to accent your message. These designs do generally incorporate fabric walls that have full-length images, generally to a height of 72 inches. These fabric walls can be straight or in various geometric curves.
The Power of Simplicity
While flashy graphics and custom design can go a long way, sometimes the best portable boards are the simplest. Many companies find that simple A-frame white boards, boards with changeable letters, and even a-frame chalkboards are the only tool they need to convey their message. Quality materials then plays a role, as simplicity does not mean that you want to replace signage and displays annually or even more frequently.
Finding Quality Products
Look for key indicators that your provider has faith in the quality of their product. Substantive material defect warranties, a list of preferred customers, and review websites can all be great tools in finding the right portable platform for your message to last you for years to come. Whether it is high-tech and includes actual LCD monitors, medium tech with a light box and custom graphics, or a simple chalkboard, consider the life you expect for these units.
Anything that will be shipping, in and out of car trucks or crates, needs to be durable and built to last. While not a feature, longevity is key metric of value when considering portable display boards. Make the right choice for the equipment your need as the platform of your business message.