The Design Fee Schedule below lists the costs, if any, for design assistance from Classic Exhibits. Should you have any questions or require an estimate on a project, please contact design@classicexhibits.com.

Trade shows and giveaways go together like peanut butter and jelly. Promotional products, as the industry likes to call them, are irresistible when done well. Recently, customers have been asking for eco-friendly or sustainable products. And manufacturers have responded with 100’s of “green” giveaway ideas. We can’t share them all, but we’ll highlight some of the most popular and innovative ones.
If you’ve never ordered promotional products before, we encourage you to choose ones that align with your company’s values and marketing objectives. Yes, we all enjoy “fun stuff.” However, sustainable giveaways should have more than a 60-second lifespan. They should remind the recipient of your company’s products and services while boosting your trade show ROI and ROO (return on objectives).
Finally, the sustainable giveaways shown on many online websites are just the tip of the iceberg. To see the full assortment, contact a promotional product specialist. They are experts at finding the right product at the right price and can guide you on effective branding. While your competitor’s giveaways may be tossed soon after the show, your branded cup or pen or coaster or calendar will have a featured location on their desk.
According to Rama Beerfas, Chief Solutions Specialist of Lev Promotions, “Eco-responsible branded products are becoming more important in the marketing world. People like getting things that are relevant to their lives and appreciate them even more when they’re good for the environment – whether by being produced from sustainable materials or recycled products; and/or they can be planted, recycled or composted themselves.”
Eco-friendly promotional giveaways or swag come in a wide variety of products. Some incentive companies even donate a percentage of your order to ethical/sustainable causes. When it comes to green, you’re not only making a choice on a product but also a business. Let’s start by exploring some popular sustainable trade show gift ideas.
1. MousePaper (MousePad) 12 Month Calendar: Printed on 30% post-consumer recycled paper.
2. Enviro Pens: Available in black, gray, or white, these geometric pattern pens are made of recycled ABS plastic.
3. Jumbo Non-Woven Grocery Totes: Reusable tote bag available in a rainbow of colors. Made from 10% post-consumer content.
4. EcoSmart Pullover Hooded Sweatshirt: Comes in 18 colors and sizes ranging from S to 5X. The fabric is made with up to 5% recycled polyester from plastic bottles.
5. Classic Baseball Cap: Available in gray, black, blue, and tan. Crafted from 100% recycled fabric.
6. Bamboo Cutting Board w/ Gift Box: Two-tone bamboo board with laser engraved imprints. Bamboo is a naturally sustainable material.
7. Recycled Paper Notepads: 5” W x 7” H Notepad available in 5 colors. Includes 30 lined sheets made with 100% post-consumer recycled materials.
8. Recycled Newspaper Pencil w/ Eraser: Traditional #2 pencil in a variety of colors made from 95% recycled newspaper.
9. Pine Tree Planter in Gift Box: Pine seeds in a fiber pot that’s 100% organic, sustainable, and biodegradable. Packed in a recycled kraft box.
10. Sustainable Lip Balm: High-quality lip balm made with sustainable materials. The 100% recycled tup is made from recycled plastic and potato bio-resin.
When promotional giveaways are both purposeful and eco-friendly, they communicate a positive, sustainable message to clients. These gifts are functional products that won’t add to landfills since they are either biodegradable or growable.
1. Wheat Straw Toothbrush: A medium bristle toothbrush in tan made from wheat straw.
2. Butterfly Seed Bookmark: The 100% biodegradable eco-paper bookmark includes a butterfly-shaped paper planting embedded with a blend of annual and perennial wildflower seeds. Available in 20 bright colors.
3. Golf Tees and Ball Marker Set: Custom printed fairway gear includes 6 biodegradable tees and 2 ball markers.
4. Clear Compostable Cups: These clear brandable cups, In sizes from 9 to 16 oz., are made from renewable resources that will break down in approximately 50 days.
5. Standard Seed Packets: What’s more green than seeds? The packets are brandable in full color. Choose from 42 high-quality flower, vegetable, and herb varieties.
Your customers will appreciate the thoughtfulness of these eco-friendly promotional items. All include organic and/or sustainable components such as bamboo, beeswax, tea, and cotton.
1. Eco-Bamboo Lanyards: Made from sustainable and biodegradable bamboo. Choose from a wide variety of colors and 13 standard lanyard attachments.
2. SPF 30 Sunscreen with Carabiner: An SPF 30 broad-spectrum sunscreen with skin-friendly, organic ingredients like beeswax and coconut oil.
3. Herb 3-Pack Eco-Planter: Each set includes three flower pots, three compress soil wafers, and three seed packets (parsley, basil, and chive). Pots are made from renewable materials including bamboo and corn fiber.
4. Organic Stash Tea in a Canister: Delicious organic team from Stash in a decorative metal canister. Comes standard with Earl Grey and Green Teas but specific flavors are available.
5. Organic Cotton T-Shirt: 100% certified organic cotton t-shirt in 11 colors and sizes from small to 3X.
Over the years, we’ve learned that it’s easy to get carried away about eco-friendly giveaways. However, before you buy 10,000 reusable straws, remember that the giveaway should reflect your company’s culture and branding. Classic Exhibits has over 25 years of experience working with clients on their trade show marketing program. Let us be a sounding board for you as you navigate the white-water rapids of promotional products.
If you are interested in pairing your eco-friendly giveaway with an eco-friendly exhibit, browse through our ecoSmart Displays. With over 400 inline and island designs, the ecoSmart line has something for every company.
With over 200 Distributor Partners throughout North America, there’s a Classic representative close by. Contact us today.
Historically, Portable Counters and Pedestals have been the ugly stepchildren of trade show displays. Are they convenient, practical, and lightweight? Yes. Attractive and durable? Not so much. The pop-up case-to-counter conversion is the perfect example. It’s the textbook definition of a compromise. Not particularly stable. Storage is awkward at best. And the basic fabric or graphic wrap is often cheesy and cheap looking.
That’s not to say there aren’t excellent portable trade show counters and pedestals. Not just from Classic but from other suppliers as well. For example, the Symphony SYM-406, 407, and 408 series counters.
Do you agree? We’d love to hear your thoughts.
With over 200 Distributor Partners throughout North America, there’s a Classic representative close by. Contact us today whether you need a durable hand sanitizer stand built to last, a rental display guaranteed to attract trade show attendees or a lightbox with all the bells and whistles. We’re not just different. We’re better.
The Exhibit Industry’s Premier Training Program is Back — Shared Knowledge University. Join us for two days of training, entertaining, and (possible) raining in beautiful Portland, OR. Registration is capped at 40 attendees.
Be warned… It’s an intense experience, including interactive classroom sessions, product assembly competitions, vendor presentations, and America’s Best IPA and Pinot Noir. Even our drinking water is amazing!
Contact Jen, Tom, or Harold for details ASAP. See below to register for SKU.
Congratulations! You are exhibiting at a trade show or exhibition. The next step is choosing a design. Actually, multiple designs. Whether you’re creating custom trade show exhibits or renting, the structure is just part of it. The bigger thing? Graphic design!
Graphic design on trade show displays can be overwhelming to many graphic designers. Most designers are proficient at print or online projects, but when they shift into large format projects it can be unfamiliar, both in the scale and content. Trade show graphics are like billboards. They must attract attention quickly to be successful. But unlike billboards, they’re competing with hundreds of other designs in varying heights in a chaotic environment with loud noises, unpredictable movement, and bright colors.
Honestly, Graphic Design is TOO broad of a category. Let’s run a little scenario. You have a “marketing firm” that helps clients with websites, print campaigns, email marketing, social media, maybe even logo design, and other fun things… Then you decide it is time to design graphics for your trade show exhibit. Who do you turn to? Your marketing agency?
Here’s a secret. DESIGNING FOR TRADE SHOW DISPLAYS IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THAN ANYTHING ELSE! Hiring a graphic designer with trade show design experience is one of the most important decisions. Why? They’ve already made the mistakes that a novice at trade show design would make.
A little warning… If your exhibit house or display supplier can’t assist you with either in-house graphic design or refer you to a professional 3D graphic designer then you might want to consider working with someone else. It’s that important. A professional graphic designer will know how to source quality files, format them, design your graphics, and hit your deadline. If you don’t know what resolution, PMS color, vector art and bleed are, trust me, you don’t want to be responsible for file preparation. The graphics are as important as your physical display, if not more important, and they can make or break your trade show’s success.
There’s an often cited rule regarding trade show design and graphics. You have 2.5 seconds to catch someone’s eye at a trade show or event. Here are some high-level things to consider.
If you are hiring a designer or design firm to create your trade show graphics, consider the following suggestions:
Here are some simple, tried and true suggestions for trade show graphic design:
If you need help with trade show graphic design, start with your trade show exhibit company. A good partner will either have internal resources or partners with extensive experience in large format, trade show exhibit design.
Classic Exhibits has been in the industry since 1993 and we have been honored as an Exhibitor Magazine Find-It Top 40 Exhibit Producer and an Event Marketer Fab 50 Exhibit Builder multiple times. Reach out to our team to get started on your next exhibit or graphic design project!