Tradeshow Brief
Year: 2026 Under Employment: Freelance Deliverables: Concept + Final Art Handling
Challenge
The Smithers Environmental Risk Sciences Division required exhibition booth graphics for the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Annual Meeting (SETAC) in Maastricht, the Netherlands. While booth fabrication was handled by the conference’s preferred vendor, the visual concept and production artwork needed to be developed and produced separately.
In previous years, Smithers attended Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Annual Meeting with agrochemical-focused booth designs centered around farmland imagery. For this year’s event, the goal shifted toward a broader visual approach that reflected the full scope of environmental testing services.
my role
My responsibilities included concept development, artwork production, and coordination with the fabricator to spec and create the production artwork, facilitate the purchase order, and troubleshoot production issues.
Approach
Because Smithers wanted to move away from the imagery used in previous years, my approach for the 2026 booth centered on aquatic toxicology, a key component of environmental testing. The design incorporated fish species commonly used in laboratory testing, while the underwater visual theme helped differentiate Smithers from the many competing booths that relied heavily on plant-based imagery.
The artwork was developed using a combination of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, with dimensional booth mockups created in Photoshop to help the client accurately visualize the final environment prior to production.
Result
The concept was approved following a small round of client revisions, primarily focused on incorporating fish species more commonly used in EU toxicology testing.
An additional production challenge emerged when the vendor provided specifications for a 3×4m booth despite the contracted exhibition space being 2×3m. The artwork was successfully reconfigured to fit the corrected dimensions, and updated production files were delivered to the vendor ahead of the final deadline.