By the Exhibition Stall Design editorial team · Updated 1 October 2026 · 9 min read
Short answer
An octanorm & system stalls brief needs thirteen fields: company and brand, event and venue, build-up and show dates, stall area, number of open sides, height limit, one primary goal with a number attached, who you want to meet, what you are featuring, must-have zones, brand assets and references, budget range, and who approves by when. Fill all thirteen and you can compare quotes line for line. Leave any of them blank and the supplier has to assume — and an assumption is always priced for the worst case.
Key takeaways
- One page is enough. A dozen fields, a budget range and three reference images beat a five-page document with no numbers in it.
- Share the budget as a range. A supplier who does not know the band will either over-design and lose your week, or under-design and lose the show.
- Every blank field becomes an assumption, and every assumption is priced for the worst case. That is the whole argument for filling it in.
- Write "advise us" rather than deleting a field. A supplier cannot tell a deliberate no from an oversight, and prices the safer reading.
- Give product weights and power requirements. Without them plinths and sockets are sized by assumption and rebuilt on site.
- Name the approver and the decision date. The real timeline is usually your sign-off chain, not the workshop.
Why the brief, not the supplier, decides the quote
There is a tempting conclusion when three quotes arrive 40% apart: one of them is trying it on. Occasionally true, usually not. More often the brief did not fix the variables, so each supplier priced a slightly different job — and the cheapest is simply whoever guessed smallest.
This is why briefing well is a commercial skill rather than a creative one. Exhibitors, procurement teams and agencies who need a stall built on time, to drawing, and safely at the venue are the people it costs most, because they are the ones who have to defend a comparison internally. On octanorm & system stalls the figures move with stall area in square metres and number of open sides, finish level (laminate, paint, veneer, acrylic, metal) and height, hanging structures and double-decker elements — none of which a supplier can know unless you write it down.
The other return is calendar time, and it is larger than people expect. Complete brief: concept and itemised quote in about two days. Incomplete brief: a question, a two-day wait for your reply, another question, and a drawing in the second week — from a lead time that is only 3 weeks at this size. Twenty minutes of writing buys back most of a week.
A quote is mostly a statement about your brief, not about the supplier. Fix the variables and the numbers become comparable.
The fields, their reasons, and worked answers
Read this as the template itself rather than as advice about one. Each row names a field, explains what decision it feeds, and shows a usable answer. The example column belongs to one organisation — diagnostics and medical devices company, selling to hospitals and pathology labs — and the same brief is written out in full further down.
The middle column is the part worth arguing with. If you can see which decision a field feeds, you can tell whether your own answer is specific enough to be useful — and a field answered uselessly costs the same round trip as one left blank.
| Field | Why it is asked | Example answer |
|---|---|---|
| Company, brand and what you sell | Sets the design language, the technical register of the graphics, and whether the work should read as engineering-led or consumer-facing | Diagnostics and medical devices company, selling to hospitals and pathology labs |
| Event name, city, venue and hall | Decides transport distance, local labour rules, working hours and which rulebook applies | Three-day B2B industry show; hall and stall number as per the allotment letter |
| Build-up, show and dismantle dates | Every other date in the project is calculated backwards from this one | Build-up two days before; show three days; dismantle the final night |
| One primary goal, with a number | Decides the whole approach. The same budget spent on reach and spent on depth produce completely different work | Hold 25 scheduled meetings with lab heads and run the software demo 30 times |
| Who you want to reach | Determines sightlines, reading distances and how much of the scope is intimate versus broadcast | Hospital procurement, lab heads and consulting pathologists; appointment-led |
| Products or messages to feature | Fixes the hero position and everything that has to support it — loading, power, cues, sightlines | Two bench analysers, 90 kg each, and a touchscreen showing the reporting workflow |
| Brand assets and references | Print-ready files decide whether graphics can be produced at all; references tell the designer what you mean by words like "premium" | Logo in vector, brand guidelines, product photography; three reference images with a line on each |
| Approvers and decision date | Tells the supplier how many revision rounds to plan for and whether your dates are realistic | Marketing head approves; sign-off within five working days of the concept |
| Number of open sides | Changes the cost per square metre more than any design choice, because it changes how many faces have to be finished | One open side, inline |
| Must-have zones | Storage, meetings, demo, pantry and a seating corner all consume area, and what is left over is your display | Two seated demo stations, a private discussion room, reception desk and secure store |
| Reuse intentions | Changes the construction type entirely: a frame that returns, or a stand that does not | Another show within twelve months; tell us what can come back and what storage costs |
Keep every heading even where the answer is "none" or "advise us". A deleted line reads as an oversight, and an oversight gets priced defensively.
The blank version, ready to paste
Paste the block below into an email or a document and fill it in. Keep the headings exactly as they are and send the identical text to every supplier you are approaching, because the moment one of them receives extra detail the comparison is worthless.
Send brand files and references as attachments, with a sentence on each image saying what you liked. "This layout but not this palette" tells a designer more than three paragraphs of description, and it takes ten seconds to write.
- Company / brand, and what you sell:
- Who buys from you, and who you want to reach at this event:
- Secondary goal, if any:
- What is being shown, demonstrated or revealed:
- Elements you do not want:
- Brand assets attached (logo, guidelines, product photography):
- Reference images attached, with a line on what you liked about each:
- Budget range, and what it excludes:
- Who approves, and by when:
- How many suppliers you are briefing:
- Anything the venue or organiser restricts that we should know about:
- Whether you need the quote itemised, and in what format:
- Stall / stand number, as allotted:
- Build-up dates and hours:
- Dismantle window:
- Stall area in sq.m, and dimensions if known:
- Number of open sides (1 inline, 2 corner, 3 three-side open, 4 island):
- Height limit, and whether rigging from the roof is allowed:
- Must-have zones (demo, meeting, storage, pantry, seating, reception):
The same brief, written out properly
To show the difference between filled in and useful, here is the whole brief as prose. Six paragraphs, written by diagnostics and medical devices company, selling to hospitals and pathology labs, each one specific enough that a supplier could start from it.
Notice how little of it is about appearance. Appearance is the one thing a supplier can propose; everything else has to come from you.
01
Context: the business and the buyer
We sell diagnostics instruments and the reporting software that runs them, to hospital procurement teams, laboratory heads and consulting pathologists. Almost all of our show conversations are pre-scheduled and they are long — twenty minutes or more — so the stall has to support seated, quiet discussion rather than aisle traffic. This is our fourth show and our second custom build.
02
The space
18 sq.m (6 × 3 m), one open side, inline, as per the allotment letter. Maximum height 4 m with no rigging permitted from the hall roof. Build-up is two days before opening, the show runs three days, and the organiser's dismantle window is the final night. We will share the exhibitor manual and our organiser portal login with the appointed supplier.
03
The job the stall has to do
Primary goal: hold 25 scheduled meetings with laboratory heads over the show, and run the software workflow demonstration about 30 times. Secondary: be visible enough that a walk-in consultant can see what we do in three seconds from the aisle. The tension between those two is the design problem — we need a quiet interior and a legible exterior, and we would rather sacrifice open display area than acoustic separation.
04
What has to fit on the stand
What has to fit: two bench analysers, 90 kg each, and a touchscreen showing the reporting workflow, along with literature, coats and bags for 2 staff, and a secure store so cartons never reach the display floor. Two seated demo stations, a private discussion room, reception desk and secure store. Tell us if any of that will not fit in 18 sq.m — we would rather know now than at concept stage.
05
Budget and priorities
Budget: ₹3–4 lakh, covering the stand only — space rent is settled with the organiser and GST is extra. If the figure comes back high we would sooner cut structure than cut lighting. Please also flag what is reusable, since there is another show on the calendar inside twelve months.
06
Approval, timing and who else is quoting
Approval runs through our marketing head and then a compliance review, because any clinical claim on the graphics has to be checked. Budget for seven working days of internal sign-off and keep the graphic copy editable until late. We are approaching three suppliers with this brief and will compare on itemised scope, not on the total.
The same brief, costed line by line
With every field answered, the quote is arithmetic rather than conversation. Here is what the brief above produces at 18 sq.m: the structure at the bottom of the published ₹9,000–₹18,000 per sq.m band, then each additional scope on its own line. It comes out inside the ₹3–4 lakh band the brief stated — which is what a budget range is for.
Look at the proportions rather than the figures. The structure is 48% of the total; graphics, lighting, flooring, furniture, transport and crew are the other 52%. A supplier quoting a lump sum can move money between those lines invisibly, which is exactly why the brief asks for itemisation.
| Structure and joinery (18 sq.m × ₹9,000) | ₹1,62,000 |
|---|---|
| Graphics — tensioned fabric wall, product and fascia panels | ₹48,000 |
| Lighting — track, product spots and a backlit brand mark | ₹26,000 |
| Flooring, carpet and cable management | ₹21,000 |
| Furniture — counter, two stools, lockable store unit | ₹19,000 |
| Transport, both ways | ₹29,000 |
| Installation, supervision, show cover and clearance | ₹35,000 |
| Indicative total for the scope, before GST | ₹3,40,000 |
Illustrative. The structure sits at the bottom of the published ₹9,000–₹18,000 per sq.m band; space rent and GST are outside the figure entirely. Finish level, city, build-up hours and AV all move it, which is why the brief exists.
Exhibiting soon? Let's build your stall.
Why filling it in is worth twenty minutes
Here is the argument for the twenty minutes. A gap in a brief is not a gap in a quote; the supplier has to put a number against it either way. Guessing low exposes them, so they guess safe, and safe is more expensive. You pay for every field you did not fill in.
And you cannot see it happening. Nothing on the document says "priced for the worst case because the constraint was not stated". You see one number above another and read it as a difference in price, when it is a difference in guesswork.
| Field left blank | What the supplier has to assume | What it does to the quote |
|---|---|---|
| Primary goal | A general-purpose approach | Budget spent on looking impressive rather than on the one thing you came to do |
| Who you want to reach | A broad, mixed audience | Sightlines and headline sizing pitched at the wrong reading distance |
| Dates and times | A comfortable schedule | The quote expires the moment real dates arrive, and rush labour appears later |
| Approvers and decision date | One reviewer, fast turnaround | Two rounds become four and the workshop or prep bay starts late |
| Stall area | Nothing can be assumed | Either no figure, or a per-unit rate that hides the real number |
| Number of open sides | Usually the worst case — more finished faces | You pay for finished faces the position does not actually have |
| Product weights and power | Standard plinths and a domestic socket | A plinth rebuilt in the hall, which is the most expensive place to build anything |
| Must-have zones | Display only | Zones appear late and come straight out of the display you approved |
| Finish level | Mid-band laminate | The stand is built as specified, and the specification was a word |
| Reuse intentions | A one-off build | Fixed panels instead of a frame, and no second-show saving |
None of these assumptions is a supplier behaving badly. Each is the only rational response to a gap. The fix is on your side of the table and takes twenty minutes.
You will never see "we assumed the worst case" on a quote. You will only see a number that looks expensive.
What an octanorm & system stalls brief needs beyond the basics
The core fields apply to any stall or event scope. For octanorm & system stalls there are a handful of additional lines that change the quote materially, and they are the ones most often left out because they sound technical. They are not — each one is a yes, a no or a number.
"Advise us" is a legitimate answer to any of these and will get you a recommendation with a number attached. Leaving the line out gets you an assumption instead.
- Finish level in words — laminate, spray paint, veneer, acrylic, metal — not just "premium"
- Whether a second storey or a mezzanine is wanted, which changes the engineering entirely
- Flooring: carpet, vinyl, laminate or raised wooden platform, and whether cables run under it
- Floor loading for your heaviest item, and how it will be moved into position
- How much lockable storage you need, measured in cartons rather than square metres
How briefs go wrong
Long briefs are not better briefs. The ones that work are short, numeric and specific about outcomes; the ones that fail are long, adjectival and specific about appearance. Below are the failures worth avoiding, in rough order of how much time each one costs.
The worst of them is the brief that describes a look instead of a job. "Clean, premium, impactful" is three words that constrain nothing — every supplier agrees with all three and none of them can act on any of them. Replace each adjective with the audience behaviour you want and the brief starts doing work.
Close behind is the brief that evolves between suppliers. Learning from the first conversation and improving the second brief feels like diligence; it destroys the only thing that made the exercise worthwhile, which was comparability. Update everyone or nobody.
- A different, improved brief sent to each supplier, destroying comparability
- Asking for a "best price" instead of an itemised quote against a fixed scope
- Five pages of company background and no single sentence about the outcome
- Describing a look instead of a job — adjectives in place of audience actions
- Not sending the exhibitor manual, which contains the rules the design has to obey
- Deleting fields that do not apply, so the supplier cannot tell "no" from "forgotten"
- Reference images with no explanation of what you liked in them
- Logos supplied as a low-resolution image lifted from a website
- Three goals of equal weight, which means the result has to compromise all three
- Dates missing, so the schedule and any rush cost are both unknown
What happens when you send it
Paste your filled brief into our enquiry form, or email it with your brand files and reference images attached. A complete brief comes back as a concept and an itemised quote, usually within 48 hours; an incomplete one comes back as questions, which costs you both a day.
Economical packages for 9–18 sq.m booths. What comes as standard: free design with a confirmed fabrication order, in-house production rather than a sub-contractor chain, the organiser paperwork prepared and filed for you, and a single accountable project manager from brief to dismantle.
- Octanorm and maxima profiles
- Furniture and lighting packages
- Ideal for pavilions and startups
- Fascia names and graphics
Frequently asked questions
What should an octanorm & system stalls brief include?+
The space, the dates, the goal and the money, in that order of importance — then who you want to meet, what has to fit on the stand, which zones are non-negotiable, your brand files, your references, and the name of whoever signs it off. One page covers all of it.
Should I share my budget with suppliers?+
Yes, as a range. Without it a supplier either designs above your band — which costs you a week and ends in a redesign — or below it, which costs you the show. A range is not a negotiating position; it is the constraint that makes the first concept useful.
How long should the brief be?+
One page. Around twenty lines, most of them one-word or one-number answers, with brand files and three annotated reference images attached separately. Length is not depth — a five-page brief with no dimensions, dates or budget in it is less useful than four lines that have all three.
Should I send the same brief to every supplier?+
Yes, and resist improving it as you go. It feels efficient to add detail you learn from the first conversation, but it guarantees that the figures you receive answer different questions. If you learn something worth adding, send it to everyone the same day.
How quickly will I get a concept back?+
Within about two days, if the brief is complete. The delay in practice is never the drawing; it is the round trip of questions a half-filled brief generates — and that round trip happens at the start of the project, where you can least afford it.
Do I need to specify finishes and materials in the brief?+
Not by name. State the finish level in words and let the supplier propose specific laminates, paints and substrates in the materials schedule. What matters is that the schedule exists and is named before you sign off, so the built stall cannot drift from the render.
What is the single most important field?+
One sentence describing what has to be true afterwards, with a figure attached. Everything else is a constraint; this is the brief. Without it a supplier can produce something buildable, compliant, on budget and completely beside the point.
Should I write the brief before or after booking the space?+
Ideally before, because the goal should decide how much area you take and how many open sides you want. In practice most briefs follow the booking, in which case write down the area and open sides you actually have and design against them rather than around them.
Does this template work for octanorm & system stalls as well as for a plain stall?+
The core is the same; the additions differ. An octanorm & system stalls brief needs a handful of further lines that change the quote materially, and they are listed on this page. They sound technical but each is a yes, a no or a number.
Octanorm & System Stalls near you
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