By the Exhibition Stall Design editorial team · Updated 1 October 2026 · 13 min read
Short answer
The 15 questions worth asking a kiosk design vendor cover four things: who owns the work, what the price actually includes, what goes in writing before you pay, and who is in the hall during build-up. Judge the replies by shape rather than content — a name, a date, a document or a number is an answer, and anything that merely reassures you is not.
Key takeaways
- Ask what the quote excludes, never whether everything is included — the second question always gets a yes.
- Insist on approving dimensioned drawings rather than a render before fabrication starts.
- Ask who physically does the work. Every other answer depends on it.
- Tie each payment milestone to a deliverable you can inspect, and keep a balance payable after handover.
- Ask what your area can physically hold — at 36 sq.m the honest answer is about 11 visitors and 4 staff.
- Put the same questions to three vendors and write the answers in three columns. The gaps do the work for you.
Reading the answer, not just asking the question
A list of questions is easy to find and nearly useless on its own, because every vendor has a comfortable answer ready for each one. What separates a real supplier from a confident one is the texture of the reply: whether it contains something you could check later.
So each question below comes with what a good answer sounds like and what a weak one reveals. The pattern is consistent across all 15: a strong kiosk design partner answers with a name, a date, a document or a number, while a weak one answers with a reassurance. "We have done hundreds of these" is a reassurance. A supervisor's name, a workshop address and a day you can come and look is an answer.
Sequence matters more than it looks. Ask about price before the brief is settled and you get a figure the vendor is then committed to defending; ask about build-up after you have signed and you get an answer shaped by what is now convenient. The stages below put each question where its answer is still honest.
Before you shortlist: questions 1 to 4
These decide who is worth briefing at all. Ask them on a call, before any design or pricing conversation, because they are about the firm rather than about your project — and because the answers are much harder to tailor when the vendor does not yet know what you want to hear.
All of them are really one question asked from several directions: does this firm control the thing it is selling? This guide is written for marketing heads, brand managers and event agencies who need a stall concept that is approved quickly and builds exactly as rendered, and most of them find out the answer during build-up week. You can find it out in a twenty-minute call, which is the whole argument for asking these first.
01
1. Which parts of this scope do you buy in, and from whom?
A good answer names them without being pushed — nobody owns everything, and print, AV, furniture and freight are routinely bought. What you are listening for is whether the person knows their own supply chain. A bad answer treats the question as an accusation, which usually means more of the scope is bought in than they want to discuss.
02
2. How many jobs are in your production queue for my show week?
A good answer is a number, ideally with an unprompted note about which of them is largest — it tells you whether your stand is the priority or the filler. A bad answer is "don't worry, we'll manage", which is what a firm says when the queue is not theirs to see, or when they already know the answer is uncomfortable.
03
3. Who will be my single point of contact, from brief through dismantle?
A good answer is a name, a role and a mobile number, plus confirmation that the same person is physically on site during build-up and show days. A bad answer is "our team" or "our coordination desk". Shared accountability is no accountability, and a contact who changes at handover means nobody carries the history of your decisions onto the floor.
04
4. Who physically does this work — your own team, or a sub-contractor?
A good answer is honest about the split, because every firm buys something in: print, AV hire, furniture, freight. You want to hear which trades are owned and which are bought, followed by an address. A bad answer is either a vague "we have a partner network" or a flat claim that everything is in-house with no site you can visit — the second is usually the same as the first, with less candour.
Second stage — making the numbers comparable (questions 5 to 8)
At this point the brief is out and the quotes are coming back. Everything below exists to stop you comparing two different stands by their totals. None of it is hostile; the supplier who itemises properly is the supplier who will not be arguing with you in March.
From ₹60,000 per kiosk. The variables that move a kiosk design price are well known, and the list below is all of them. Ask a vendor which two matter most on your job: a confident, specific ranking means the quote was built, and a vague answer means it was guessed.
- Number of concept options and revision rounds
- Depth of 3D work (stills, 360° views or walkthrough video)
- Technical drawing detail required by the organiser
- Whether design is bundled with fabrication
01
5. What materials and finishes are you quoting, exactly?
A good answer names board thickness, the laminate or paint finish, and the fire treatment. A bad answer is "premium quality" or "imported finish". Specification is what the organiser's safety check examines, and it is also the only way to tell whether a cheaper quote reflects a better rate or a thinner board.
02
6. Is GST included, and what is the pre-tax total?
A good answer gives both figures without being chased, because that is the only way two quotes can be compared on the same basis. A bad answer is ambiguity, or a total that quietly changes basis between the proposal and the invoice. Ask also which organiser or venue charges will be billed through the vendor rather than directly to you.
03
7. Will you itemise the quote, and will you write down what it excludes?
A good answer is yes to both, with the exclusion list as a separate signed page. A bad answer is a lump sum defended as "simpler for you", or an itemised quote with no exclusions at all — which is not transparency, it is an unanswered question. The exclusion page is the single most useful document in the process and the one you have to ask for by name.
04
8. What would you change about this brief if it were your budget?
A good answer is an opinion: spend more on lighting, less on joinery, move the storage, drop the second message. A bad answer is "it's perfect as it is". A supplier with no view is either not reading the brief or not willing to risk the order by disagreeing, and neither of those helps you on the floor.
Third stage — turning a conversation into a contract (questions 9 to 12)
This is the stage that decides whether you have a contract or an understanding. Each gap left open here is one you will meet again in the hall, at a moment when you have no leverage and no time.
Nothing in this stage touches aesthetics or cost. It is entirely paperwork: what gets signed, when, and by whom. Those are the variables that separate a stand built to the agreement from a stand built to whatever was remembered.
01
9. What insurance and site documentation do you carry?
A good answer arrives immediately, because any firm working regularly in exhibition halls keeps it to hand. A bad answer is a promise to check and come back. It is a dull question with a revealing answer — it separates contractors who work in venues every month from those about to find out what a venue requires.
02
10. What happens if you are late?
A good answer is uncomfortable but specific: here is the slack in the schedule, here is who we call, here is what we would do. A bad answer is that it has never happened. You are not really looking for a penalty clause — you are looking for evidence that somebody has thought about the failure case before being inside it.
03
11. Will you dry-build the stand in the workshop before dispatch, and can I see proof?
A good answer is yes, with photographs or a video, panels numbered and circuits tested. A bad answer treats it as unnecessary. Where the first assembly happens decides whether build-up is assembly or problem-solving, and problem-solving in a hall costs hours you have not got.
04
12. What drawings will I approve, and by when, before anything is cut?
A good answer names dimensioned plans and elevations with finishes and lighting positions marked, and gives you a date for sign-off. A bad answer is "you've approved the render". A render is an impression; a drawing is an instruction. If what you signed has no dimensions on it, "this is not what we approved" is an argument you cannot win.
Stage 4 — before build-up (questions 13 to 15)
Ask these once the stand is built and the risk has shifted from the workshop to the loading bay. Few vendors are braced for them, because most buyers stop asking questions after signing — which makes this the stage where the replies are least rehearsed.
The outcome you paid for is a design that guides visitors to a demo point and a meeting zone, rather than one that only looks good in a render — and it is won or lost in the last twenty-four hours before doors open. That is the window these questions are about.
01
13. What do you need from me, and by when?
A good answer is a dated list: artwork at final size, product dimensions, staff numbers, any samples to be displayed. A bad answer is "nothing, we'll handle it". Most build-up delays trace back to an input that arrived late, and a supplier who has not asked for yours has not planned backwards from the date.
02
14. Who dismantles and clears the stand, and what happens to the reusable elements?
A good answer is the same crew, inside the organiser's dismantle window, with the reusable frames and graphics named and a storage arrangement stated. A bad answer is silence, because dismantle was never priced. This is where deposits are forfeited, penalties are charged, and assets you paid to fabricate quietly go to landfill.
03
15. What are you bringing as spares?
A good answer is a short, specific list: laminate offcuts, spare lamps, a reprint of the main graphic, basic tools. A bad answer is that spares will not be needed. Transport damage is routine rather than exceptional, and a crew that travels with the fix turns a two-hour problem into a ten-minute one.
Exhibiting soon? Let's build your stall.
A quick reference for the call
Some answers sound fine and mean nothing. The rows below are those cases side by side with what a real answer looks like. It works best as a call sheet; reading it afterwards is reading it too late.
| Ask this | Good reply | Bad reply |
|---|---|---|
| Who submits to the organiser | The documents, the person and the deadline | The organiser will let you know |
| Who does the work | An address, a supervisor's name and a date you can visit | A partner network, or a visit that is always better scheduled later |
| What are the payment milestones | Each instalment tied to something you can inspect | A schedule of dates, with most of it up front |
| What if something fails mid-show | Spares on site and a named person in the building | Nothing has ever failed |
| Can I see finished work | Photographs from a named show, with the stall area and the year | Renders only, or images with nothing attached to them |
| What happens after the show | Dismantle inside the organiser's window, elements into storage | No answer, because dismantle was never priced |
| Who is on site at build-up | A name, a crew size and the shift hours | Our team will be there |
The good column is almost always the shorter one. That is the quickest heuristic in this guide — specifics are compact, and reassurance needs room.
The size question most exhibitors never ask
A final question, and the most revealing of the lot: what will my area actually hold? It takes a kiosk design vendor about ten seconds to work out, which means an evasive answer is not a limitation of the question.
The sums are these: 10% of the area to storage up to 18 sq.m and 15% beyond it, 5% to a meeting corner — 20% if meetings are the point of attending — and the rest to display. Display divided by 2.5 gives simultaneous visitors; total area divided by 9 gives staff on duty.
Why it matters: footfall expectations and stand capacity are usually set by different people who never compare notes. If your campaign is built around a volume of visitors the stand cannot physically hold, the constraint is the stand, not the marketing — and that is a conversation to have at briefing stage, not on day one.
| Area | Display space | Storage | Staff needed | Capacity | Weeks to build |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 sq.m | 7.6 sq.m | 0.9 sq.m | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 12 sq.m | 10.2 sq.m | 1.2 sq.m | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| 36 sq.m | 28.8 sq.m | 5.4 sq.m | 4 | 11 | 4 |
| 54 sq.m | 43.2 sq.m | 8.1 sq.m | 6 | 17 | 5 |
| 72 sq.m | 57.6 sq.m | 10.8 sq.m | 8 | 23 | 5 |
Figures follow the published ratios — one staff member per 9 sq.m (minimum 2) and one visitor per 2.5 sq.m of display. Build weeks exclude your own approval time.
Answers that should end the conversation
A few answers settle the matter rather than add to it. The kiosk design failure modes come first, because those are the ones that cannot be fixed on site. The rest are procurement signals, all of which appear before any money has moved.
- Renders that cannot be built within the budget
- Designs that ignore organiser height and setback rules
- No material or finish specification, so the build looks different from the render
- An advance requested before any scope document exists
- Every question fielded by the salesperson and none by anyone who builds
- Fabrication offered without drawings for you to approve first
- No one able to say who will be standing on your stand on build-up morning
- A refusal to name the workshop or studio, or a visit that is always possible next month
- A material specification that says premium and names nothing
- A deadline on your decision that belongs to their cash flow rather than your show
Every vendor sounds the same until you ask who is in the hall on build-up morning.
After the interview
Keep one page with the vendors across the top and the questions down the side. You are not scoring eloquence — you are looking for the empty cells, which are invisible in a phone call and obvious in a grid.
Then invert the exercise. Start from what the show has to deliver and ask whether these answers add up to it. A vendor can pass every question and still have no view on your outcome; that is a competent contractor rather than a partner, and worth knowing which you have hired.
- Who does the work, and the address where it happens
- Who submits the organiser paperwork, and the deadline
- The build-up arrival slot, crew size and shift hours
- What the vendor needs from you, and by when
- The payment milestones and the deliverable behind each one
- The material specification, including the fire treatment
- The date on which you will approve dimensioned drawings
The next step
One email, three recipients, same day — brief plus questions. Include the show, the city, the dates, the area, the open sides, your budget band and two or three images with a note on each. What comes back tells you as much about the firm as about the stand.
Put the list to us and you will get written answers to all of it. Our own workshops, free design with a confirmed fabrication order, organiser drawings and approvals prepared for you, and a single project manager from the first brief to the last panel out of the hall.
Frequently asked questions
How long should this take?+
About a thirty-minute call for the first stage, then one document request each at quoting and signing. Set against a build that needs 3 weeks or more, it is the cheapest hour in the whole project.
Should I ask about things that could go wrong?+
Yes, and the quality of the answer matters more than the content. A vendor who describes the slack in their schedule, the spares they carry and who they would call has thought about failure. One who says nothing has ever gone wrong has not.
How do I know if my stand is the right size?+
Ask the vendor what it can hold. At 36 sq.m the arithmetic gives about 28.8 sq.m of display, room for roughly 11 visitors at a time and 4 staff on duty. If your footfall expectation is far above that, the constraint is the stand rather than the campaign.
What is the best question to catch a sub-contracted build?+
"Can I visit the workshop this week?" A firm that owns production answers with an address and a day. Anything that defers the visit — after the order, nearer the show, once design is approved — is the answer by another route.
Is it reasonable to ask to visit the workshop?+
Entirely. It is a routine request for anyone buying a fabricated product, and the reaction to the question is informative even before the visit happens.
When should I ask about build-up?+
A week or two before the show, once production is finished. Ask for the arrival slot, the crew size, the shift hours and the hour the stand will be finished and cleaned — not the hour build-up closes.
What should I ask about dismantle?+
Who does it, whether it happens inside the organiser's window, what is cleared, and where the reusable frames and graphics are stored afterwards. Unpriced dismantle is where deposits and penalties surface.
How many vendors should I put these questions to?+
Three, with the same brief. Two gives you nothing to calibrate an outlier answer against, and five is more work than the comparison repays.
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