What a custom trade show exhibit includes
A custom exhibit is more than the walls in the rendering. A complete project covers the concept and 3D design, structural detailing, and the build itself: walls and portals, counters and demo stations, lockable closets, seating, and display fixtures. It covers finishes such as paint, laminate, and upholstery; the graphics package; and power, data, and AV planned with the show's service providers. It also covers the paperwork a show asks for, from drawings for approval to material certificates.
We plan those pieces together and price them together, so you can see where the budget goes and trade one element for another before anything is built. If you already own an exhibit, bring an inventory and photos: some components can be refinished, given new graphics, or rebuilt for a new footprint instead of replaced.
Las Vegas show logistics: rules, labor, and freight
Every show publishes an exhibitor manual, and it governs most of what happens on the floor: move-in and move-out windows, booth construction and height rules, which services are exclusive to the official contractor, and the deadlines for drawings and approvals. We read it with you at the start of the project, because those rules shape the design as much as your brand guidelines do.
At the Las Vegas Convention Center, the LVCVA requires any contractor working in the building to hold an exhibitor-appointed contractor (EAC) permit backed by a certificate of insurance (as of 2026), and each show layers on its own EAC registration and labor rules. Freight is the other variable: whether crates go to the advance warehouse or direct to show, drayage is billed by the show's general contractor. Building across town doesn't skip the docks, but it does take long-haul trucking and its delays out of the plan.
Materials, finishes, and the trades in an exhibit
A custom exhibit pulls together several trades: carpentry and millwork, structural framing, paint and finish work, upholstery, display fixtures, electrical and lighting integration, and print. Our shop builds and finishes the structure. CNC-routed and laser-cut parts come from The Job Shop, and large-format graphics, fabric SEG walls, and floor graphics come from Vegas Visual, both in the same building, so parts and print run on the build schedule instead of a vendor's.
Fire safety shapes the material list. For shows under Clark County Fire Department jurisdiction, the county's 2026 permit guideline for indoor trade shows requires drapes, curtains, and other decorative textiles to carry a certificate of flame resistance meeting NFPA 701 (or an approved California State Fire Marshal certificate), checked again by inspectors on the floor. The same guideline sets 8-foot aisles in front of exhibit booths and calls for a separate permit when a booth or temporary ceiling needs its own sprinkler or alarm devices, one reason covered designs and double-decks need early review.
Planning timeline: working back from move-in
Count backward from the first move-in day in the exhibitor manual, not from opening day. Between now and then, the project needs a brief, concept rounds, design approval, show submissions, engineering, fabrication, graphics, and a walkthrough of the finished build in our shop. Approvals are usually the biggest variable, so name one decision-maker early and put review dates on the calendar before design starts.
Some exhibits need more runway. Island exhibits and two-story designs involve structural drawings and show approval, hanging signs need rigging orders and sign-off, and product demos need power and data planned with show services. When the calendar is short anyway, having design, build, and print under one roof keeps decisions moving: the ComplexCon 2025 Club Lounge needed only two weeks between first concept and final install, and the shop can run around the clock when a schedule needs it.
Reusing, storing, and refreshing an exhibit
A custom exhibit can be designed for more than one show. Modular frames, swappable graphics, and counters that work in several layouts let one build cover a large island at one show and a smaller inline space at the next. If reuse is part of the plan, say so at the brief: it changes how pieces break down, how crates are packed, and which finishes will survive repeated install and dismantle.
Between shows, exhibit storage, repairs, and graphic updates decide what the next appearance costs. Keep an inventory of what you own, photograph it after each show, and note anything damaged in transit. That record makes the next brief faster and keeps you from paying to rebuild a piece that only needed a refresh.
Sources for code and permit rules