Designing a flagship exhibition experience for Europe’s biggest EdTech event.
BETT is Europe’s largest education technology exhibition, attracting thousands of teachers, school leaders, academy trusts and education professionals every year. As one of Tes‘ most important marketing events, the stand needed to showcase a rapidly expanding portfolio of products while creating a confident, premium brand experience that would stand out in a highly competitive exhibition hall.
As Head of Design at Tes, I was responsible for the creative direction and design of the exhibition graphics, ensuring every touchpoint reflected the evolving Tes brand while supporting the commercial objectives of the event.
The Brief
Create a visually impactful exhibition stand with 15m x 15m footprint that would:
- Present multiple Tes products under one cohesive brand
- Clearly communicate complex software solutions to different audiences
- Attract visitors from across the exhibition floor
- Support product demonstrations and sales conversations
- Deliver a polished, premium brand experience worthy of one of the education sector’s most recognised brands
The challenge was balancing a significant amount of messaging and product information without overwhelming visitors, while ensuring the stand remained clean, approachable and unmistakably Tes.
My Role
Working in partnership with Skyline Whitespace, I led the creative design of the exhibition graphics from concept through to final artwork, working closely with marketing stakeholders, product teams and exhibition suppliers.
Responsibilities included:
- Creative direction
- Exhibition graphic design
- Large-format artwork production
- Brand application and consistency
- Visual hierarchy and messaging
- Collaboration with marketing and product teams
- Artwork preparation for print and installation
Design Approach
The exhibition stand needed to work at two very different scales.
From a distance, it had to grab attention amongst hundreds of competing exhibitors using bold branding, confident typography and clear messaging.
Up close, visitors needed to quickly understand the breadth of the Tes ecosystem and navigate different product areas with ease.
Using the evolving Tes visual identity, I created a flexible graphic system that combined large-scale brand messaging with product-specific communications, allowing visitors to move naturally through the stand while maintaining a consistent visual language throughout.
Careful consideration was given to colour, typography, photography and information hierarchy so the experience felt welcoming rather than overwhelming.
The Detail
The stand features the ‘Tes wheel’ a graphic device I created and evolved over the years on the back wall, along with key headline; “Together, we build trusted education solutions” to give the audience an idea of everything Tes can provide. To the left of the main back wall was a video/demonstration screen with seating laid out in front of it. To the right, on the side of the main block a simple word cloud style design featuring 4 main areas how Tes can help students to flourish.
The 2 front corners feature 4 video screens running product demonstrations and messaging around 4 key areas for Tes; teacher training, HR and administration, classroom management and pupil and learning management. These areas also show hero product images, messaging and brand illustrations.
A block to the left of the stand featured further information on Tes’ B2C training function, Tes Institute covering a list of course subjects and areas for those wanting to get into teaching, TAs wanting to become teachers and established teachers looking to progress to middle and senior management within schools.
To accompany the event, I’d produce an 8 page, A5 roll fold handout covering Tes’ products and services in slightly greater detail:
Outcome
The finished stand successfully brought together multiple Tes products into one cohesive exhibition experience, reinforcing the company’s position as a leading provider of education technology and services.
The project demonstrated my ability to design beyond traditional marketing collateral, applying brand thinking across a large physical environment while collaborating with multiple stakeholders and delivering production-ready artwork for a high-profile live event.
Skills Demonstrated
- Exhibition & Environmental Design
- Creative Direction
- Brand Identity
- Large Format Print
- Marketing Campaigns
- Typography
- Artworking
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Photoshop
- Stakeholder Collaboration
- Production Design