At ShowReady, we specialize in booths, exhibits, and pop-ups for various events such as fintech, business conferences, and outdoor festivals. One type of event that’s become a yearly pop culture attraction and that has specific fabrication needs is Comic Con.
By Comic Con, we don’t just refer to the original San Diego Comic Con, but also New York Comic Con and the many similar fan conventions that use different names. Whether your event is billed as a Fan Expo, a Comics Convention, or any other geeky title, we can build a display that will dazzle fans, attract buzz, and promote your brand.
Unique Fabrication Needs of Comic Con Booths
Unlike a tech or financial conference, where the booths tend to be sleek with muted colors and clean lines, Comic Con displays are eye-catching, with a lot of flair. They’re typically recreating locations and characters from a movie, TV show, comic book, or video game, so the emphasis is on faithfulness to the source material and the “wow factor” of being inside your favorite fictional world.
One example of this immersive dedication is Star Trek: The Tour. For this project, we built replicas of two iconic Star Trek sets: the bridges of the original Starship Enterprise from the classic Star Trek TV show, and the Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The goal was to make you feel like you were stepping from the modern world into the 23rd and 24th centuries. Both sets were rebuilt in loving detail, from the colors of the carpets to the look of the instrument panels.
Consider the Comic Con Audience
The goal of a Comic Con booth varies from that of a business conference.. The goal of a business booth is to attract customers or investors. The booth needs to project an image of confidence and sophistication, with the sense that you have a solid business plan and/or product line.
On the other hand, fans at a convention are there for the experience. They may buy some merchandise, but the point is to celebrate their favorite fandoms. For scenic design, this means more visual elements and an eye for detail. And they’d better be accurate; fans will catch every out-of-place reference!
Sci-fi and comic book fans, especially, are drawn to state-of-the-art technology. So for our Marvel Snap booth at New York Comic Con, we built The Marvel Snap Collectors Cube. Once visitors stepped inside the giant cube, they were surrounded by digital screens hidden behind two-way mirrors, creating an infinite landscape of Marvel immersion. Over 50 pieces of custom animated content and a 360 degree soundscape transported fans into the Marvel universe.
Characters Are More Expensive Than Scenery
The most expensive element of a Comic Con display is usually the characters. Building giant, custom-molded character statues requires more time and craft than simpler elements like props and storefronts. If your goal is to impress with a character display, there are ways to save costs on other elements of your booth, for example, by using rental panels rather than custom panels.
A giant character statue can make quite the impression, so sometimes, the investment is worth it. For example, we built the Goliath, a monster from the video game Evolve, for San Diego Comic-Con. The statue stood outside the convention center for the entire event. There’s no denying that a 22-foot-tall monster sculpture gets people’s attention!
With decades of experience in scenic construction, ShowReady is your go-to custom fabrication builder for Comic Con projects. Contact us here to tell us about your project, however elaborate and flamboyant your designs. We’re eager to make your favorite universes come to life.