ow do you make a needle stand out in a haystack of needles? That was the riddle CMC Magnetics Corp. needed to solve for the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last January. One of the world’s largest manufacturers of optical-storage devices, such as CDs and DVDs, the Taipei, Taiwan-based CMC wanted the magnetic discs in its exhibit to stand out amid the thousands of look-alike discs littering competitors’ booths.

Its solution: pop art, not Popular Science. Instead of its typical PowerPoint-like graphics and tech-manual-long descriptions of how the products are made, CMC used surreal artwork and whimsical displays to depict its products. For example, towering above the 40-by-60-foot exhibit like The Cat in the Hat’s trademark headgear was a slinky-like cone of tension-fabric “plates,” which were lit from below by LEDs in CMC’s corporate red, blue, and green colors. A fabric band printed with CMC’s logo encircled the cone, while stylized pictures of discs that looked like multi-colored versions of Target Corp.’s logo adorned virtually all of the booth’s exterior surfaces.

Once the overhead cone attracted attendees to the booth, they found more circular shapes symbolic of CMC’s discs, including five round platforms presenting different product lines. Made of shiny glass and aluminum, which reflected light in much the same way CDs and DVDs do, the platforms supported bubble-topped display cases that held more products. Aquarium-like containers above the displays held still more products — and balanced above them, as if CMC were building a Jenga tower, were two round, scoop-like structures with the company logo printed on the sides.

By representing its products with these abstract but highly visible spherical shapes, CMC differentiated itself from its competitors, and persuaded a record number of attendees to visit the booth. Sometimes, as it turns out, going round and round in circles is the most productive thing you can do. e

Client: CMC Magnetics Corp., Taipei, Taiwan
Design/Fabrication: CMC Magnetics Corp.
Size: 2,400 square feet
Estimated Cost: $300,000
Estimated Cost/Square Foot: $125