When Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. planned its exhibit for the 2021 Southeastern Educational Congress of Optometry (SECO), it decided to re-use a concept its TV commercials were employing. In them, a villain embodying dry-eye disease works from a secret lair before being vanquished by Novartis' Xiidra remedy. But the company and its creative partners recognized the difficulty ahead. "A big challenge was getting attendees to feel they truly entered a villain's lair," said Jeff Foulk, director of client services for Matrex Exhibits Inc., which designed the pharma firm's booth. To create a setting for the lair, Novartis bathed the 45-by-50-foot exhibit in placid blue tones. Visitors gravitated toward the stand's centerpiece: an imposing 12-by-15-foot curved LED wall set behind a stage. While information about Xiidra ran on the wall, azure lighting flowed out of 12 tendrils made of transparent LED tiles.

Suddenly, the relaxing light was replaced by fiery hues, and a hologram created by two hidden projectors revealed the malefactor, "Inflammation," who emerged from the lair ostensibly concealed beneath the stage. The ocular evildoer strutted back and forth, proudly espousing the harm he does, while the tendrils pulsed with crimson light. Luckily, his schemes to spread dry-eye disease lasted just 30 seconds before a Xiidra logo, accompanied by information about the medication, and the return of balming-blue illumination washed over the screen and booth like an ocean pouring over a campfire.

"This isn't just an eye-catching component," said one Exhibit Design Awards judge in summing up the design element. "This is a critical structure telling the drug's story." In the end, it turned out to be an integral part of a booth that was a prescription for success. E