Banner Stand Guide

Whether you are new to purchasing banner stands or have been buying them for years, it can be difficult to know which banner is the best fit for your needs. With different looking bases, standard and wide sizes and graphic options, it’s no wonder that choosing the right banner can be hard. This handy guide will help you hack the world of buying a banner stand with helpful checklists along the way to make an informed decision about:

1. Type of banner stand
2. Base style
3. Size
4. Whether to take it outdoors
5. The right supplier

Why choose banner stands?

1. Types of banner stand available

The type of banner stand you need will largely depend on how often you want to use it.

Roller Banner Stands

Roller banners are a staple ingredient at exhibitions and events and are the top choice for many. The graphics smoothly and neatly roll into the base unit for storage and transportation.

With limited parts, the roller banner gives you the ability to easily dismantle and erect your roller banner stand with a simple bungee cord or telescopic pole.

The base unit protects the graphic during transportation and storage

Easily erected and dismantled

Key Benefits:

• Simple and safe storage
• Often the most cost effective banner stands

Cassette Roller Banner Stands

A roller banner cassette is great if you want the benefits of a roller banner stand with the ability to interchange your graphic messages on a regular basis.

Cassette roller banner stands have a clever cassette system that allows you to change the graphic in an instant by simply replacing cassettes.

Each graphic comes with its own cassette which means that while the graphic is not in use, it is protected within the cassette. Once it has been changed it can be reused.

Key Benefits:

• Great for swapping messages on a regular basis without buying multiple bases
• Easily erected and dismantled
• Simple and safe storage

Tension Banner Stands

If you want to change between graphics on a regular basis then tension banners are a great solution as they have a separate graphic to the base unit. This means that after you’ve used your graphic, you can take it completely off of the banner stand unit and roll it up for safe storage.

Some tension banner stands use an ‘X’ shaped system to create tension, whereas others use snap rails to fasten your display. Extra graphics can be purchased separately and you can replace them without repurchasing a base unit. Key benefits:

• Easy change graphics system
• Eyelet or snap rail systems available
• Lighter than most roller banner stands

Checklist for choosing your banner stand:

	One off use	Replace graphics	Interchangeable graphics	Graphic rolls into base for storage
Roller		/ ✘	✘
Cassette
Tension				✘

2. Base options

“Banners are all about the graphics, right?”

Graphics are a vital part of a banner stand and have the ability to pull in a crowd but, the base is the backbone to your display. It affects how stable your display will be as well as being an aesthetic choice to match your brand.

• As a general rule of thumb, budget banners will often have twist out feet which provide stability (pictured top left)
• Higher spec banners will generally have a deeper base offering more stability and a better quality look and finish, and can sometimes have hidden adjustable feet to handle uneven surfaces

Questions to ask about the base:

Where will it be used? If your display will be placed in an area with heavy traffic such as a retail environment, you may want to consider having a heavier and more stable display that won’t be easily knocked down. These don’t usually include twist out feet so they can’t be tripped on.
Feet or no feet? Do you mind if the feet will be on show? Or do you want them to be hidden for aesthetic reasons?
How heavy? Banners vary in weight from 1kg to over 12kgs so if you need to transport it often, opt for a lightweight base.

3. Size matters

Who said size doesn’t matter? The size of banner that you’ll need will depend on what it will be used for and how much space you have available. Below is an overview of key dimensions for size as well as what they’re best used for!