Luke Sposito | Art Director - Designing a Trade Show Art Gallery for Buf Creamery

Designing a Trade Show Art Gallery for Buf Creamery

Large-format banner concepts designed to showcase Buf Creamery products as works of art at trade shows, food festivals, and conventions.

Client: Buf Creamery

Role: Principal Designer

Overview

Afton Design Co. brought me in to help create trade show booth concepts for Buf Creamery. The client wanted us to explore ways we could show their cheese products as art. We suggested we make the booth feel like an art gallery customers can browse.

Above: I created and explored over 20 art pieces

Concept 1

The client described the imagery as a showstopper. I used one of the provided brand images and rendered it as an antique painting. This concept is boldly product-forward, letting the art direction tell the story. It features the logo within sight above a busy convention floor. The dark green curtain background adds sophistication and grounds the piece.

Above: Mockup of Concept 1

The painting was rendered layer by layer to add realistic texture and depth in Photoshop. I included a circular matte to make the painting feel older and more contemporary.

Above: Digital process examples of building the artwork for Concept 1

Concept 2

I was curious how the products would look as mid-century modern posters. I reviewed a dozen "art deco" typefaces and landed on one that reminded me of older theater signage. I laid a thin matte over three meticulously cropped brand images. Clean lines and white space would push the pictures into modern art. The classic gold frame adds a modern touch. Buf's strong grass-fed claim and brand copy are found just below the poster, similar to how artist information is shown in galleries.

Above: Mockup of Concept 2

Above: Mid-century modern posters I created for Concept 2

Concept 3

I wanted to recreate an art gallery wall. I aligned the logo and brand copy at the top, like an art gallery introducing its newest exhibition. Three paintings sit below it in matching ornate gold frames. The info card appears below, with details about the artwork and products on show and a QR code pointing to the website. It's an immersive concept and is made to invite the audience into its world.

Above: Mockup of Concept 3 Tradeshow Display with Stand

I was requested to prepare the third concept in the format of a 10ft Waveline Curved Display trade show banner.

Above: Final Print-ready Artwork for Production

Above: Final mockup of Waveline Curved Fabric Display

Artwork Renderings

I knew Buf's imagery would look beautiful framed. Making it look like art wasn't the challenge. Finding the right combination of style, composition, and frame was a daunting task. Frames that were too modern could make the art look like stock art from a department store. Buf had to look timeless. Each piece needed to have the right combination to produce something that truly felt like a piece of art from Buf's own collection. The goal was to create as many options as possible to bring the gallery to life.

Above: Some of the frames and posters created for this project

Recipe Cards

Afton Design asked for my help designing recipe cards for the Buf team to distribute at their convention appearances. Following a priority list, I was supplied with recipe photography and written instructions for each document.

Referencing Blue Apron as inspiration, I organized the recipe into easily scannable and digestible steps. I stamped the front recipe image with the Buf logo seal of approval. The recipe name lies across the image in an elegant black label.