We have seen it a million times and will see it a million more, with a little creativity though you can help your event stand apart from the rest. The traditional go-to for any stage backdrop because it’s easy, cheap, and accessible is pipe and drape. Good old pipe and drap. The hard part is that, as an event, you want to leave an impression, and as much as great content will do that, as humans we are visual people and having a memorable stage backdrop to pair with that good content will go a long way.
It’s time, we are here to say “ENOUGH ALREADY!” Be bold and stand out from the rest!
Acording to iDashboards UK people remember 10% of what they hear, 20% of what they read, and 80% of what they see. So you might ask yourself when you plan your next event how can we make what they see more impactful in the area that matters most, the event stage? The good news is that we have a few tricks up our sleeve that can help you out. Check out the below 3 easy alternatives to pipe and drape for a stage backdrop, you might find that one or more of them are a great fit for your next event!
- Custom Printed Stage Banners are an easy, and a relatively inexpensive way to get your branding up on that stage that looks professional and potentially reusable year after year. We recommend a pillow top fabric for this and not to use vinyl because of the stage lighting. Toast of the Town makes these all of the time for our conferences and our clients love them!
TIP: Step it up a little with some stage accent decor to frame your stage banner to add dimension. This can be anything that ties in with the event theme or even basic event pup-up banners.

The above example if from TSV Sound & Vision.
- An LED Wall is a great way to blend program content, stage, design, and branding in one. As people, we are more likely to have our attention held by things that have slight movement, and with an LED screen that can be something as simple as graphics or your logo on the screen moving slightly. In some cases, even slow-moving ambient video can have its role in parts of the programming here.
TIP: This only works well if the movement is slow enough to be engaging. Too fast and it quickly becomes distracting for your audience.
- Stretch Fabric Panels are a great way for you to add branding and really dynamic dimension to your stage. One of the additional benefits of these panels is that with a little creativity you can switch up how you shape them on the stage differently year after year.
TIP: We have found the best recipe here is to start with Triangle fabrics. You can add to this stage design year after year gradually making each year more impressive. Do keep in mind for any fabrics that you have printed on that the position and the amount they can stretch will be limited so it’s nice not to start with many of them.
Looking for more inspiratio? There are so many fun things you can do with Stage Design and we love being able to innovate with our clients. Here are a few of our favorites from our Pinterest page. Need some help brining your vision to life? Contact us today!