When you live in a city reputed to be the brightest spot on Earth, the subject of lighting is a hot topic. Folklore claims Las Vegas burns as the most brilliant city when viewed from a portal of a spaceship. The same lore suggests we glow with 15,000 miles of neon tubing. Regardless of what you believe, the latest trends in lighting and LED are anything but tall tales.
LED by Example
If you’ve ever stood below the 49.3 million LED lamps hovering over Fremont Street, you understand the power of looking into the light. While LED is not a new technology, it continues to dominate the field as the key to creativity. The latest design trends include a little twist.
Bend the Rules: Faux Neon
If you’ve strolled through a tradeshow in the last year or two, you’ve likely caught the gleam of glowing curves and dramatic enhancements reminiscent of vintage neon. That eye-catching glow isn’t your grandfather’s gas-filled neon signage; it’s the latest evolution in event lighting: faux neon.
Also known as faux LED neon or rope light, this modern lighting incarnation is more than a pretty face. The chip-based LED technology is encased in a flexible silicone coating, diffusing the LED dots into a continuous LED light band and allowing maximum flexibility. These products are available in many different profiles and various bending directions – up, down, serpentine, and more. Thanks to advancements in technology, designers can create booth lighting elements and features visible from virtually any angle.
“Neon LED has really taken off. I think we’re going to see 2025 and beyond as The Year of LED Neon,” shared Steve Hess, president at Trussworks. It’s easy to see why. Unlike traditional neon, which relies on fragile gas-filled glass tubes, LED faux neon is more durable, energy-efficient, with endless creative possibilities.
But it’s not just about making a booth “pop.” Lighting has evolved into a strategic narrative tool. “LED lighting is a powerful tool for creating captivating scenes. With thoughtful design, it can tell a compelling story, engage your audience, and evoke deep emotions,” says West Coast Sales Manager with Display Supply & Lighting, Inc., Mike Sunseri. Whether drawing attendees into a product demo or creating a mood that matches a brand ethos, faux neon provides a flexible, vibrant medium for immersive booth design.
While it shines in playful photo ops (think glowing hashtags on Instagram photo ops), its true power lies in its ability to enhance architectural features, spotlight focal points, and add motion to static elements. With its flexibility and full-spectrum glow, faux neon is bending the rules of booth design.
Picture This: LED Video Tiles
In the evolving world of exhibit LED technology, beMatrix LED video tiles are stepping into the spotlight. These high-definition displays are becoming a go-to solution for designers who want to effortlessly blend a high-impact experience with an effortless installation.
What makes these LED video tiles a breakout star? For starters, they’re engineered to integrate perfectly within the beMatrix frame system. That means faster installs, sleeker visuals, and fewer headaches for exhibitors and builders alike.
The visual payoff is just as impressive. With a tighter pixel pitch, the LED video tiles deliver brilliant color accuracy and smooth playback, which is especially important in theater-style presentations where every detail counts. “One of the trends that we’re seeing now are exhibits wanting to have theater presentations in closer, tighter spaces,” explains Total Show Technology’s director of sales, Rich Cornish. Whether you’re streaming immersive content, looping product videos, or layering motion graphics, the result is cinematic quality that holds the attention of even the closest show-goer.
And it’s not just about beauty; it’s smart, too. These energy-efficient LED tiles make them an ideal choice for sustainability-minded events. Fewer watts, more wow.
Add the seamless integration of beMatrix’s signature “Perfect Corners,” and you get a polished, edge-to-edge display with limited visual gaps. The result? A sleek, modern, high-tech LED display that tells your story in high definition from every angle.
Mind the Gap: LED End Cap Lighting
For years, exhibit builders and designers have been searching for a solution to effectively illuminate the exposed edges of their frame systems. Enter LED end cap lighting. The extrusion LED end cap trend is an innovative way to finish the design of aluminum booth frames with attractive accent lighting. LED end cap lighting is a fast-growing standard, with multiple versions hitting the market to meet demand. As visual storytelling becomes more immersive and detail-focused, these products offer an eye-catching way to finish a booth with polish and purpose.
“There has been a growing trend where designers want to splash colors on the edges of their booth and backwalls,” says Sunseri. DSL introduced an RGB-programmable end cap lighting system that is fully programmable. The product allows for color changes, dynamic effects, and seamless finishing. There’s no more settling for dull borders or distracting frame lines. Instead, exhibitors can amplify mood, brand identity, and movement at the margins.
But DSL isn’t the only innovator lighting up the edges. Trussworks/Prism LED offers the popular LovoEdge, a high-impact lighting solution that has become a staple in modern booth builds. “It’s our number one selling product and has been a game changer in the industry for the last two years,” says Hess. Trusswork’s Director of Business Development, Roman Moszkowicz, agrees, “For designers, it’s a beautiful way to highlight the exhibit, like framing artwork.”
Control Freak: The Future of Interface
In the future, the most transformative shift may not come down to diodes or tubing. The next horizon may be how customers interact with technology itself. As smart systems evolve, lighting controls are moving beyond handheld remotes and toward an intuitive, app-based platform that hands easier control to the users. “I don’t think LED lighting is going to change dramatically, but how we are going to interface with it…will,” muses Hess. With that comes its own set of challenges. As designers continue to push boundaries and demand more immersive and responsive environments, lighting manufacturers will be challenged to deliver richly customizable and user-friendly systems.
In an industry powered by innovation, the path forward is brilliant. Follow the Exhibit City News LinkedIn profile to stay current with the latest trends and bright ideas.
This story originally appeared in the Q3 2025 issue of Exhibit City News, p. 48. For original layout, visit https://issuu.com/exhibitcitynews/docs/exhibit_city_news_-_jul_aug_sept_2025/48.
