Giant bottle display size: how to scale a 14.5 cm bottle

The right size for a giant bottle display is the one your visitors can take in from where they will stand, and that your venue can physically let in. Start from the real bottle, pick a multiplier, and test the result against eye level, viewing distance and the door it has to get through.

A hand holds a jewelled, caged perfume bottle, 14.5 cm tall, beside a woman's face, from below her chin to about nose height.

The bottle in the picture is 14.5 cm tall. Held up beside a face, it runs from below the chin to about the nose. That is the whole of the brief for the person who has to make it big: every number below comes from that one height.

You have probably seen the mistake it prevents. A display arrives at the hall and the bottle is a fine object, but it is too tall for the entrance, too light to stand up in the draught, or so large that nobody can see the label unless they stand in the next aisle.

The arithmetic of scale

Every dimension of the bottle is multiplied by the same number, so the height grows in a straight line. The weight and the amount of material grow much faster, because volume goes up with the cube of the multiplier.

Multiplier	Height of a 14.5 cm bottle	How it reads in a room	Volume compared with the real bottle
5 times	72.5 cm	A counter or plinth piece, about thigh height if it stands on the floor	125 times
10 times	1.45 m	About shoulder height on most adults	1,000 times
15 times	2.18 m	Taller than a standard doorway	3,375 times
20 times	2.9 m	Nearly a metre above a doorway, a landmark in a hall	8,000 times
30 times	4.35 m	A structure: needs open space and engineering	27,000 times

The last column is why a giant bottle is never a solid bottle. Doubling the multiplier does not double the effort. It multiplies the material eight times if you make it solid, which is why large props are built as hollow shells over a frame, and why the structure matters as much as the finish.

Start from where people stand

A display is read from a distance, so the size should follow the viewing position, not the other way round.

Eye level. Standing eye height for most adults is roughly 1.5 to 1.6 metres. If the part you want read, the label or the cap, sits near that height, people see it without craning.
Viewing distance. As a rule of thumb, a viewer needs to stand back about one and a half to two times the height of an object to take in the whole of it at a glance. A bottle 2.9 metres tall is read properly from around five metres away. If the aisle is only three metres wide, a smaller bottle will read better.
Approach direction. A stand with one open side is seen from the front only. A bottle in the middle of an island is seen from every side, so the back needs the same care as the front.
Background. A large shape reads cleanly against a plain wall and badly against a busy one. Decide where it stands before you choose its size.

What the venue will allow

The venue sets the upper limit long before the design does.

Doors and lifts. A standard internal doorway in the UK is a little under two metres high, and many service lifts are smaller than the doors you walk through. A bottle taller than that has to be made in sections or laid down to move.
Vans. The load space of a common delivery van is typically about two metres high, give or take a little. Plan how the display travels at the start, not at the loading bay.
Height limits. Exhibition organisers set a maximum build height, and it varies by show and by the position of the stand. Retail centres and hotels set their own rules for what may stand or hang in a public space.
Floor loading and fixing. A tall hollow shape needs a base and a way of being held steady. In a hall, the organiser's rules decide what may be fixed to the floor. Outdoors, wind is the main force, and a large hollow bottle catches it like a sail.

What a giant bottle is made of

Large props are usually hollow, and a few approaches cover most of them: a carved foam form with a hard coating, a moulded shell, or a frame of timber or metal skinned in sheet material. Each has a different weight, strength and finish. The choice depends on whether the bottle will be touched, moved between shows, lit from inside or left outdoors. Describe how it will be used and the right method follows.

If the bottle is clear or crystal-set, as in the picture, light matters as much as shape. A transparent surface shows the structure behind it, so the inside has to be designed to be seen. Ask early whether the display needs power for lights, and where the cables can run.

Questions to settle before you fix the size

Where will it stand, and who walks around it? The aisle, the window or the room decides the size more than the budget does.
Indoors or outdoors? Outdoors adds wind, rain and weight, and usually a limit on height.
Will anyone touch it, stand next to it or climb into it? A piece people interact with is built differently from one behind a rope.
How does it get there? Door and van sizes decide whether it comes in one piece or several.
Will it travel to more than one place? A display that must move between shows should be designed to come apart and go back together.
What does the camera see? If the display will be photographed or filmed, a person or a real bottle in the shot shows the scale at a glance, which is exactly what the picture above does.

Getting a number you can plan around

Stillroom designs and builds oversized props and stands. Send the real product, where the display will stand, the date it must be there and how it will be moved, and a sketch if you have one, to info@stillroomcreative.com. You can also try a giant product in the Activation Room first and see it to scale before anything is made.

Then the first thing a visitor sees is the bottle, not the problem of getting it through the door.

FAQ

How do I work out the height of an enlarged product?

Multiply the real height by the scale you want. A 14.5 cm bottle at 10 times is 145 cm, at 20 times it is 290 cm. Every other dimension is multiplied by the same number, so the shape stays true.

Why does a giant bottle weigh so much more than a small one?

Volume grows with the cube of the multiplier. At 10 times the height there is 1,000 times the volume, at 20 times there is 8,000 times. That is why large props are built hollow, over a frame, and not as solid objects.

How far away can people read a giant display?

A rule of thumb is that a viewer stands back one and a half to two times the object's height to take it in whole. A display 2 metres tall suits a viewing distance of three to four metres or more, and the larger it gets the more space it needs around it.

Will a giant bottle fit through a standard doorway?

Not if it is taller than the doorway. A standard UK internal doorway is a little under two metres high, so anything at 15 times the size of a 14.5 cm bottle, which is about 2.2 metres, has to be built in sections or turned on its side to move.

Does a hollow display need a frame?

Yes. A hollow shell holds its shape because of what is inside it. The frame also carries the weight to the floor and gives a point to fix lights, so it is designed together with the outside.

Can a giant display be reused at another event?

Often, if it is designed for it. A display made in sections with a clear way of joining them can be taken apart, moved and rebuilt, and damage on the way is much less likely than with a single large piece.

Also: Try a giant product in the Activation Room · Small budget exhibition stand: where the money should go · Custom vs modular exhibition stand: how to choose · What a brand strategy consultancy delivers · Website design agency, freelancer or in-house: how to choose · Exhibition stand design cost: what sets the price · Advertising agency or creative agency: the difference · All insights