Impact Unlimited Launches New Exhibit System Based on 20th Century's Most Famous Architecture and Design.

DAYTON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 6, 1997--Impact Unlimited, a strategic marketing company that has introduced many innovations into the tradeshow marketplace, has announced the availability of the new Bauhaus(TM) exhibit system, which it described as so revolutionary it will carry a "lower life-cycle cost" guarantee.

The Bauhaus exhibit system is named after the most famous school of architecture and design of the 20th century. The guiding principle of Bauhaus architecture was that design should be functional and unite art and technology. Its designs were marked by simplicity of shape, absence of ornament and ostentatious facades, and by harmony between function and artistic and technical means employed. Bauhaus virtually revolutionized modern design and was the forerunner of the International or Modern style. Exemplifying Bauhaus style are the famous Seagram Building in New York City and the Lake Shore Drive Apartment complex in Chicago.

"It is the very simplicity of design and engineering that makes our Bauhaus product offering so attractive to the corporate exhibit manager," said Kenneth R. Payne, Impact Unlimited's executive vice president. "With today's pressure to maximize return on investment, exhibit managers are being told to do much more with a lot less. Awareness of the mandate under which our clients are working led us to develop our Bauhaus exhibit system. "By blending Impact Unlimited's award-winning design talents with our strategic marketing strengths and the aesthetics and mechanics of this new product, we are capable of delivering an eye-catching, cost-effective solution anywhere in the world," commented Payne.

Built with traditional Impact quality and sturdiness in mind, the Bauhaus modular construction assures almost unlimited configuration opportunities, so one display can address many different events with a variety of looks.

Because a Bauhaus exhibit weighs considerably less and occupies much less space than a conventional unit, exhibitors can expect great savings in shipping costs, as much as 70 percent less on a round-trip move from Impact Unlimited's plant here to San Francisco. For example, a 20-foot by 40-foot Bauhaus exhibit ships in less than one-fourth of the crates required for a traditional custom display--dramatically reducing storage and handling fees--and sets up and dismantles in approximately one-third the man-hours. Based on this, a company sending that same Bauhaus unit to San Francisco and back could save anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 in shipping and handling charges alone.

Additional savings can be achieved in labor and time involved in setting up Bauhaus exhibits because they are so easy to assemble on the tradeshow floor that they require no hand tools. Because of its snug almost "tongue and groove" design, a basic Bauhaus unit assembles easily without tools. Options such as doors and doorframes, light boxes, shelving and headers fit firmly in place with the use of a Phillips-head screwdriver.

Exhibitors have the option of renting Bauhaus exhibits in standard white or pear wood mica, or purchasing them in a wide range of available colors.

For additional information, call Sandie Stransky at [phone], Ext. 221.

Impact Unlimited delivers creative marketing communications solutions for events, exhibits and meetings. -0-

Bauhaus(TM) Backgrounder

Bauhaus, the architecture after which Impact Unlimited named its new line of trade show exhibits, traces its roots back to shortly after World War I. In 1919, Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus school of architecture and design in Weimar, Germany, which was to develop into a great influence on modern architecture, as well as the industrial and graphic arts and theater designs.

The Bauhaus was based on the principles of the 19th century English designer William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement that dictated that art should meet the needs of society and no distinction should be made between fine arts and practical crafts. It also depended on the more forward-looking principles that modern art and architecture must be responsive to the needs of the modern industrial world and that good designs must pass the test of both aesthetic standards and sound engineering. In his opening manifesto, Gropius issued a call for the unification of all the creative arts under the leadership of architecture. He declared that a mastery of materials and techniques was essential for all creative design. Each course was to be taught by both an expert craftsman and a master artist.

The Bauhaus style, also known as the International style, was marked by the absence of ornament and ostentatious facades and by harmony between function and the artistic and technical means employed.

In 1930, the Bauhaus came under the direction of the architect Ludwig Miles van der Rohe, who moved it to Berlin in 1932. By then, its principles and work were known worldwide. Many of its faculty immigrated to the United States, where the Bauhaus teachings came to dominate art and architecture for decades and strongly contributed to the International style.

Among those who came to the United States then was Mies, who later became dean of architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology and went on to design many buildings in this country. Paul Goldberger, architecture critic of the New York Times, called the Mies and Philip Johnson-designed Seagram Building "one of the great buildings of the 20th Century," in his 1979 "New York - A Guide to the Architecture of Manhattan." The 52-story IBM building along the Chicago River in Chicago, was Mies' last and tallest building.

Impact Unlimited delivers creative marketing communications solutions for events, exhibits and meetings. -0- Bauhaus(TM) is a trademark of Impact Unlimited.

CONTACT: Jeri Beenders

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www.impactunlimited.com.