What Is a Canopy Tent
While most people use the terms "canopy" and "tent" interchangeably, the two types of temporary shelters are actually quite different. Both have distinct features.
A canopy tent is often referred to as a temporary shelter comprised of a metal frame and a covering material. The covering material is most often polyester fabric or nylon. Canopies are recognizable from a distance by their peaked roofs and open sides that allow. Visitors can just walk underneath.
Canopies are sometimes also referred to as temporary gazebos, but users typically just refer to them as pop-up canopy tents. These shelters are mostly found at outdoor events, such as fairs, trade shows, or other types of outdoor shows, but they're not limited to outdoor use only. They can be used in larger convention centers.
Unsurprisingly, they also make fantastic advertising tools. They can be customized with your brand image, logo, or message and with further accessories. You can custom-add sides and rear walls, which can showcase some of your advertising.
What Is The Difference between a Canopy and a Tent?
To start off, tents and canopies have a lot of similarities, but it's important to note that canopies can be classified as a type of tent, meaning that every canopy is a tent, but not every tent is a canopy.
Canopies
As stated above, canopies are composed of metal frames that support a peaked or pyramid-shaped roof that's typically made of fabric or nylon. It's an open structure without any side walls that allow people to walk under it freely.
These frames typically aren't as heavy-duty as tent frames, but that doesn't mean that they aren't durable. However, they are designed with portability in mind, allowing for easy transport, setup, and disassembly, which is why they're quite popular for smaller events.
Even then, you can accessorize your canopy with stakes and weight bags, allowing them to withstand windy weather.
Since they're mostly used to provide shade and not shelter from inclement weather conditions, they're used in business fairs, outdoor markets, and beach party tents. They're perfect for creating a shaded spot for your employees to work under or a place for your guests to congregate under and get out of the scorching heat.
Tents
Tents, on the other hand, are typically more robust, enclosed temporary shelters. Though temporary, their robustness makes them more suitable for extreme weather. For starters, tents come in far more climate-controlling configurations unlike canopies, which mostly differ in size.
Tents are typically used in a more commercial setting, such as concerts, celebrations, and other large events.
Tents also have sidewalls, at least most of the time, but these are removable to allow for better airflow during the hot summers. Alternatively, if you want privacy, you can opt for a closed tent with air conditioning.
Tent frames (at least quality ones) are more robust as they're made of stronger materials, such as steel frames or aluminum frames. Additionally, tents come in different frame configurations, such as pole tents and frame tents. In most cases, a frame is usually modular, thus allowing you to make the tent larger to accommodate a bigger crowd.
And lastly, their design typically allows them to withstand more extreme weather and to be kept up for longer, which makes them perfect for events where tents won't be moved right away.
What Are The Features of a Commercial Canopy Tent?
A commercial canopy tent is much more than a temporary shelter that shields you and your staff from the sun. It's a powerhouse of branding potential. They can be customized for advertising purposes, thus enhancing your brand's visibility and driving growth. That's not the only benefit associated with canopy tents; you'll find more interesting features below.
Transportable
Canopy tents, including commercial ones, are designed with portability in mind, which means that they're quite lightweight yet incredibly durable. The transport-friendly design means they can be packed into a compact form—mostly inside a carrying case or a carry bag—which makes them easier to transport from one location to the other.
Custom canopy tents are perfect advertising tools for brands that take part in multiple events or trade shows throughout the year. They're one thing less to worry about when it comes to logistical challenges and costs associated with transport.
Weather Protection
Weather protection isn't the main selling point of canopy tents. Don't get us wrong; they're great for providing shade and shielding you, your staff, or your guests from the sun and perhaps some light drizzle. Some canopy tops are made of water-resistant materials and can even provide shelter during downpours.
But they're not great when it comes to wind protection. They have no side walls, and their lightweight construction isn't really suitable for situations with strong winds. This can be alleviated, however, by using weights or sandbags to anchor your outdoor canopy in place.
Fully Customizable
From an advertising perspective, extensive customizations are the most appealing feature of commercial canopy tents. Customization allows you to design the canopy to match your brand's aesthetics, from the color scheme to the company logo, texts, and taglines.
Look Our Way offers a wide variety of fully customizable canopy tents with a broad range of available options for further customization and enhancement of your advertising efforts. The wide range of customizations grants you the ability to create unique, eye-catching structures that align with your brand identity, setting your custom canopy apart from your competitors.
Ease of Assembly
Ease of use is one of the most attractive features associated with commercial canopy tents; these can be assembled by non-experienced personnel that have never put up a tent before. Unlike traditional tents, which usually require more than one person to set up or plenty of experience in putting up a tent alone, canopies can be assembled by a single person—though we advise against it.
The ease of assembly means you don't have to worry about complex setups or hiring additional help to assemble the canopy tent. Your staff can easily mount the canopy during one event, disassemble it once the event is over, and reassemble it at a different location/event. This significantly saves time on setup and takedown.
Cost-Effectiveness
Canopy tents are a one-time investment that provides incredible returns in the form of increased brand visibility and brand recall. Considering the functionality of canopy tents, and their advertising potential, they're quite reasonably priced, and while the price tag often depends on the size, material, and level of customization, canopies offer fantastic value for money.
Where Can Canopy Tents Be Used?
Custom canopy tents can be used in a variety of different situations, settings, and locations, which makes them quite a versatile temporary shelter and an advertising tool. Here are some places where canopy tents are most commonly used:
Outside Fairgrounds
Outdoor events, such as fairs and festivals, are a perfect place for commercial canopy tents. Their weather-resistant nature allows them to shield you from the sun and rain. They provide shelter while also maintaining your brand's visibility throughout the event.
Setting up the canopy on outdoor surfaces—mostly grassy or sandy terrains—might require additional use of stakes and weight bags to ensure stability. The additional weight, however, would depend on the size of the canopy tent and the prevailing weather conditions.
Indoor Conventions
The use of canopy tents isn't limited to outdoors alone since they can be used in bigger convention centers to promote your brand and make a lasting impression on potential customers.
The light weight and ease of use make them pretty straightforward to set up indoors, even in limited space.
However, while the indoor environments typically don't face wind issues, the crowd's hustle and bustle might still pose a risk. Understanding how to secure the canopy on concrete or indoor flooring is crucial in these situations to avoid damage to the surface and the canopy itself.
Farmer's Markets
Custom canopy tents are a great way to add a personal touch to local events, including farmer's markets. They can stand as beautiful, personalized shelters for customers. Furthermore, you can add lights to create a mood, which would help create an ambiance around your market.
It's really important to ensure that the surface is even when using a canopy. Ensure that the tent is weighted down to withstand unexpected gusts of wind. When raising a tent inside, you should check with the venue about specific restrictions regarding setup, accessories, or other equipment.
Other Events
Beyond the previously mentioned events, canopy tents are great for several other events as well, including beach parties, sporting events, company picnics, farmer's markets, and so much more. They're incredibly versatile, easy to set up, and have a wide range of customization options which makes them perfect for just about any occasion.
How Can Canopy Tents Be Customized?
LookOurWay offers a wide range of customization options for custom canopy tents, ranging from size selection, custom backing, sidewalls, and plenty of additional features. You'll find everything you need to know about customization options below.
Color/Design
LookOurWay seeks to provide you with the best possible service when it comes to customization options for your canopy, so it's best if you provide us with the design instructions for your custom canopy.
You can start by selecting the color scheme for the canopy, custom text, and the company's logo. Using complementing colors is highly advisable, as it will make the canopy more aesthetically appealing and the text more legible. This is the ultimate goal of any advertising method.
Additionally, if you're adding the company logo, consider the primary color of the canopy to complement the primary color of your company's logo. This will allow all the elements on your canopy to pop up and spread your brand's message.
Size
Canopies come in a variety of sizes, and the biggest canopy size offered by LookOurWay is 10×10 feet, which is the most common choice for many businesses and brands. Other sizes include 20×10ft, 15×10ft, and 5×5ft. All of these sizes offer customizable tops and additional customizations, such as backing or sidewalls—though these are optional purchases.
Of course, the size of the canopy, and all additional customizations and accessories, directly affect the product's price, with bigger canopies sporting higher price tags.
Custom Backing
Custom backing (often referred to as the back wall or the backdrop), is a fantastic way to enhance your canopy and your business's advertising efforts. The backing is entirely customizable, allowing you to choose either a solid color or a completely custom print for us to apply to the final product.
Of course, adding a custom backdrop to the canopy has to match the canopy's size and affects the overall price of the entire canopy tent.
Sidewalls
Canopies ship without sidewalls by default, but you can opt to purchase additional sidewalls for your canopy, including waist-high side walls or full-sized side walls. It's important to note that you can choose whether you want a single or double-sided print.
The former faces outwards, but the latter faces both ways, advertising your business even to those who have already walked under the canopy. Needless to say, the print quantity affects the canopy tent's overall price.
Accessories
Additional features and accessories include a ton of different customization options unrelated to the printing process. This includes sidewalls with zippers, battery-powered LED lights for canopy sets, custom tent leg covers, front walls with roll-up windows, feather flags, inflatable air dancers, table covers, weighted bags, and billboard banners.
All accessories are sold separately, so if this is your first time setting up a canopy tent, it's a good idea to follow what the competition is doing. Knowing how to equip your canopy also makes a difference between successful and unsuccessful promotional efforts.
Looking for a Canopy Tent That Meets Your Needs?
LookOurWay offers a wide selection of highly-customizable canopy tents to meet your business or brand's needs. Let us help you enhance your brand's exposure while simultaneously providing a functional shelter from the elements.
You can request a free mockup design: just provide us with the necessary details, such as a color scheme, text, logo design, and some design instructions, and our team will reach out with several design mockups for you to choose from.
Contact us about your design, and we'll get back to you with design mockups for you to choose from. However, if you have any further questions, or require assistance with ordering our goods and services, don't hesitate to contact LookOurWay—we're here to help you design your own canopy that suits your business needs.
