The Incredible Impossibility of the Super Bowl Halftime Show
EVENT DESIGN, EVENT INDUSTRY, EVENT PRODUCTION INSPIRATION, EVENT PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
As you re making your last minute game-day dip selections and 60-inch TV purchases, there s a group of brave people who have been prepping for this Super Bowl Sunday since last year.
Spoiler alert: It s not any member of the Falcons or the Patriots.
No, for these ambitious folks, the game really begins when the players leave the field. It s halftime.
It s showtime.
A Logistical Nightmare
The team that puts on the Super Bowl halftime show truly accomplishes something incredible. While normal stage setup for a stadium-size concert usually takes a day or more, the Super Bowl halftime stage is assembled in just minutes six minutes to be exact.
According to Charles Coplin, VP of Special Events for the NFL, last year s Super Bowl XXXVIII (with the halftime show featuring Coldplay, Beyonce and Bruno Mars), they had six minutes to bring the stage on and set it up, and six minutes to break it all down. Oh and not to mention, leave the field in pristine condition for the second half of the world s most prestigious football game.
You see, not only do these incredibly elaborate stage setups have to happen quicker than the time it takes to boil six cups of water, they also have to do so without the help of heavy machinery or motor vehicles. Cranes and trucks could tear up the field or bump a goal post. There is way too much at stake to cause a delay of game due to a rogue rig.
Yeah there really isn t any room for mistakes. Like zero room. Because when they say that the Super Bowl halftime show is a huge stage, they mean that both literally and figuratively. What happens on that stage will be seen. By millions. Live. (Or maybe with a slight delay to prevent any future wardrobe malfunctions. )
In fact, there have been many years when the halftime show actually gets more viewership than the football game itself. This was true for last year s show. Super Bowl 50, which saw the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers 24-10, had an average viewership of 111.9 million TV viewers. And when was its largest viewership of the night recorded? That s right. During halftime. 115.5 million TV viewers. And even that s rounding down.
This count from Nielson doesn t include out-of-home viewers who went to catch the game at a bar or at their friend s house. It also doesn t include online streaming viewers, or the nearly 70,000 fans that filled Levi Stadium.
OK, so the stage has to be setup in six minutes, using predominantly volunteers and virtually no heavy machinery. There can be no damage done to any area of the field. The performance needs to be executed flawlessly coordinating A-list performers, dancers, lights, sound, props and pyrotechnics because millions of people will be watching live. And then in another six minutes the stage has to be taken down and everyone tucked back in their seats before halftime ends, with zero damage to the field.
Oh yeah, and you also have to put on a halftime show that kicks ass.
Pushing a 12-minute Show to the Limit
What truly makes halftime amazing is that even with all of these restrictions, it still has to be an unforgettable show. It still has to astound the audience. It still has to keep us talking about it, comparing it to other halftime shows year after year.
Each Super Bowl halftime show tries to push the envelope a little further. Increase the WOW factor just a little more. Let s look at some examples, shall we?
1993 Super Bowl XXVII This is the show that really kicked off the modern halftime extravaganza. In the beginning, Michael Jackson impersonators seemingly morphed from within the digital scoreboards, appearing on top of them to dance high above the stadium. Then, Michael Jackson himself shot up from the stage floor and stared down the audience for a full 90 seconds without moving. A full 90 seconds.
A halftime spectacular featuring Michael Jackson wows a SB XXVII crowd of better than 98,000 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on 1/31/1993. Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images Photos (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)
1995 Super Bowl XXIX Produced by Disney, this performance featured a live-action Indiana Jones skit, complete with 13 professional stuntmen, skydivers, Patti LaBelle, and one guy who got lit on fire (intentionally). While this halftime show received a lot of ridicule, it was the only one to feature stuntmen and live fight scenes no matter how hokey.
1996 Super Bowl XXX The headliner, Diana Ross, had 12 wardrobe changes, and left the stage in a helicopter.
2007 Super Bowl XLI This show featured a remarkable performance by Prince while it actually rained. The pouring rain wasn t planned, but the show definitely did go on. And it was fucking awesome.
2012 Super Bowl XLVI This year had an impressive stage completely outfitted with projection mapping. DWP Live, the projection mapping crew, spent nearly 3 weeks getting things ready in Indianapolis. The stage looked spectacular moving and transforming beneath Madonna and her dancers.
Photo By: Brad Duns via MomentFactory.com
Photo By: Brad Duns via MomentFactory.com
2015 Super Bowl XLIX Katy Perry rode in on a GIANT animatronic tiger (that looked like a lion), and then left by flying around the stadium on a star.
This year, we are eagerly awaiting the over-the-top antics of Lady Gaga. Rumor has it she will be performing alone, maybe with a small cameo by Tony Bennett, but we d love to see some surprise guests. There s also some high flying rumors that she will perform on top of the stadium, or suspended down from the roof in someway a rumor she has neither confirmed nor denied. She did, however, say that her stage would be athletic, so that sounds fun.
The 2017 halftime show has been designed by Bruce Rogers from Tribe Inc., who has been designing the Super Bowl halftime show for more than a decade. LeRoy Bennett has also joined him this year as a co-production designer. We expect the results from this dynamic duo to be nothing short of legendary.
Will you be tuning in to this year s 2017 Super Bowl LI halftime show? We ll be there, and we ll be live tweeting at @decibelevent so follow us and talk to us to let us know what you think. Bring on the guacamole.
Level up your floor plans: Great 3D modelling tutorials for event producers
EVENT PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
Curious what it takes to DIY your spatial models? Want to be able to throw together a 3D walkthrough of an event area? Feeling like adding another skill to your set? Self-improver, we applaud you. We ll be looking at tutorials that introduce some of the most commonly-used programs in the 3D layout-i-verse, AutoCAD and SketchUp, but the truth is, you can use almost any 3D design program to create a room, site, stage, or interior space. Blender, for example, is a free 3D modelling suite with a robust user base and fan community that publish new tutorials frequently.
AutoCAD
Oh hoh! We re feeling feisty, I see. Goin for gold. Feeling powerful and full of vim. Okay. If we re starting with the heavy lifting, we d better take it slow. AutoCAD, as you probably know, is primarily an architectural tool for drafting, but it s been adapted for use across multiple industries. The software is very complex, comprising a full suite of industry-leading tools for 2D and 3D spatial design.
2D room layouts created in AutoCAD can also be exported to the other 3D design programs, so it s not unheard-of for event designers to use AutoCAD for creating the room structure and dimensions (a function at which it excels), and then finish the rendering in Blender or SketchUp.
Learn the basic controls: Hitchhiker s Guide to AutoCAD
This multi-part tutorial from the makers of AutoCAD covers the basic functions and features of the program.
45-minute AutoCAD starter video
Already a bit tech-savvy? Rather not suffer through 12 lessons to get a grip on the basic tools? This video takes a faster approach to familiarizing you with the workspace.
2D Floor Plans
Starting with flat models, this 20-minute tutorial walks you through the basics of building a floor plan in 20 minutes .
Turning Plans into Models in AutoCAD
A 16-minute overview on how to turn a flat plan into a 3D model.
Your First Set of Plans in AutoCAD
Geared more towards up-and-coming architects, this 17-lesson, pay-to-play course from digitaltutors.com is the Cadillac of AutoCAD tutorials. Check this out if you re interested in learning advanced interior and spatial design modelling.
Sketchup
SketchUp is a popular 3D drawing tool created by the good men and women at Google. There is a free version of sketchup for personal use, most professionals who plan to do a good deal of modeling spring for the pro version ($695). 3D objects can be created from scratch in Sketchup, or, as mentioned, can be imported from tools like AutoCAD (here s how).
Once you ve got a good command of the software itself, you can trawl the SketchUp 3D Warehouse for pre-made 3D furniture and decor items to toss into your room layout. The SketchUp site also offers a few of its own getting started videos, or check out these tutorials created by independent designers:
Learning the Workspace
How to create your first-ever SketchUp 3D model.
Create a 2D Floorplan
Today I am going to walk you through my process for drawing a 2D floor plan in SketchUp from measurements I ve taken at a client s home or business (in the field).
Creating a 3D Model from a Floor Plan
How to turn a 2D floorplan into a three-dimensional layout in SketchUp.
How to Use SketchUp to Create an Event Layout
Once you ve got the basics down, this video will teach you how to use SketchUp to layout a meeting room, banquet hall or other event space.
Site Modelling in SketchUp
For the very ambitious, here s a look at creating an entire 3D site plan for a large outdoor event.
Give Up
No? Too hard? Too much sitting and clicking while you burn through productive hours like a lava flow through Pompeii? No sweat, friend. There s a reason Social Tables is successful. Head over there, sign up, and do your floor plans the point-and-click way. We won t judge.
8 Bad Ass Products You Need For Events from CES 2017
EVENT INDUSTRY, LIVE EVENTS, TRADE SHOW
When you re a kid, wonderment can be found around every corner. When you re an adult, there are three main places you can go to experience that same childlike rush of awesomeness: Disneyland, Legoland and CES.
Unlike Disneyland, the magic displayed at CES is real; and unlike Legoland, it isn t larger than life, it is life. These are the futuristic, cutting-edge products straight out of The Jetsons and they re right here, right now. (Or at least in prototype.)
The Consumer Electronics Show featured 3,800 companies showing off products in a record 2.6 million net square feet of exhibit space with gadgets ranging from the brilliant to the fucking insane. So, we ve rounded up our favorites for rock star event professionals. Take a look:
Razer Project Valerie Triple-Screen Laptop
(Photo Credit: Razer)
Razer has created the world s first portable laptop with triple monitors. The additional screens are built-in and fold back into a 17-inch laptop case to take on the go. Unlike most laptops, it s a 12-pounder, but has a top-of-the-line graphics card and technology to date.
It may be meant for gamers, we re imagining the Project Valerie used in a command center overlooking your event floor. Even at 12 pounds, it would be easier to lug around than your laptop and two monitors when you need extra screen space to quickly and efficiently manage your next main stage. Unfortunately, this bad boy is only a prototype for now and isn t for sale yet. Our credit card is ready, Razer. Just say the word.
Smart Shoes from Under Armour
As if we didn t love them enough already, Under Armour has won our hearts again. Smart Shoes have been tracking running speed and cadence for about a year now, but this new update takes the cake. Jump six times in a row, and Smart Shoes 3.0 will measure how tired you are, letting you know if you re ready to run, need a break, or need an extra warm-up. Now if only they could design a smart shoe with a built in foot massager for those endless event days on the trade show floor. 4.0 release, pretty please?
Samsung Gear VR 4D Experience
(Photo Credit: Samsung)
One of the most popular demos at #CES2017 was the Samsung Gear VR 4D Gyro Experience. It had people seeing, hearing and FEELING the thrills of a space race. The line for this ride was super long, but also super worth it. Building a custom amusement park ride on your show floor really ups the ante for VR, and it wasn t the only virtual reality demo Samsung brought either, they had quite an impressive lineup! We re big on VR over here at dB, and can t wait to see where this technology will take us in the near future.
LG OLED TV Tunnel
(Photo Credit: Steve Marcus/Reuters)
LG is known for showing everyone up at CES, but they really outdid themselves with this stunning LG OLED TV Tunnel display. The TV Tunnel was a totally immersive display that transported you to another world, without the need for a virtual reality headset. It s made up of 216 55-inch LG OLED 4K TVs, working insync to display spectacular views of the solar system, jellyfish, whales and other astounding images.
While this display is showcasing the outstanding abilities of LG TVs, we can see this TV Tunnel being used at a variety of different events. Right off the top of our heads? We re thinking red carpet movie premiere entrance. Boom. You re welcome.
Kanex MultiSync Folding Bluetooth Keyboard
Here s a smaller, simpler, yet super helpful device spotted at CES 2017. The Kanex MultiSync folding keyboard is an uber portable keyboard that connect to any of your devices by Bluetooth. Event days are long and fast-paced, and the last thing you need slowing you down is slowing punching out an email on your smartphone. Whip out this bad boy and you ll get that email done in half the time, assuming you can type on a keyboard faster than you can text, that is.
The best part? The keys really compress just like those laptop keys you know and love. Bonus: it retails for just $50.
BACTrack Skyn World s First Wearable Alcohol Monitor
(Photo Credit: BACtrack)
There s nothing quite like enjoying an ice cold adult beverage after working a long event day. (Truth be told, we prefer Don Julio to Dos Equis, but don t tell The Most Interesting Man in the World.) Chances are if you don t have another early call time, you ll need to be up early to catch a flight home, so monitoring your alcohol consumption is key. And that s where BACtrack Skyn comes in.
BACtrack Skyn is the world s first wearable alcohol monitor. While wearing the sleek BACtrack Skyn, you can learn when you re approaching higher alcohol levels so you can make better decisions about when it s time to call it a night. There are currently two working prototypes, a standalone wearable that goes around your wrist, or a band that integrates with your Apple Watch for seamless alcohol consumption tracking, continuously and in near real-time. Bottoms up.
Fossil Releasing More Than 300 Fashion Smart Watches in 2017
(Photo Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
Move over, Apple Watch. Fossil Group is releasing a line of smartwatches this year, but promise to continue to focus on being fashion-first. So you can still look sharp while getting your emails, checking your event schedule, and tracking your steps.
There are over 300 connected watches to be released in 2017 from brands like Armani Exchange and Misfit, in addition to 2016 s brands Kate Spade and Michael Kors, to name a few. Classy yet functional, that s how #eventprofs roll.
Moshi s Arcus Backpack
The Arcus Backpack may not be the flashiest item at CES, but it certainly is quite useful for hard-working, ridiculously good-looking event professionals like you and I. Described as the clown car of backpacks by CNET, this bag certainly has a place for everything. It can easily fit a DSLR camera and several lenses, as well as a 15 computer, tennis shoes, notebooks, cords, candy bars and more. It has a special crush-resistant compartment for your cell phone, glasses or other delicate items, as well a side water bottle holder to keep you properly hydrated.
The designers at Moshi said they wanted to create a backpack that they would actually use, and we can honestly say we would be happy to use this one.
What did we miss that could be useful in our event management corner of the universe? Get at us on Twitter at @decibelevent or on Instagram at @DecibelManagement and let us know!
Three Experiential Installations that Solved Actual Problems
BRAND ACTIVATIONS & MARKETING
Ginormous wall-mounted drum kits. Experimental tea-time pop-up bars. These are cool, and we love them. And yes, it is always Pimm s O clock. But experiential really goes to the next level when it can be applied to problems that plague our community.
What the Phonics
Total geniuses Andrew Spitz and Momo Miyazaki noticed something weird about the street names in Copenhagen: no one could pronounce them but the Dutch. Which sucks, because if you don t live somewhere, you probably have to ask for directions a lot, and that s embarrassing enough as it is. Solution? The What the Phonics project, a kickass idea that blends cheeky design with much-needed function into a cool little device that helps passers-by pronounce arcane street names, like Rosenborggade and Nyhavn .
The Piano Stairs
The Fun Theory, an initiative of Volkswagen, maintain that fun is the best way to change people s behavior for the better. And to prove it, they built an interactive musical staircase that s a lot more exciting than riding an escalator. Their project returned measurable results, with 66{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} more people choosing the stairs than normal. The Fun Theory has tackled a pile of tough issues with the same methodology, using fun to encourage drivers to obey the speed limit, recycle glass, use seat belts, and refrain from littering.
Nike interactive billboard
BBDO created an interactive billboard for Nike in Argentina, inviting passersby to have a run on a treadmill that logs a communal kilometer count. For each kilometer run, Nike donates a set amount to UNICEF, urging that Training for the 10k doesn t only help you. For each kilometer run, you will be helping UNICEF.’
Bonus: the anti-Cancer Punching Bag
We actually featured this in another post on the blog recently, but it s so awesome, we re throwing it up here again. If you haven t seen this project, an experiential punching bag that lets participants fight cancer with their fists, check this out (it s available to rent for events, people):
Four Cool Auto-Industry Experiential Marketing & Activations
BRAND ACTIVATIONS & MARKETING
We re on a car kick this month that deconstructive shallow dive into the intricacies of auto unveilings turned up a lot of good stuff, including a long list of experiential campaigns by auto manufacturers from which we ve picked out four of the best.
The Kia Dream Chute
You remember when you were a kid, and you couldn t understand grown-ups and their stupid architectural decisions? Like, if you owned a house, why would you choose to build a living room where a giant ball pit could be? And Why O Why would you not build a water slide from your bedroom window into the pool? Kia gets it, man. That s why they built a huge two-story slide in London s Westfield Shopping Center to celebrate the launch of the 2014 Kia Soul, a car that hasn t forgotten how to have a little fun. The Dream Chute was equipped with a camera that snapped shots of everyone s slide-ride O-face, which visitors were offered as souvenirs.
Pong made out of Smart Cars
Imagine you re a Daimler smart car. Everyone loves your idea. They just they just can t get past your lack of sex appeal. They can t see past your good girl exterior to the whip-cracking, garter-wearing party girl you are. BBDO to the rescue.
BBDO created this experiential event for car-maker Daimler to showcase their new electric car at the Frankfurt Auto Show. They created an interactive version of the classic arcade pong replacing the paddles with cars. Members of the public got to play the game and experience the driving fun of an electric car in an interactive way.
2014 Toyota Corolla Launch
Sometimes you just gotta blow the lid off everything and get fancy. Liquid nitrogen cocktails. Roasted pork belly with licorice grits. New cars floating down out of the clouds. No, really, get a load of this Wolves of Wall Street madness: As a finale to the spectacular performance, a 2014 Corolla descended from the ceiling Also acrobats, I guess? I m not sure if this qualifies as experiential but it definitely qualifies as an experience.
Audi Spheres Project
Augmented reality, video walls, touch screens this future-and-then-some installation is basically a Holodeck that lets participants interact with the future of the Audi brand.
The interactive exhibition, Audi Sphere, was launched in front of Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen. In three large spheres visitors can experience key aspects of Audi s cutting edge technology: Audi ultra, Audi e-tron, and Audi connect a networking strategy for all Audi vehicles.
Unusual Event Formats: Zen and the Art of Auto Unveilings
LOL
Ever notice there s a playbook for new car launches? Watch enough of em, and you ll notice the format s actually fairly standardized: keyword-heavy executive speech, followed by intro video that may or may not involve glass shattering in slow motion, followed by high-drama entrance of actual car which will probably roll onto a rotating dais where lights will caress the length and breadth of its chassis. A quintessential example? Okay, how about the Alfa Romeo Giulia Unveiling at the 2015 Los Angeles Auto Show?
See? It s a thing. Let s break this down:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1yx35nmN88
The Executive Speech: Exotic Accents FTW
Nobody wants to buy a machine crapped out by middling engineers in a factory in Chicago. We all want to drive something made by kooky Japanese geniuses that left a promising career in military robotics because they felt honor-bound to bring minimalist perfectionism to every American driveway. Or maybe also by a crack team of Austrian thinkers, who do philosophy in their spare time.
The Soundtrack: Jewel Heists and Vampires
When the car rolls out on stage, it should make every single member of the press feel like Wesley Snipes making heads roll in full pleather.
The Entrance The Slow Drive
The car can t just, like, drive onto stage. It has to roll up like a bond villain pulling out of a parking garage in Vienna.
The Lighting Pan: A Firmament of LEDs
Tron:Legacy may have taken a poor stab at revitalizing a beloved scifi, but it proved one thing true: everything looks exponentially hotter outlined in a halo of LEDs. This fact has not been lost on the auto industry, which has given rise to experiential designers who specialize in creating auto-appropriate visual programming.
The Slow Spin: the Hope Dia
This is what it would look like if they sold the Hope Diamond on QVC.
Did we call that, or what?
What Event Producers can Learn from Basketball s Buzziest Coup
EVERYTHING ELSE
You into basketball? If yes, check out this in-depth piece on ESPN by Ethan Sherwood Strauss, You won t believe how Nike lost Steph to Under Armour . For those of you who aren t keeping tabs courtside, a quick summary of the story: then-up-and-coming player Stephen Curry signs a shoe contract with Nike, Nike kinda marginalizes and undervalues the guy, Under Armour entices Curry away, Curry goes on to superstardom, Nike bawwwws. It was indeed a loss worthy of some hand-wringing: Morgan Stanley estimates Curry s post rise-to-fame value at $14 billion. The coup is all the more impressive considering that Under Armour lays claim to less than 1 percent of the sneaker market .
Maybe this is arrogance, maybe it s just that everyone fancies themselves the underdog, but from a personal perspective, the story resonates with the folks here at Decibel. We ve always prided ourselves on being the scrappy little guy getting big things done, taking the lean approach to project execution. It s nice to be reminded that most of the time, it just comes down to who cares more.
The Pitch is Everything
And nothing says I don t care like a shoddy pitch. Read the story, and you ll see there was no one factor that decided Curry s defection, but the fumbled pitch meeting reads like a real turning point:
Famed Nike power broker and LeBron James adviser Lynn Merritt was not present, a possible indication of the priority or lack thereof that Nike was placing on the meeting. Instead, Nico Harrison, a sports marketing director at the time, ran the meeting The pitch meeting, according to Steph s father Dell, who was present, kicked off with one Nike official accidentally addressing Stephen as Steph-on, the moniker, of course, of Steve Urkel s alter ego in Family Matters. I heard some people pronounce his name wrong before, says Dell Curry. I wasn t surprised. I was surprised that I didn t get a correction.
It got worse from there. A PowerPoint slide featured Kevin Durant s name, presumably left on by accident, presumably residue from repurposed materials. I stopped paying attention after that, Dell says. Though Dell resolved to keep a poker face, throughout the entirety of the pitch, the decision to leave Nike was in the works.
*wince*. Look, Nike doesn t need a lesson in running meetings they know better. They just got complacent, easy to do when you re at the top.
Good Word-of-Mouth is Worth More than Money
A clever strategy does things money never can. Instead of courting Curry directly, Under Armour courted one of Curry s teammates, very publicly deluging him with tokens of appreciation. In the end, it was that same teammate that pushed Curry to make the switch. Throwing money at something won t buy you that kind of loyalty, and won t inspire spontaneous recommendations. Treating your people right, though? That will.
Brand and sponsor value alignment is crucial
As some ESPN commentators noted, it s also possible that Curry simply wasn t right for Nike in the first place. Nike, they point out, likes their athletes larger-than-life. Curry, more zip than brawn, is almost too relatable. Yeah, maybe that was all, but it sounds like there was a mismatch of values as well: Nike values raw power, Curry values smart plays; Nike values big and flashy, Curry values small but special. This holds true in festival and event sponsorships as well: the most mutually-beneficial partnerships are born of shared values and shared goals.
Under Armour is kind of Badass
The gutsy play is a little less surprising considering that UA started out as a one-man, one-trunk operation:
Working from his grandmother s basement in Washington DC s Georgetown neighborhood, he traveled up and down the East Coast selling his revolutionary new product out of the trunk of his car. By the end of 1996, Plank made his first team sale, and Under Armour generated $17,000 in sales.
Lots of respect for Under Armour.
Fuck Yes, Festival Artwork: More Pretty Event Collateral
EVENT COLLATERAL
Every six months or so we hand-pick the loveliest examples of large-scale event branding from some of the most talented designers and agencies in the world. This time around, we re focusing on the festival circuit.
Tallinn Music Week 2015
What the hell is going on in Estonia? There s a bunch of lovely collateral coming out that place. I guess that s not so weird, though. The country is floating somewhere in between Germany and Scandinavia. They probably teach toddlers Swiss design techniques at gunpoint. Anyway, this great collateral set was created by Aku Studio, who approached the project from a multidisciplinary perspective, using wood cut-outs, photography, and digital design together to create each piece.
Eye La Festival
Sergi Delgado specializes in eye-melting designs. Asked to imagine a mural for Barcelona s La Festival, Sergi created a 250cmx250cm image that represents a new look at the world of wine. A fresh look in order to bring freshness to a sector that at first glance may seem complex, but seen [up close], [is as] friendly and fun as the drops that make up this eye.
Panama Plus Festival
Panama Plus is a yearly festival focusing on alternative culture, particularly via music, prose and cinematography. This year s branding, created by Moby Digg out of Munich, uses color to underscore the festival s vibrant spirit.
Spring Festival Poster Series
Hello, France. This is the kind of cohesive branding you get when your festival sticks with a single agency over the years, and that agency knows what they re doing. For 4 years, we ve been eating poppies ! And we do it with a great pleasure each new season. Since its creation 20 years ago, the poppy has become the harbinger of the Printemps de P rouges ( Spring of P rouges ), an eclectic music festival. Originally coming from an old partnership with the flower by Kenzo fragrance, the poppy stayed and blossomed year after year. Since 2012, we ve been paper gardeners : a paper fruit salad in 2014, a teeming jungle in 2015 And for the 20th anniversary of the Festival in 2016, we imagined an explosive gift package!
WOW Awards Asia
We couldn t decide on a single picture here, because it s not really the visual designs from the 2015 WOW Awards that knock this project by Zaina Engineer out of the park, lovely though they are, but rather the progression of the conceptual execution. Listen to this noise:
The WOW Awards were instituted by EVENT FAQs Media in 2008 to recognize excellence in events and experiential marketing. Over 6 editions, the platform has grown to become a celebration of innovation, evolution and unique initiatives beyond the awards themselves. The concept emerged from an exercise of visualizing the various countries as pieces of lego or building blocks that came together to form the entire Asian sub-continent. Using the visual outcome of this exercise I could build a dynamic grid on which the identity was based.
Present Future Film Festival
Au Chon Hin and Chon Hong Lao collaborated on this eye-vibrating modernist beauty for Japan s Present Future Film Festival.
Spoken Word Festival
The awesome artistic brains over at Anekdote Studio in Denmark created this street-arty, eyeball-nabbing promo series.
Flow
Flow is a musical initiative of DJ Franky Rizardo that started in 2013 as a weekly radio show on SLAM!FM. The initiative has now evolved into a musical movement, with a number of stage hostings on prestigious festivals both in The Netherlands as well as abroad, like Dance Valley, Free Your Mind, Summer Festival, Amsterdam Dance Event and so on.
LEdition Festival
A nod to Avant Post for this one.
5 Activations that turned Napping into Experiential Marketing
BRAND ACTIVATIONS & MARKETING
Sleep as the core concept behind a brand activation isn t easy to pull off. For one thing, it s slow: if you re serving pancakes out of the back of a truck, it s a 1-minute turn-around per customer engagement. Naps, though? Could be ten minutes, could be an hour. It s also unpredictable: people do weird stuff in their sleep and they don t like to be woken up. Plus, since most activations happen in high-energy public areas, you re working against the natural rhythm of the environment and the day. Considering all those potential problems, rolling out a nap-based activation is a pretty ballsy endeavor.
That said, done right, it can be very well-received. Examples? Here s five:
No Worries Motel
If anyone oughta be doing nap-based promo, it s AirBnB. Teaming up with Fosters in Finland for the Provinssi Music Festival, they launched the No Worries Motel, a two-bed crash pad built into a shipping container and located inside the festival area with views of the stage. Check out the listing, it s still online.
Van Gogh Bedroom
The No Worries Motel wasn t the first time AirBnB jumped under those covers. In 2013, they teamed up with the Art Institute of Chicago s Van Gogh exhibit to create a live, rent-able replica of Van Gogh s own painting of his small starving-artist apartment. The walls, doors and furnishings are stroked with paint in Van Gogh s signature style. (Photo via AirBnB)
Nappuccino
To promote the launch of their new flat white, London coffee chain Gregg s launched outdoor Napuccino pods, where customers could get a few minutes of midday shut-eye. Drinking a cup of coffee followed by a 20-minute power nap is the best way to reduce daytime slump, claims the campaign.
Nap Cafe
Breakfast in bed? Yes please. IKEA launched a pop-up promotion serving brekkies to Londoners while they lounged between the sheets. The Wall Street Journal:
Starting later this month, IKEA is opening a pop-up cafe in London s trendy Shoreditch area, serving traditional Swedish breakfasts and offering siestas in a range of their most comfortable beds, the company said. People can book a bed for a 45-minute slot 7 a.m. and noon to relax in a single or double bed where they will be served by specially trained waiting staff and sleep specialists, IKEA said. Then, from noon to 3 p.m., the beds will be available for naps.
Nap Pods
Breathe Right nasal strips partnered with experiential agency Blammo to create the Breathe Right Pod Hotel, offering busy Canadians a free 20-minute power nap.
Design Thinking for Event Producers: Takeaways from the Adobe XD Design Week 2016 Branding
EVENT COLLATERAL, EVENT DESIGN
If anyone was gonna knock their event branding out of the park, it was gonna be the people who invented Photoshop. But the Adobe XD Design Week branding is a special case of above and beyond.
What is XD Design Week?
The Adobe XD Group is a global design organization responsible for the user experience of most of Adobe s products. Once a year or so, we gather all of our designers, researchers, engineers, and other team members together in San Francisco for a week-long event where we share our work, build our relationships, and plan for the next year.
Crafted by rock star designers Anny Chen and Shawn Cheris, the branding for this event isn t just an example of pretty colors well-worked. This is design thinking at its finest: a rock-solid core concept in the case, the event theme supported by visuals that are both appropriate to that theme and lovely to look upon. Yeah, yeah, Adobe s got one up on the rest of us, in the sense that they have access to some of the best visual artists in the world. But it isn t just artistic skill that carried this branding forward: it was the strategic creative process that underpins the art. So how do we get a little closer to achieving similarly beautiful results in our own events? Well, we learn to think like a designer.
Isolate the Core Concept
Bad design says, Ooh, these color are pretty. Good design says, What are we trying to communicate? If your event isn t centered around a core concept, you re hamstrung right out of the gate. The theme for this year s XD Design Week was convergence , and that was the anchoring idea from which the rest of the festival flowed.
Decide on Means of Visual Expression
Time to dig deeper. We ve got a concept. Now, how are we going to choose to express it?
We explored the ways in which the idea of convergence could be expressed visually forms literally converging on the page, shapes being overlaid on top of one another, and juxtaposition of subject matter (e.g. human versus machine). As we delved deeper, we became more interested in the notion of the Venn diagram, and exploring what happens in the areas where two objects intersect and create a new third space.
Exploring the concept of convergence
Build a Visual System
Festival collateral is extremely diverse, and the imagery you settle on will have to extend across multiple mediums. Your system should be cohesive, meaning that all the parts look like they go together. It should be scalable, meaning that a conference badge and a t-shirt and a stage backdrop and a website can be designed under the guidelines of the system without breaking the system. It should be a little flexible, because life throws curveballs sometimes. How d Adobe do it?
We chose the circle as the consistent, anchoring element with which other shapes would converge on the page. The circle can embody multiple metaphors a lens, a different world, or a unifed whole. We also explored typographic treatments that would integrate well with the visual system. We chose Futura PT (Heavy 700) for its clean, geometric lines, and played with slicing the type along the axis of when two shapes intersected. The color palette and use of gradients were a direct nod to the Adobe XD brand.
Oh, right, and it should be on brand, if at all possible.
Apply holistically
Creating a single piece of collateral at a time, printing it, putting it into use, and then creating the next piece leaves the door open for a scattered and incoherent brand. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and logistics, that s usually what happens. Yes, deadlines are looming. Yes, you need the invitations first, and then posters later, and the speaker schedule booklets last of all. But best case scenario, your event design gets done all at once. At the very least, if you can t have everything designed at the same time, it s important to sketch out a design outline of each piece as a general roadmap so you don t go off course.
Wanna see more stuff from Adobe XD Design Week? Check out the project on Behance.