Creating Big Drama From Small Details

Los Angeles from the rooftop of The Ritz

After parties are more than after thoughts. They are another opportunity for clients to extend their brand and create a further connection with their audience. And in this case, it was a chance for Los Angeles to show off another facet of its new entertainment complex, LA Live.

Following an awards lunch at the J.W. Marriott (see my last blog post for more on that), Pulse 220 and AOO Events got right to work finishing the setup for an after-party to be attended by the same guests. It was held at the rooftop pool of the city's new Ritz Carlton at LA Live. This space is a fantastic outdoor venue which features a gorgeous view of the city that impresses both native Angelenos and out-of-town guests!

As you can see, the rooftop space at the Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles at LA Live is instant drama even before one flower or table goes in which was perfect for this event. We had a limited decor budget for the 150-person event. To make this work, we took what was there already and enhanced it. Here is the result:

During the site inspection the first thing I noticed was a building in the middle of the space tiled in all-white. Something like that makes me drool thinking of the possibilities! I knew instantly what I wanted to do. Working with Nate at Lighten Up, I designed a look that would make the building look like a present wrapped in the same orange as the client's logo. This effect was created from three light instruments with a specific architectural gobo and a split gel of amber and orange.


To make the warm tones of the orange building pop even more, all the surrounding colors were done in cool blue tones. Logos were placed in areas that were prominent but didn't send an "in-your-face" signal.

Color was also part of the design and the branding and the client's logo color is fantastic to design with. Here it is in a floral piece -- orange roses and mums created in a high-style pattern in modern white vases.

The high "sharing" tables we brought in featured mirrored tops which we branded with the client's logo in a vinyl applique. The Panton stools from Town and Country Event Rentals were perfect for the modern aesthetics of the location. Pops of orange were provided by flowers on the tables.

If I do say so myself, I really loved this look! More important, I love that we achieved such a big look with a limited decor budget. And to do that, we simply enhanced what was there rather than trying to "transform" the space into something it's not. This photo is another example of that. The sharing tables you see were rented, but the stools were from the hotel bar as were the lighted tables and buffets. All we did to make them fit the design was to change the lighting color to support the event scheme.

A Design Challenge is No Match for a Lifetime of Preparation

In this post, I will take you from the initial client concept, to the venue, through the inspiration boards, to the construction and finally, the installation of an event for a corporate awards show.

Coming up with the design was especially challenging. Once again we were working with Pulse 220 to create the look, but this time the event would take place in the brand new J.W. Marriott at L.A. Live.

The client had conveyed to us the message they wanted to send through design in the photo below. The logo is quite specific but it didn't offer that much to go on for design. But what I DID get from this photo were the colors -- black, and of course, always orange. It had a metallic, industrial steel feeling. Masculine, clean and unmistakably about sports.


Then... I walked into the venue. The new Marriott has a very bold look to it. I am sure that the look on my face was like "huh?" How do I even come close to mixing the two? I stood in the room for about 15 minutes trying to come up with ways to transform such a distinctive space.


There are a couple tricks. The most obvious is floor-to-ceiling drape to create a blank canvas. The less obvious approach is a trick of light -- taking one of the main colors in the pattern then washing that area in light actually will make the pattern disappear. This can be done for wall patterns and carpet patterns. That only works if one of the main colors in that pattern actually exists in lighting.

Here's a perfect example of what I'm talking about:

In the case of this event we did in Miami (again, working with Pulse 220), a red lighting wash didn't hide the carpet pattern because there was no red in it.

But, when I stood in the middle of the room, working with the lighting designer and instructing him on color, the blue DID hide it, because the pattern contained that color blue. Cool, yes?

But back to this event. In this case, the bold pattern was brown and tan, two colors that don't exist in lighting. So that option was off the table. The other option (which was not really an option) was to ignore it altogether. Then there was one more option -- work with it, and find something that makes sense.



As you can see by our renderings above, we worked with the colors and even went a little bold against the pattern by bringing in a contrasting striped linen. The linen took a little work to find but I eventually went with the Breezeway Onyx from La Tavola. It fit the retro styling and the colors tied into the walls and allowed me to do orange flowers in the centerpiece which would pop off the black and brown overtones. The cloth was a little more casual, but since this was a lunch rather than a dinner, it was perfect.

The flower design was also a bit retro. It was a pave (pa-vay) of orange dahlias in the center highlighted by a pinwheel of brown flax, making it look sort of like a giant sunflower. It filled the middle of the large, 72-inch round table perfectly. And the pattern of the linen didn't compete with the pattern of the wall. In fact, it supported it.

The overall room in which we matched the chairs and wall paper architecturally with the stage treatment and floral design.

Below is our production manager, Al Sierra, standing the middle of the stage's central element -- an oversized frame. This was tricky as all frames around a screen can vary, so we needed to coordinate to get the actual screen thy were doing to use in, then custom build a frame to fit that screen exactly.



The final product. Instead of flanking the screen with dual screens for video and IMAG content, we decided to do one large center screen. The look ended up being slightly retro, like an old-fashioned TV.

This was one of those projects I love -- a challenge that calls on all the tricks of the trade I've learned. To quote a sports motto -- it was a lifetime of preparation for the performance of a lifetime. But of course, we're not done yet! Tune in again to see what we did with the Marriott's beautiful new rooftop venue for the after party!

Locations We Love -- Mission San Juan Capistrano

Quintessential Southern California. The seventh of the 21 missions founded in Alta California (meaning upper California, Baja being the lower portion), the Mission San Juan Capistrano is more than 230 years old.

It's a favorite locations for weddings because of its 10 acres of beautiful gardens, fountains and structures. But corporate events are also very warm and inviting here as these photos show. There is just something magical about this venue.

The mission has been beautifully restored and preservation efforts continue all the time. To blend into the surroundings, we used natural Earth tones that reflect the adobe and stones of the mission walls. The colors in the floral arrangements could also be found in the blooming flowers at the time of this event.

We brought in one of our natural wood bars so that our design would look like something that was supposed to be part of the mission.

So much natural beauty.

For more on the Mission San Juan Capistrano, click here.

Good Dawg!

We were thrilled to have been given the 2010 Eventprofs Award for Best Eye Candy Blog at the Event Camp Twin Cities last night! Thanks to everyone for your votes.

Sweet!

I promise you a lot more eye candy in the coming weeks.

Here's a little treat coming your way...

This was an after-party held on the rooftop of Los Angeles' hottest new downtown hotel, the Ritz Carlton. More about the light projections, lounges, and decor next week!!

Another Treat for the Dawgs!

We are honored to have been nominated again for the Eventprofs Blog Awards. This is a group of event industry sites nominated by readers of the blog, Ready2Spark. The nominees are judged by a panel of professionals who pare them down to seven or less per category.

The dawgs are listed in the category of Best Eye Candy -- that is, a blog that provides its readers with inspiring photos and content related to design.

Please vote for the dawgs *here*!

Voting ends this Thursday, September 9, 9 a.m. EDT.

We thank you in advance for your continued support of the designdawgs!