Themes

Earlier this month in New York, Jose Cuervo set up a pop-up experiential promotion made from repurposed aircraft parts. The lounge, known as the Rolling Stone Tour Plane Experience, was one segment of a broader campaign for the brand, inspired by the Rolling Stones' rowdy 1972 tour. The tour plane, featuring the band’s unmistakable logo, was the inspiration for the Air Hollywood installation.

For its 2009 Once Upon a Time gala in Chicago, the Children's Place Association printed table numbers on cards designed to look like passports.

Variety and British Airways hosted a Los Angeles event in 2013—at a $30 million private manse—meant to celebrate the publication's “10 Brits to Watch” feature as well as the airline's nonstop service between Los Angeles International Airport and Heathrow Airport on the A380. In the photo op area, guests could highlight the destinations they most wanted to visit by pinning their image to a map board.

Old Navy previewed its spring 2015 collection in New York last year with a road-trip-theme event, where guests could choose their own on-theme backdrops. They then took home prints of the images stamped to look like postcards.

Signage meant to evoke road signs pointed guests to the various activities and offerings within the Old Navy preview event.

The American Cancer Society’s Discovery Ball in 2013 in Chicago was dubbed “Passport to Discovery” and had a time-travel theme. As a nod to the nonprofit’s 100-year past, as well as its present and future, the fund-raiser drew inspiration from an old-fashioned train station, with props and decor including suitcases, trunks, and old street lamps. The registration desk was decorated to resemble a ticket counter.

In 2008, the women's board of the Chicago Horticultural Society hosted a dinner known as “All Aboard! Wonderland Express," which raised money for a plant conservation science center at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The event drew its inspiration from an indoor model-train exhibition filled with replicas of Chicago landmarks. To go along with the train theme, catering staff wore conductor caps.

To match the train theme at the Chicago Botanic Garden event, lampshades bore map imagery, clock numbers and gears wrapped tall lamps, and suitcases were stacked inside the bars.

AT&T’s Best of Washington event hosted by Washingtonian magazine in 2013 had staffers dressed in vintage airline stewardess uniforms lining the main entrance, directing guests inside as air traffic controllers might direct planes.

Stella Artois launched its "Host Beautifully" campaign in Los Angeles in May with an open-air event where guests could float above the crowd in tethered hot-air balloons that were branded with the beer brand’s logo.

Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS’s Dining by Design event in Chicago in November included multiple tables with travel themes. One, designed by Gunlocke/HBF, had miniature hot-air balloons soaring above it, as well as a globe, clocks, and maps as decoration.

Another Diffa table, from Leopardo by VOA, recalled a Moroccan train car with wooden tables, topped with Moroccan tea glasses, which stood beside windows that appeared to reveal passing scenery.

For a wedding at Union Station in Los Angeles, Sterling Engagements displayed escort cards printed to look like train tickets inside vintage suitcases.

The grand opening of the Miami Airport Convention Center in 2012 served airplane tacos, hand-cut tortilla shells created to look like paper airplanes.

Designer Joel Loblaw brought elements of the outdoors inside. Inspired by childhood memories of camping or visiting a rustic cabin, the installation contained firewood, enamelware camping plates, and peat moss.

When Delvinia celebrated its 15th anniversary last August, the Toronto-based digital strategy and customer experience design firm looked to recreate 1950s Havana with cigar rollers, freely flowing rum, models in retro swimwear, and beach balls. The event at the Loft at Andrew Richard Designs even had an indoor pool—or rather, the illusion of one created by a 8- by 18-foot 3-D decal.

David Stark created an elegant but relatively inexpensive look for the Whitney Museum of American Art's annual gala in December by using hundreds of softly glowing candles.

At Diffa's Dining by Design in New York, Ralph Lauren went with a cozy, ski chalet-inspired look. Centerpieces of snowberries and wrought-iron lanterns created a runner down the center of the rustic wood table. Other striking details included a faux fireplace, Pendleton-inspired bench cushions, and an antler chandelier.

Russell Harris Event Group produced a winter wonderland-themed party for Fox in 2010. The designers covered the patio at Los Angeles's Villa Sorriso in blue carpeting and hung LED tubes in the trees, creating an effect that simulated falling snow.

"The cranberry bog that Tyger Productions created for Ocean Spray in November was definitely one of the most memorable. The juxtaposition of a beautiful table setup—which itself contrasted traditional and modern decor—and 900,000 cranberries in 21,000 gallons of water in the middle of Rockefeller Center in New York was so unique and so on-brand." —Anna Sekula, editor in chief

"An event that stood out to me this year from a decor perspective was the Museum of Contemporary Art’s art auction in Chicago, which took place in a tent designed by HMR Designs. The decor—all stripe-on-stripe—was so simple, but incredibly fresh and bold." —Jenny Berg, senior editor

"Another event that really stood out to me was the Field Museum’s Women’s Board Gala in Chicago. To honor the museum’s new permanent exhibition, the Cyrus Tang Hall of China, designers from HMR brought in beautifully evocative decor, including a canopy of pink cherry blossoms that hung above the dance floor." —Jenny Berg, senior editor

"During the N.B.A. All-Star festivities in New York in February, Nike's 'the Last Shot' installation by AKQA and production company Stardust felt like you stepped into a video game—or maybe Space Jam. It was a truly immersive experience that allowed fans to recreate two of Michael Jordan's most famous shots with a live announcer providing personalized play-by-play, crowd reactions (complete with 'boos'), and lots of throwback looks—including big mustaches and mullets for the 1982 N.C.A.A. Championship scenario." —Michele Laufik, style editor

"The Cinderella-inspired display at this year's P.H.S. Philadelphia Flower Show blew me away. Together, the larger-than-life floral displays, lush table linen, and candlelit centerpieces dripping with jewels created the grandest wedding design I've ever seen. All that was missing was Prince Charming!" —Amy Gordon, contributing editor

"Moncler Grenoble held its New York Fashion Week show on Valentine's Day this year, and it combined all of life's best things—love, chocolate, and interesting stage design! Models emerged from a giant heart-shaped 'chocolate box' as couples, and a pair dressed as a bride and groom kissed during the presentation. It was a fun, memorable way to showcase the fashion and nod to the holiday." —Claire Hoffman, managing editor 

"At Coachella, it can be hard to get attention over the cacophony of event offerings. But for PopSugar and ShopStyle's Cabana Club hotel takeover of the Avalon Palm Springs, a dramatic art installation made from multicolor neon ribbon was both a cool way for the party to distinguish itself visually and a serious selfie backdrop for social media message proliferation. The piece was a collaboration with Las Vegas' Life Is Beautiful festival." —Alesandra Dubin, West Coast editor

"At the AT&T Best of Washington party, it was so refreshing to see BMW utilize the front of the bar in its sponsored lounge to show a promo video rather than a standard TV on a stand or projection backdrop." —D. Channing Muller, contributing editor

"The interactive features at C2 Montréal, while not decor in the traditional sense, certainly stand out in my mind as some of the most visually striking things I saw all year. The Nest, the Cloud of Fog, and the chairs suspended from the ceiling were unique, eye-catching elements that all served a purpose: They created opportunities for the conference attendees to connect in unusual environments that fostered meaningful engagement." —Mitra Sorrells, technology editor

"The craziest piece of decor I've seen was the trash throne at the BuzzFeed/Jolly Rancher 'Keep on Sucking, NYC' gallery experience, mainly because of how creative the piece was and how well the idea was executed. It was inspired by the iron throne in Game of Thrones and built out of various pieces of trash—and was definitely the event's most popular photo op." —Ian Zelaya, assistant editor

"Another one of the coolest ideas I've seen this year was the checker-pattern listening wall at the JackThreads pop-up launch party in New York, which changed to the beat of the DJ's music." —Ian Zelaya, assistant editor

"A massive disco ball was the perfect over-the-top decor piece for a splashy real estate event in Miami. It took a giant crane to hoist the ball, which Triton Productions sourced for the sales launch of the Paramount Miami Worldcenter development. It served as a beacon for guests on their way to the outdoor event, and an envy-inducing symbol of what everyone else was missing." —Beth Kormanik, news editor

At his station, Aja chef Joshua Linton served spiced lentil soup.