Decor

The seventh annual Amfar Inspiration Gala New York took place June 9 at Skylight at Moynihan Station. Sponsor Moët Hennessy brought an on-site champagne vending machine to the event.

The sixth annual Governors Ball music festival took place June 3-4 at Randall's Island in New York. MAC Presents created the Miller Lite Beer Hall, an interactive fan experience that paid homage to the brand's start in Milwaukee in 1855. The activation included wooden fixtures, beer barrels, and gun-metal enclosures, as well as original artwork including a mural made out of Miller Lite cans.

This year, the Lyric Opera celebrated its newest production with a pre-performance dinner in the theater, as well as an onstage after-party with the cast on May 7. The table decor reflected the Asian setting of the musical with details like gold elephant accents.

For this year’s annual benefit, which took place June 1, the Museum of Modern Art’s lobby and atrium area were once again transformed into a chic garden party. Drum-shaped chandeliers covered in greenery hung above the dining space, which was outfitted with primarily gray furnishings.

Think beyond the balloon animal. Self-taught “balloon twister” Addi Somekh makes unique, larger-than-life balloon installations, such as the pink poodle that greeted guests at the event registration area. In addition to funky decor, Somekh can provide live demonstrations for events, creating balloon hats and inflatable crowns custom-designed for guests’ personalities and style. He also hosts teambuilding exercises where guests create balloon flowers that are later donated to local nursing homes. Somekh can provide his services to events around the world; prices are available upon request. 

Other installations included hanging ice cream cone lightbulbs with a waffle cone pattern backdrop.

The dance floor is an obvious place to make an impact. For a private event, designer Preston Bailey created a unique dance floor that served as the evening's focal point. Hundreds of flowers were covered in Plexiglas, creating a massive floral carpet. "The result was a statement piece that allowed guests to dance on air," said Bailey. 

Sometimes all you need is some masking tape. During Austin's 2014 South by Southwest, event production agency MKG brightened up a dark room using neon masking tape and ultraviolet lighting, creating an edgy, Pop Art-inspired look for the party for online magazine xoJane.com.

For the City of Hope’s Spirit of Life gala, which was held in November, Natalie McAdams of Namevents designed a night under the stars—inside a tent in the parking lot below the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles. To recreate the outdoor evening look, the production team built a stage that resembled the moon's surface and used fiber-optic panels to resemble stars.

Blake McFarland, an artist and pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays, used 460 Goodyear tires to create sculptures of the participating teams’ mascots. The sculptures are now on display at the University of Wisconsin and Western Michigan University.

Tropicana celebrated its brand relaunch with a pop-up in Times Square from January 14 to 17. Produced by MKTG, the tented activation featured wooden orange-tree replicas with plastic oversize oranges that contained straws resembling those on the Tropicana juice bottle logo. The straws had inspirational messages with the activation's hashtag.

Presented by American Airlines and Citi at the Ace Hotel following the Grammys, Universal Music Group’s event included a chic candlelit bar bearing the sponsors' names.

San Francisco's Asian Art Museum Gala took place March 2. The event, which celebrated the connection between art and technology, featured a 96-foot-long LED tube chandelier designed by Got Light. The multicolor installation was created with more than 200 tubes.

Upfront Ventures hosted its fifth annual summit on February 1 and 2 at the Event Deck at L.A. Live in Los Angeles. Produced by RG Live Events, the event featured two interactive LED light tunnels that led to a custom-built theater.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of its Air Max shoe design, Nike hosted four "Sneakeasy" consumer activations at event spaces in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Toronto from March 20 to 26. The Chicago Sneakeasy took place March 25 at a former distillery factory. Decor included a ceiling installation that featured shoes in transparent boxes.

New York's Sneakeasy came to 45 Grand Street from March 20 to 26. The activation showcased the new Air VaporMax shoe with a futuristic mirror backdrop.

Guests were encouraged to get popping inside a room wrapped completely in bubble wrap.

The Governors Ball, held at the Los Angeles Convention Center after the Primetime Emmys telecast, drew more than 4,000 winners, nominees, and members of the entertainment industry. For their 20th year designing and producing the largest seated dinner in North America, Cheryl Cecchetto and her team at Sequoia Productions chose a “golden grandeur” theme. The streamlined aesthetic emphasized recurring architectural shapes in monochromatic gold, and the event’s 350 rectangular tables and 4,000 chairs were complemented by tall, modern table lamps. The night’s most eye-catching detail, however, was a ceiling installation made from 5,000 paper cylinders painted with biodegradable gold coloring.

The same decor was used for the Creative Arts Emmys dinners, which were held on September 9 and 10. 

Children and families danced to a playlist by DJ Gray V. The area featured a giant boombox (with speakers in the shape of the Target bullseye) and an interactive, LED-lit dance floor by BrightLogic. 

Polaroid, which regularly features some of the most eye-catching booths at C.E.S., celebrated the launch of Polaroid Originals, a new brand dedicated to analog instant photography. The booth’s centerpiece was a massive replica of the Polaroid OneStep 2, the brand’s instant analog camera that debuted in September to mark the brand’s 80th anniversary. The booth showcased other products, which include 3-D printers and Amazon Alexa-enabled speakers.

The booth was designed by Andreas Bergmann, while the implementation of the booth design and event management was handled by Skyline. PRG provided the audiovisual elements. 

The North American International Auto Show kicked off January 13 and runs through Sunday at the Cobo Center in Detroit. To celebrate the global debut of its new G-Class, Mercedes-Benz created an installation that involved dipping an SUV in 44.4 tons of synthetic resin. The structure, which is displayed at the venue entrance, symbolizes the timelessness of the off-road legend and makes a conscious reference to the natural phenomenon of insects preserved in amber. Markenfilm Crossing produced the resin cube. 

People magazine and the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s 22nd annual SAG Awards after-party took place January 21 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The event, which was produced and designed by Event Eleven, featured a mirrored tunnel entrance designed to emphasize the party’s “reflection” theme.

One room asks guests to search for clues in a Rubik’s Cube-inspired space—which also proved to be a popular spot for selfies. 

Diffa’s annual Dining by Design fund-raising event took place March 22 to 26 at Pier 92 in New York. Partnering with the Rug Company, Rockwell Group created an elliptical curtain made of 400 strands of hand-dyed, blue ombre carpet fibers, showcasing the Lola rug designed by David Rockwell and his daughter Lola.

Each table at the gala dinner portion of the event featured a Canadian author host. The list of the 43 authors and their notable books were featured on circular placemats in text printed in concentric circles.

The network’s annual post-Correspondents’ Dinner brunch took place April 29 at Long View Gallery. A "House of Cards" tunnel featured oversize playing cards decorated with donkeys, elephants, the White House, and an orange-hued King. The event’s Alice in Wonderland theme was executed by event designer Adovc8.

Inside, the one-story booth featured nine meeting rooms, a central courtyard, a cafe, a bar, a refreshment area, and a lobby. Screens displayed a blue sky overhead, and furniture from FormDecor offered comfortable, quiet spaces for meetings. Alpha & Omega Displays handled the fabrication, while 4 Wall designed the lighting and CBC Technical handled audio. Green Set provided the greenery throughout the space.

The brand also had a V.I.P. lounge replete with a lush, leafy bar serving up specialty Bloody Marys. As another part of its Lollapalooza presence, Tito's hosted a contest in which participants could tweet at the brand for a chance to have Bloody Mary ingredients delivered to their doorsteps.