The Dark Knight Rises, the final installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, opens Friday. Given the popularity of other films and TV shows about comic book characters and people with superhuman powers, it's no surprise hosts have been incorporating superhero themes into their events. Here's a look at different ideas for adding cartoon-like visuals and references to caped crusaders at your next affair.
Exterior Illustrations
As part of the Smirnoff Experience series of events in 2010, Mosaic Experiential Marketing placed graphic illustrations in the windows of Toronto's Andrew Richard Designs. The illustrations depicted comic book characters arriving at a party, mimicking the arrival of guests on the red carpet.
Photo: Emma McIntyre for BizBash
Graphic Invitations
Turning an event's invitation and program into a comic book is a relatively easy way to add colorful visuals. Vintage cartoons inspired MacKenzie Brown's design for the Medical Research Institute Council of the Children's Memorial Hospital's Children's Ball in Chicago in 2010.
Photo: Courtesy of MacKenzie Brown
A Slogan and Insignia
New York's Robin Hood Foundation, which hosts one of the largest and most successful benefits in the city, tapped contacts at DC Comics to help create a superhero theme for its 2011 gala. The planning and design team created an emblem and slogan—"the forces of good are gathering"—that marked the night's invite and main cocktail area.
Photo: Keith Sirchio for BizBash
Oversize Sculptures
In 2008, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute staged an exhibition timed around the release of The Dark Knight titled "Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy," which served as the design springboard for its preview gala. With the help of the movie's set designer, Nathan Crowley, the planners placed 20-foot-tall statues of superheroes the museum's Great Hall.
Photo: Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art/Don Pollard
Industrial Decor
Large-scale industrial props can help set the scene—and make guests seem small and powerless. At the Los Angeles premiere of The Amazing Spider-Man in June, Sony Pictures placed a 16- by 22-foot web-like metal structure on the red carpet and at the party.
Photo: Line 8 Photography. All Rights Reserved.
Costumed Servers
Staffers are a big part of setting the tone at events. For Maxim's superhero-inspired Super Bowl party at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, servers wore capes and black masks.
Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Maxim
Moody Lighting
Columbia Pictures washed the first floor of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with green-hued lighting to give the space a glowing, moody look for the Los Angeles premiere of The Green Hornet in January 2011.
Photo: Line 8 Photography. All Rights Reserved.
Video Animation
Comic-book-style images can be turned into live installations at events. Animated graphics and videos at the 2011 Robin Hood Foundation gala, helped add energy—and eye-catching decor—to the cocktail area of the 3,000-person fund-raiser.
Photo: Keith Sirchio for BizBash
City Skyline Imagery
As most superheroes fight crime in big cities—Gotham, Metropolis, and the like—a city backdrop, real or computer-produced, adds something extra. For the 2007 premiere of Spider-Man 3 in New York, Columbia Pictures used backlit panels to depict the skyline.
Photo: Dan Hallman for BizBash
Comics in Centerpieces
The 2008 Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Toronto's Big Night Out benefit reminded guests of the night's superhero theme by placing them on the tables. The design team created colorful centerpieces by placing images of original comic book characters in tall plexiglass boxes on stands.
Photo: BizBash
Cartoons in the Food
Funky entertainment and Batman-like decor dominated the Hope and Help Center of Florida's annual Headdress Ball in 2006, where the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate served a white chocolate Catwoman with a licorice whip for dessert.
Photo: Tom Hurst/Hurst Photography
Boldy Colored Hors D'oeuvres
Primary colors are a distinct part of any superhero's costume, and that visual inspired the monochromatic menu for Raw's industry party in Toronto. The architectural firm passed items such as Parisienne potatoes topped with blue-dyed whitefish mousse and blue sea salt, beef tartare with beet-dyed horseradish in heirloom tomatoes (pictured), and chicken salad with green peas and pesto in green pepper cups.
Photo: Kyle Burton
Speakers as Cartoons
The Robin Hood Foundation created graphic, superhero versions of the presenters for its 2011 gala, including host Brian Williams.
Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup
Superhuman Activities
To make the guests at the Los Angeles premiere of The Amazing Spider-Man premiere feel like superheroes, Sony Pictures erected a climbing wall inside the party.
Photo: Line 8 Photography. All Rights Reserved.
Speech Bubbles on Mirrors
As a playful way to extend the night's motif to the bathroom, the organizers of the 2010 Smirnoff Experience in Toronto placed decals with small dots and speech balloons on mirrors to give guests' reflections a comic book effect.
Photo: Emma McIntyre for BizBash
