5 Cool Ways to Use Graffiti at Events

Graffiti is a great way to immerse guests in a time or place. For the recording of VH1’s 2017 Hip Hop Honors special, for example, organizers wanted to bring a taste of 1990s Brooklyn to a movie backlot in Hollywood. Julio Himede Design transformed Brooklyn Street at Paramount Studios into a '90s-style block party, bringing in custom-made large-scale graffiti that was temporarily attached to the buildings with vinyl stickers.
Read more: Inside VH1's '90s-Style Block Party

Toronto's Luminato Festival, a citywide arts celebration, typically kicks off with its annual Big Bang Bash. The 2014 edition was inspired by the vibrant underground culture of Berlin in the 1930s. Throughout dinner, guests were invited to interact with the tabletop decor, which included miniature foam-core versions of the Berlin Wall covered in graffiti. Large hammers were placed beside place settings, and guests were encouraged to break down the prop walls.
Read more: Gala Guests Take Down the Berlin Wall

Keep a Child Alive’s Black Ball, held in New York in 2016, evoked the spirit of '80s activism, when the fight against AIDS began, and paid respect to those who acted during that time. The decor reflected the theme with elements such as a glow-in-the-dark graffiti wall and street art-inspired linens, programs, and graphics. The evening raised $2 million for children and families with H.I.V. in Africa and India.

Another 1990s-style design came from Anything But Gray Events for the Wedding International Professionals Association's annual design challenge, held in Los Angeles on May 8. Sugar Studio created a graffiti-inspired cake with the Los Angeles skyline on the top tier and a brick-wall texture on the middle tier.
Read more: Time Travel: See How Six Wedding Designers Recreated Six Distinct Decades

At the WIPA event, Anything But Gray Events also evoked the 1990s with a colorful, graffiti-inspired print from BBJ Linen.

Rental company FormDecor’s Rapper’s Delight collection features a vintage Victorian sofa with chrome-painted legs and a frame that’s decorated with colorful graffiti. Other items include a coffee table with an aluminum-cast base repurposed from an aircraft that has a round glass top painted with graffiti, as well as a lounge chair that’s done in a similar style as the sofa.

At the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS's 13th annual Dining by Design, held in Chicago in 2016, Art For Life Chicago designed a table for Knoll. With a graffiti-inspired design and a yellow, black, red, and white color palette, the piece was inspired by the Richmond Mural Project in Virginia.
Read more: 14 Inspiring Tabletops From Diffa's Dining by Design in Chicago

Asking guests to unleash their inner graffiti artists is a great way to encourage creativity—and social sharing. At Adobe Max, held in Los Angeles in October 2018, attendees were invited to sign and decorate an oversize chalkboard.
Read more: Most Innovative Meetings 2018: #1 Adobe Max

For Coach's first external brand activation, held in New York in June 2018, the brand worked with the Projects to create four interactive rooms that encouraged self-expression. One room, called "Logo Mania," was an all-white space inspired by a subway platform. Guests could use coins to get a bucket with paint markers, stickers, and stencils to express themselves.
Read more: Coach's First External Activation Invited Guests to Explore a Cosmic-Fueled Playground

To promote 2017 MLB All-Star Week in Miami, the league's designers rendered an image of Miami Marlins star player Giancarlo Stanton on a building in the Wynwood neighborhood. Creative signage throughout the city was part of the league's promotional strategy. “Whether a resident or visitor saw it, we wanted them to quickly see that the All-Star Game was in town,” said MLB spokesman Matt Bourne.
Read more: See How Miami Welcomed Baseball’s All-Star Game With Style

To coincide with London Fashion Week in September 2018, the American Express Platinum House was produced and designed by Momentum Worldwide. Graffiti artist Jay Caes created a Brick Lane-inspired mural on a wall made of Away suitcases. Throughout the weekend, guests received complimentary luggage stickers and could shop select items from the luggage brand's "travel uniform" program.

At the annual TED conference, held in Vancouver in April, a custom mural offered an eye-catching photo backdrop for guests. The mural, which was provided by the Vancouver Mural Festival, was created on site.
Read more: TED 2019: See 20 Ideas on Engaging Attendees On and Off the Main Stage

To promote its new 1990s-inspired shoe line, New Balance teamed up with Foot Locker to host a public pop-up full of colorful, nostalgic details. The brands worked with marketing agency Stadium Status Group and design firm SPMDesign to create the spaces, which included full walls of graffiti-style lettering and tags.
Read more: 14 Colorful Ideas for a 1990s-Inspired Event

For its new "Discover This Way" marketing campaign, Renaissance Hotels hosted a daylong experience in New York on May 16 designed to take guests on a journey through the neighborhood, highlighting local attractions that will surround the brand's upcoming Renaissance Harlem Hotel. To emphasize the area's rich artistic history, graffiti signage displayed the campaign's slogan.