Idea Mix

In what Target called a “vertical fashion show,” acrobats danced, posed, and catapulted down runways on the side of 620 Fifth Avenue, one of the buildings that flanks the ice rink at Rockefeller Center, in 2005.

A yellow zigzag path at a 2008 Kohler event in Chicago was a surprising alternative to the traditional entrance path. 

The cocktail napkins for the 2002 opening of Prada’s store in SoHo in New York were useful in two ways, with an itinerary and maps showing the locations for the night’s multiple parties.

At the 2008 Robin Hood Foundation gala, XO laptops on each dinner table displayed menus, statistics about the organization’s work, and images of flowers, and then were donated to city schoolchildren after the event.

The Broad Contemporary Art Museum’s 2008 opening party in Los Angeles, produced by Ben Bourgeois, had a floating stage that descended from the ceiling for an attention-getting dinner show.

At the 2004 International Contemporary Furniture Fair, Norwegian architecture firm MMW designed a large tube that connected the Javits Center’s main space with its north pavilion, a stylish way to join two large spaces.

The Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art’s 2009 ArtEdge benefit had a lighthearted feel, with childhood games and activities including a large swing set.

For a private dinner in 2006, JMVisuals created an unexpected overhead lighting trick: rows of frosted votives suspended from the ceiling on square Lucite tiles. 

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Johnson & Johnson displayed photographs on a wall that curved upward.

For a 2006 Motorola event, KSE Productions suspended a metal platform from the ceiling as an unconventional lectern and used stretch-fabric video screens as a backdrop.

At a 2006 dinner held by investment bank Rodman & Renshaw, Event Design Inc. made sure all the attendees had a clear view of the evening’s entertainment by creating seven levels of seating with rows of individual lounges on each level.

LDJ Productions and Brenton Catering served champagne cocktails in test tubes at hair-care brand Joico’s chemistry-lab-inspired 30th anniversary party in New York in 2005.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America’s 2003 awards featured dramatic projections by Scharff Weisberg on a white, minimalist set, a clean yet impactful look the show updated with digital mapping projections in its 2011 iteration. 

Breaking away from the step-and-repeat to interact with the crowd, actors including Uma Thurman served as waiters at a 2007 Sundance event. They wore T-shirts listing their first jobs on the front and their breakthrough films on the back.

As a quirky way to greet guests, the Sculpture Center’s 2006 winter gala in New York had flag greeters signal the semaphore code for “Welcome to the Sculpture Center.”

Travel & Leisure used oversize balloons as a cheap and effective way to mark a pathway for its 35th birthday celebration, held in Los Angeles in 2006.

There was no head table at TD Bank’s 2009 employee awards dinner in New York. All attendees sat at a single, amoeba-shaped table.