General Ideas

In November, when it was springlike in Los Angeles, baby brand Munchkin hosted a luncheon for bloggers, event planners, and influential mothers at the James Cagney estate. Jeannie Savage of Details Details designed the event with vibrant colors as well as Munchkin products and toys throughout the space.

Made by Meg catered the luncheon at a tabletop decorated with boldly colored ribbons and Munchkin products.

Old Navy invited an all-ages crowd to celebrate spring at Fig & Olive in Los Angeles with the brand's style ambassadors Emily Current and Meritt Elliott. The so-called “On the Road” event had an Americana road trip theme with a colorful map motif. A bluegrass band performed at the Old Navy event on an unfinished wooden stage in front of a colorful backdrop that resembled wide-open road trip scenery.

At the Old Navy event, a cheery bar display featured citrus in boxes labeled in chalk, potted succulents, and details of the Big Sur-theme signature cocktail in colorful frames.

Last March, the Los Angeles PR firm BWR hosted an event for media to preview its clients' spring and summer products. Held in the company's offices, the intimate afternoon included a candy bar rendered in preppy pink and green.

Call It Spring celebrated its summer campaign last June at the Sixty Beverly Hills, where a Jamaica theme included playful island-style decor and hefty doses of color in the poolside space—as well actually in the pool, where toy roosters riding citrus wedge floaties caught the attention of many Instagrammers.

Last summer, Svedka hosted a Rio carnival-inspired party in Beverly Hills to fete its new mango-pineapple and strawberry-lemonade flavors. The colorful event design included fruits arranged in a logo decor piece that floated in the pool.

In 2013, Hermès hosted its “Les Jeux d’Hermès”—or Hermès games—in Palm Beach, where a croquet field section of the party space sat beneath colorful tenting inspired by the brand’s famous prints and scarves.

At the Coachella festival last year, Forever 21 hosted its so-called “Party in the Sky,” where two cranes hoisted the event’s DJ booth into the air. The booth was made out of a shipping container painted in bright neon colors.

Also at last year’s Coachella fest, the Ace Hotel hosted its annual Desert Gold event program, where color-blocked flags at the hotel’s entrance nodded to the eyewear designs of new title sponsor Marc by Marc Jacobs.

In February, Mindy Weiss and Wedding Paper Divas feted their social stationery collaboration with a Los Angeles party meant to show off specific wedding trends represented in the new collection. Among them was Chinoiserie, represented at the event in an area decked with upturned blue parasols strung overhead.

Another of the wedding trends represented at the Mindy Weiss and Wedding Paper Divas event was color blocking. A white seating area demonstrated the look with jewel-toned pillows, and a vibrant runner topping a mirrored table.

In February, the Anheuser-Busch-owned beverage brand Shock Top launched its summer seasonal Lemon Shandy beverage at a Southern California lemon grove. There, guests dined on warm-weather fare served at a long banquet table, dressed simply but eye-catchingly with citrus-colored buckets of the brand’s beverages.

Held in Los Angeles in November, the J. Paul Getty Trust’s medal presentation at the Getty Center featured illuminated tabletops inset with distinctly springlike butterflies.

Last year, Chicago’s Moto Restaurant offered a new dessert that conjured sunny vibes: It painted coconut macarons to look like striped beach balls, and decorated the plate with chocolate seashells, pineapple starfish, and sand made from brown sugar.

Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS held its second annual Picnic by Design fund-raiser on a New York rooftop in 2013. There, the interior and lifestyle design company Steilish created a scene inspired by The Wizard of Oz that included fabric poppies, votive candles covered in ruby-red glitter, gingham napkins, and a picnic basket designed to mimic the look of a hot-air balloon.

At the TEDActive conference in the Southern California desert in 2013, the La Quinta Resort & Club provided a sprawling venue where individual seating groups in intimate settings encouraged interaction. Oversize orange lettering spelled out words to inspire conversation and creative thinking.

For an Arizona Jeans Company event targeting millennials in New York last year, Mexican-style paper lanterns and flowers hung from the ceiling for a vibrant look and feel.