Music Activation

Sivan and his fans gathered for an immersive listening session of his upcoming album inside a bubble capsule. The modular dome was composed of white and translucent inflatable plastic spheres and was produced by design collective Pneuhaus.

Inside the dome, which was decorated with patterned carpets and colorful cushions, Sivan shared anecdotes about his life and his creative process. Studio recordings from the album played as a light show projected images from the album on the dome ceiling.

Facebook participated on the community floor for the first time this year, creating a public booth activation highlighting creators including Huda Kattan, Laura Clery, Julius Dein, 80Fitz, the Crazy Gorilla, Nala Cat, and Doug the Pug. The booth featured a series of rooms where fans could pose with on-theme props and backdrops.

To celebrate the original MTV Cribs franchise but add a modern, D.I.Y. twist, MTV tapped creative agency MKG to design an eye-catching, interactive booth built for social media. The space was designed to resemble a house, with a kitchen, a living room, and a second floor that offered a unique view of the convention center. Rock Steady contributed scenic design to the booth.

The living room area was covered in colorful patterns on the walls, floor, couch, books, TV, and plants.

The kitchen was inspired by recent food trends of unicorn and mermaid toast. Cabinets were filled with MTV-branded cereal boxes, glittery slime bottles, Snooki pickle jars, and sand art.

On the kitchen table was a 3-dimensional MTV logo, which created a fun photo op: Guests could make it look like they were biting into the logo.

The kitchen fridge led to a secret tunnel constructed from pool noodles, as well as a fish wall installation where the fish said phrases such as “Okkkkuurrrrr” and “It’s T-Shirt Time!”

YouTube worked with MAS Event & Design for the third consecutive year. The Brooklyn-based event firm produced all the brand’s onsite lounge and party spaces inside the convention center, including the B2B Lounge, which included a presentation stage and lounge for advertisers, brand partners, and creators. A large YouTube logo featured names of the platform’s creators.

YouTube also capitalized on its acquisition of influencer marketing platform FameBit with a photo studio space and lounge where featured creators could go for makeup styling and professional headshots. A second FameBit lounge, which was open to all VidCon creators, had a pop-up beauty bar plus food, DJs, and other entertainment.

Art installations are nothing new at music festivals, but Destination San Diego aimed to take it a step further by creating a living mural. Visitors could contribute to it throughout the day by pushing one of a series of buttons; depending on the color selected, a new stripe of paint was added.

Attendees could also make custom D.I.Y. merchandise throughout the day. “[Adidas is] always exploring new and interesting ways for people to get hands-on with the creation and customization process—whether that’s with product, sound, video, photo, or large-scale, crowd-sourced art installations,” explained Poythress.