Eventmakers is a global event production and destination management company based in Toluca Lake, California. It specializes in connective marketing through live events, trade show booth design, and business theater.
In 2009, THQ, Inc. selected Eventmakers to design a booth for the E3 Expo in Los Angeles, where interactive entertainment industry leaders introduce new games and technology to the media and prospective buyers.
While some exhibitors stage elaborate multi-media shows to attract attention amidst the bonanza of sights and sounds on the E3 trade show floor, Eventmakers proposed a different approach.
“Our concept had a super clean, minimalist look with a strong central focal point: a giant backlit box surrounded by pods where people could play the games that THQ was presenting,” explains Eventmakers’ Founder and CEO Guy Genis. The interiors of the lightbox, which was 80 feet long by 19 feet wide by 25 feet tall, were spacious enough to house an employee lounge and two THX 7.1 sound around theaters.
“We started the project with hand sketches and then further developed the concept with 3D computer renderings,” Genis continues. “We’d worked with Big Image Systems in the past and included its staff from preliminary design onward so we knew what was possible at each stage of the process.”
Big Image recommended a fabric called “Artist Heavy” because the large-scale graphics printed on each panel would look spectacular when backlit, yet the material would remain soft and flexible enough to easily be folded and shipped.
Using corporate logos presented another challenge. “The simplest of changes had to be approved by a group of people,” Genis explains. “The process was also delayed because some of the art arrived at the last minute. Big Image was flexible and responsive every step of the way. Once the design was complete, Big Image produced and shipped what we needed in a week. The scrim went up very quickly because it arrived ready to be hung. It had grommets and the fabric didn’t have crease lines from being folded.”
Eventmakers was extremely pleased with the results. “This was a very straightforward design, so the ‘wow’ came from transforming art people were used to seeing as pixels on a small screen into something they saw at this huge size,” Genis says. “Nothing was lost. The details were very clear and the color was excellent. I see Big Image Systems as my secret weapon when it comes to brand identity applications.”
The THQ E3 Expo booth was nominated for a 2009 American Institute of Architects’ Design Award in the Public Installation category.