A new FRONT DOOR

At Design Contact our work is applied to an array of events, trade show booths, corporate meetings, exhibits, etc.  Over the past few years we have added projects in a sector that truly resonates with all our strengths, BRANDED INSTALLATIONS.  Two notable environments under our belt are the MERCK VACCINES GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS LOBBY located in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, and the ADOBE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE CENTER in San Jose, California.

The MERCK VACCINES LOBBY INSTALLATION was designed to reconnect employees to the purpose of their work and the key role that focusing on customer focus plays in the company’s success.  The installation provides a series of consecutive chapters that unfold
the story of the MVD Customer Experience.

Being in the ADOBE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE CENTER feels gracious and elegant, as if you just walked into a sophisticated townhouse, decorated with art and digital experiences.  The design elements are delicate yet they encourage engagement without being overtly promotional.  

 

 

Features included a gallery of devices- designed allow hands on experiences; a portal to the AMDM virtual museum site; exploration of educational initiatives; and examples of print to digital magazines.

In early September 2012, Freeman Co. asked us to join them in creating a branded CUSTOMER CENTER FOR CVS CAREMARK attached to their pharmaceutical facility outside Chicago and we were up to the task.  This is an on-going project so is still under wraps.  We eagerly await the day when we can show you all the unique details of this advanced technology experience.  Stay tuned.

 

2013 Walmart Celebration

Celebrate Your Successes.  This is a mantra we should all keep and Walmart designates a handful of days each year for just that.  Walmart's Shareholder, International, and Associates meetings celebrate the company's diverse successes with special guests, musical performances, and powerful presentations by top executives.

 

 

 
The 2013 Associates celebration needed a design that would highlight the vast opportunities Walmart provides around the world for its associates and customers:  career advancement, women's empowerment, education, and savings for customers, contributing to communities, and sustainability.  To do so, Drury Design asked us to join forces with them to create a dynamic set that was uplifting, powerful & progressive.

 

 

During the Shareholders Meeting, special guest MC, Hugh Jackman, kept the 15,000 attendees engaged and excited throughout the show.  He introduced a star-studded lineup of musical performers such as Kelly Clarkson, John Legend & Jennifer Hudson, actor Tom Cruise, and was able to perform a bit himself.

 

 

For those of us who weren't able to attend the meetings in Fayetteville, Walmart offered a live, online telecast so anyone could witness the event.  We learned about Walmart's impressive progress in many areas, including their green initiatives such as the plan to have their headquarters in Mexico be 100% sustainable in 2017 (currently they are at 80%...pretty great!).

Can You Hear That Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger Sizzle?

Claim Your Taste Promo pops up in Union Station.

 

 

Wendy’s called on Eventrex Productions to draw attention to a new online game called “Claim Your Taste” and to promote their new Right Price Right Size value menu.

 

Claim Your Taste allows customers to have a direct role in the promotion of Wendy’s productions while also promoting themselves and their personal tastes via social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.  Wendy’s wanted to illuminate how eating is an experience so their new menu has given the menu items a nice dash of proverbial spice through saucy nicknames like SIZZLE, FRESHY, POW, and CRISPY.  It is these nicknames that have strengthened consumer-based marketing for Wendy’s and broadened the scope of their audience.

 

 

Brad Shaw of Eventrex Productions approached us to bring these creative ideas to fruition through engaging, innovative design.  The program was executed on a very short turn around and our communication with Brad throughout the entire process allowed for streamline ideas, effective design and efficient build requirements.   

 

In order to bring Wendy’s ideas to life, we designed a number of fun activities that promoted both onsite and social media engagement.

 

 

Tasty Trio Toss, was a grown-up version of the carnival beanbag game.  One side of each panel has the new Experience Name (POP) while the other has an image of the menu item (Soda).  The idea was to familiarize the public with Wendy’s Experience branding AND to encourage guests to play their results online at www.claimyourtaste.com for a chance to win!  And get this!  The grand prize winner will become the official virtual spokesperson for Wendy’s Right Price Right Size menu.

 

We also designed a photo op area where people got to claim their taste in another way.  While enjoying a fun, cut-out photo scene, people chose any 3 of the 18 menu items to be featured in their photo then either Post, Send, or Print the image; a colorful keepsake from this food-full-fun event.

 

The event was such a success that it is now headed for a country-wide tour!

 



BIG thinking + INTEGRATED disciplines + REAL WORLD applications

This is worth a closer look  - CNN's NEXT LIST -  a great piece on architect Bjarke Ingels as well as a blog contribution by him.     CNN NEXT

BIG thinking + INTEGRATED disciplines + REAL WORLD applications. Three things that rarely come together in one place. I think his energy and insight are refreshing and if his approach is can be grasped and practiced more widely even the smallest design projects can be elevated to a more meaningful place. 

Have a look.

SOLVE THE RIGHT PROBLEM

"Wow, that was the easiest meeting we have ever had with the client". 

"The account team was astonished that the client liked what we presented on the first shot".

While we were very happy to take the compliment after the fact, the real groundwork for success was laid well before those meetings.  And it started with listening at the input session. 

• Not only to the list of "needs"  - which were dutifuly recorded
• Not only to the budget challenges - which were clear and present
• Not only to the logistics issues - which were typically complex

But to the one or two very essential elements that would constitute success for the client.  Defining what success looks like is the primary step to achieving it.  Many very handsome solutions can fulfill the bulleted needs listed above, but fail to succeed for the client.

So for us understanding the real problem is half the battle; often times it’s two-thirds the battle. We employ a rigorous process of discovery to look at problems from different perspectives, define the right objectives, and uncover solutions in what may seem like unexpected places.

Drop us a note to find out how, with FREEMAN, we helped NCTA and CTIA set their eyes on new solutions for 2012.

DESIGN IS ART IN THE SERVICE OF COMMERCE

We share our building with music studios, film production companies, a trendy fashion magazine and architects.  Jay Z even has a studio called Rock the Mike.  It's a pretty creative place.

And like any creative space, it has it's share of creative types utterly fed up with the business realities of design.  A common refrain in the elevator - "we don't do art anymore" - but I ask - did we ever?  This is not a new question - it has been asked for centuries.  Oxford University Press has a paper on the subject in its Journal of Design History discussion the issue in the 18th century.  In it I found the core of the issue...
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"The conflicts arising from the different objectives of commercial success on the one hand and the protection of [creative] standards on the other" has vexxed creative types since the time of the Greeks.

Of course we create- and often with beautiful results, but it is for the benefit of another -and that is what makes it "design" and not wholly "art".  When commissioned to solve a problem on behalf of a client or customer our immediate challenge is to solve an aesthetic problem on top of practical and economic ones.  

Perhaps one of the most inspiring lives in design was lived by Buckminster Fuller... who best summarized our philosophy toward our work:

"A designer is an emerging synthesis of artist, inventor, mechanic, objective economist and evolutionary strategist.

When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty but when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong"    - R. BUCKMINSTER FULLER

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We take the creation of a beautiful solution very seriously...  and we seek to create experiences that deliver more than just beautiful spaces. We create experiences that serve your business objectives and net you concrete results.

Ours is the art of the aesthetic solution:

Bottom line – our success is measured by your success in the marketplace.

DESIGN TEAM CONTINUES TO GROW

 
Elke Schnittker and Ann Bartek came to us from very different paths.  They each have recently taken on direct design roles at DesignContact, working with Principal Tony Castrigno adding fresh ideas while drawing on the combined 50+ years of experience Tony and managing partner John Moyik bring to the work.

The team draws on the talents of designers like Elke Schnittker (top left) – whose architectural training brings a studied aesthetic as well as a critical eye on design to her work. Elke contributes to the design, creative development, ideation, and visualization on the projects she leads as well as those she collaborates on with the principals. These skills are complemented by her abilities in 3D and CAD, where she helps assure ideas and concepts become the drawings that bring them to life.

Bringing a theatrical sensibility to our studio is designer, Ann Bartek, (top right) whose critical mind is always seeking the “why” behind every detail and who brings a fresh perspective to our design solutions. She looks for the design to tell a visual story – be it branding, product or narrative – and that becomes the foundation of her thinking. Ann is also critical to the DesignContact workflow that assures a continuity of concept ‐‐ from idea to reality ‐‐ that is unparalleled in our business.

Please look for them as we introduce them to projects in their new roles. In the meantime, find them at:

Elke.Schnittker@DesignContact.com   or +1.212.792.2948

Ann.Bartek@DesignContact.com    or +1.212.792.2943

DesignContact's subsidiary, DC Connect recently launched the [i]connect Kiosk, which makes [i]cell technology available for the first time in an affordable, all-in-one, standalone kiosk. The reception of the technology has been strong as with [i]connect, museums, galleries and other exhibitors can take advantage of [i]cell technology’s unique “no-touch” interactive capabilities without the time and expense of a custom design and build.


You can see this techology at AAM and at Mutual Concerns in a few weeks.

The [i]connect Kiosk display is an easy to set up frame and graphic system with the monitor, computer and all the techology filling in a space  less than 4" thick!  Just plug in the power cord and you are set to go. No network connection is needed. The [i]connect Kiosk can be customized to include more cells, a larger panel and/or different face materials.

The newly introduced unit is already on its way to such diverse users as Southern California Edison and the Rancho Cucamonga Public Library.  The custom version of the technology has been used by Idaho National Labs, the Ah Tah Thi Ki msueum of the Seminole Indian Tribe, and pharmacuetical giant BAYER.

RETURN ON DESIGN (or icing on the cake)

Many companies have been looking to reduce their meeting and events budgets to the 'essentials'. Often this means looking at design elements - especially custom created ones - and seeing dollar signs --- for COSTS. Yet, few look at the INVESTMENT in a branded experience as having a real "return on design". Interactives, presentations, graphics, and demonstrations can all be persuasive, but the first, and often largest impression comes from the look and feel of the environment these elements live in.

A booth, stage set or exhibit that is by its nature relatively large and often relatively static is the constant in many visual schemes. It is seen first, seen by everyone, and is pervasive and omnipresent. It is also often the ONLY impression made on passers by- even if they are not drawn into the event. So missing a chance to use the environment to make an impression - or a series of impressions - that influences a visitor can be a real lost opportunity.

This is especially true when considering the huge base investment in getting the program up and running. Often the ("nice to have" but unaffordable) design elements are a very small percentage of the overall cost - but have the most impact. So cutting them reduces the potential ROI on the initial investment.

Think of it like ICING ON THE CAKE. You need to bake the cake, develop recipes, buy ingredients, put in the labor and have a place to display it and advertize to draw in customers - yet none of that sells the cake.

Good STRATEGICALLY CONCIEVED DESIGN has the same impact as the investment in the "icing" - it can and should MAKE THE REST OF THE INVESTMENT PAY OFF.

LIGHTING UNPLUGGED

DesignContact, working for AMCI Global of Marina Del Rey, developed a program for LEXUS That included these free standing, solar powered light trees. 

These units, with weighted bases and inbuilt lift points were dropped in position in moments and provided lighitng all night on a day's charge.  Battery packs in the base were charged by panels on the tops of each "branch".  Light sensitive switches turned the cells on at dusk and the LED light sources burned brightly all night, turning themselves off at dawn.

While used only for lighting in this application, there was ample power to supply juice for interactives and other applications.

Working with our sister company DC Connect, we are developing free standing [i]cell system technology interactives that are fully self sufficient for power and light, and impervious to weather.  More on that as it develops.

NCTA - MY WORLD STUDIOS

Wow- 27,000 square feet of scenery and new technology demos.  DesignContact created designs for the NCTA exhibit at CABLE 2010! at the LA Convention Center.

Have a look at just a few of the snapshots of the environments starting with the window of the WELCOME CENTER.  Peering in from the street you can see the Studio Briefing room and bits of the Studio Back Lot beyond. 

a panorama of the SPORTS BAR environment - with a dedicated Game Room, 3D Theater viewing area and new 3D Home Televisions.  YES - they are worth it!

This is a detail of the LOFT building -an environment created to house demos that show off technologies suited to the urban environment and upscale users.

and finally a glimpse at the exterior of the SINGLE FAMILY home which featured full home technologies that allowed you to move your entertainment and information with you as you travelled from room to room.

More to come in future posts, including a full rundown of the design for the show.

Is scenic scenery making a comeback?

A few recent projects have called for a refreshing revisit of traditional scenic design approaches. 

Two examples are our work for ADOBE on the MAX Users Conference at the NOKIA Theater designed for THE KENWOOD GROUP (top left)

and the National Cable Television Association (NCTA) CABLE!2010 at the LA Convention Center, designed for FREEMAN CREATIVE. (mid and bottom left)

In both cases, the call came for putting the attendee in a new environment that transported them from the theater and the convention hall respectively and immersed them in a world more closely related to the products and brand stories that needed to be told.                               

Then this week two new projects called for scenic solutions to the environment! We think there is a trend to this design approach as a refreshing alternative to the cooly abstract or trendy spaces that can feel disconnected from the customer experience.

More examples of these, and other projects can be had for a phone call +1.973.7463512 or an e:Mail to:
Tony.Castrigno@DesignContact.com

3D BRAINSTORMING at EXHIBITOR 2010

Join my partner John Moyik and me at EXHIBITOR 2010 for our hands on 3D Brainstorming program. The teams at the 2009 event had a great time and developed some creative solution and learned creative development skills that they can take back to their own teams.

http://www.exhibitoronline.com/exhibitorshow/2010/session.asp?ID=S602

 S602 HALF-DAY WORKSHOP: Build a Better Booth Design

Discover a new way to collaborate with your design team and vendors to develop a stand out exhibit design and strategy. Discover how this unique “3 Dimensional Brainstorming” technique can help a non-design professional/exhibit manager have more impact in the preliminary design phase. You will learn to:

   ---Bring a collaborative process to your booth team

   ---Utilize a fun “3-D Brainstorming” process

   ---Use visual tools to unlock creative ideas

   ---Develop solutions in a test case with your colleagues

   ---Develop ‘stand up’ experience to help communicate your ideas

An introduction and hands-on demonstration will allow you to experience the method first-hand.   Here are some photos from the 2009 event that give you an idea of what to expect.  This team created a tropical oasis for a portable ice machine and hot box. Then they pitched the idea to the other participants.  

Still another team developed a MEGA MACHINES booth for custom spray painting of automobiles from digital files.

Google my Exhibition?

This recent article in the NY TIMES has interesting implications for the exhibit business... from LIVING STORIES that allow you to track content in real time around a specific news topic ... to VISUAL SEARCH whose picture recognition offers so many possiblities to expand the resources available to a visitor at a museum or exhibition.  Simply submit the photo of a product to the web and get specs, read reviews and even shop for it.  Similarly a photo of an artifact or painting could result in an indepth collection of web based information to aid appreciation.

Check it out at:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/google-charts-the-future-of-search/

CAN WE RETHINK OUR BUSINESS MODEL?

Has the time come to rethink the creative business model? The new 'new economy' has begun to emerge with a leaner and more focused meetings and events paradigm. While this evolves there remains uncertainty and confusion in the marketplace. Of course this has had an impact on the projects our clients undertake, driving down budgets and significantly reducing the time we have to produce events as decisions are often put off while clients get a better sense of what kind of event they even need to have.

The bid process has been made even more frustrating by awarded projects being significantly downsized and in some cases being abandoned. Bids are ever more frequently being cancelled in middle of the RFP process. The negative impact on agencies and producers is huge as very tight funds are expended on fruitless efforts. The effects on our clients - though not always apparent to them - is that ultimately these costs must be recovered in the fewer projects that do actually go forward.

The effect on creativity is formidable as well. There is less willingness to spend the time (and money) to get close to the client and understand thier culture and objectives. Less time is allocated to the process of developing a proposal (this can be positive - more on that later) and often fewer risks are taken creatively - partly due to time, but also because researching and pricing creative options is also expensive. The result - get to an idea quickly, do something we have done before and can price predictably, and focus on winning the job with the lowest up front costs possible.

This is not to say that moving quickly and going on your gut instinct (think BLINK) cannot often result in truer 'high concept' ideas that can be provocative and compelling. It takes a very confident sales team - and a progressive client - to be excited by an idea on a high level, and take it on faith (to some degree) that the creative and production team can deliver.

WHAT ARE WE TO DO?

Well - reeducating the marketplace is never easy. However we do have the economy as an ALLY in many ways. We have found clients a bit more open minded about the level of execution in a proposal - ready to acknowledge that their vendors (and sometimes friends) are facing a tough economic reality. Perhaps this is the time for our marketing efforts to include a new way to do business?

We would all like clients to select a vendor on the basis of past work and capabilities presentations. Of course because, as they say "past performance is not an indication of future results" - this may also need to include a high level pass at client specific solutions. Here is a suggestion for a way forward.

TALK TO THE CLIENTS - CURRENT AND PROSPECTIVE

BIDDING out a contract is not always the best way to get the results they are after. It is expensive to do and depending on the size of the project- even COST them real money - money they think they are saving through competition. It takes time for their team to prepare, solicit, brief, supervise and evaluate bidders AND bidders have to recover the cost of the bid somewhere, driving up prices.

That is not to say fostering competition is not a worthy by product of open contracting. My suggestion is we promote a three project or three year contract process (some may think me naive but this has worked) -

• YEAR ONE - Open competition - open to all comers - capabilities presentations, with a focus on big solutions related to the clients current challenge. Eliminate all but 3-4 bidders that compete for the project more completely.
• YEAR TWO - A performance review - which if satisfactory lets the vendor renew by presenting up to three ideas with a cost reduction in the budgets of at least 5% (net inflation) - which if accepted means a no bid renewal or award of the next project
• YEAR THREE - a non competitive pitch - new ideas, new budgets done early enough that if found unacceptable, still lets the client go to an open bid. This will motivate the vendor to be more inventive and cost effective to secure the business one more year.

After all of this a vendor may feel they have won and deserve the business in an ongoing basis, and they may. However the best way to prove that is in an open bid - and the process would repeat.

IS THIS A PIPE DREAM?

As I mentioned, this has worked successfully for the agencies and producers we work for on more than one account. The client has seen real benefit in continuity and even purchasing has seen the light as costs have been controlled and the money they all save from not doing an RFP is substantial. Management sees the vendor as still being held to account and the risk of losing the work at any stage via an agreed mechanism keeps us all on our toes!

Take the plunge - try this with your most open minded and trusted clients- blog about it- write about it - talk about it. This may not be THE answer- but it can be a catalyst for redefining our business in the new 'new economy'.

DESIGNING IN THE FUTURE - The new shape of meetings

Recently ONE+ Magazine ran an article called "DESIGN FOR THE FUTURE" in both it's North American and EMEA editions that begins to layout the shape of meetings in both of these markets. The range of perspectives the people contacted for the article brought to the discussion were truly fascinating. Of course the author Dalia Fahmy took a moment to talk with us about the future as well and we are quoted there. We believe the business purpose of meetings and their educational objectives are going to continue to grow as the measure of success of these events. Entertainment, excitement and motivation will continue to move from gratutious celebration to the natural outcome of solid learning and strategic planning experiences. In turn, business education has become more flexible, compelling and digestible in a faster paced environment that continues to bombard people with information - if not knowledge and understanding.

We are participating in this trend on many levels - we have been called on to create everything from more experiential face to face engagments to helping to create a stronger sense of place in virtual on line events.

Get in touch to get a preview of the future of meetings from us - Tony.Castrigno@DesignContact.com

VIRTUAL EXHIBITING

The interest in the virtual exhibit world has perked up quite a bit this year. The economy and the rapidly improving tools that enable it have converged to make this approach to connecting with customers a more viable tool. What is more, the flight to quality seems to be gaining momentum as the initial "cool factor" has been replaced with a desire for a meaningful and enriching experience.

Designing for the virtual world in many ways demands as much from the 3D design team as the real world. Information presented in layered, multi level 3D environmments requires a true command of the information architecture as well as the same design and communication principles we apply to the trade show floor. Multiple levels of messaging as well as access to graphics, media, and even virtual products and demonstrators are called for.

In effect, we must design the complete experience, and while liberated from the realities of 3D construction, the demands of information integration are far more sophisticated.

DESIGNCONTACT has long been dedicated to the integration of all components of the exhibition experience. We have been integrating technology, media and story telling into our designs as naturally as architecture, color and materials. We have begun bringing this expertise to the virtual world and have begun to develop new sensibilities about design that can advance the practice of design in the real 3D world as well.

"SELECTIVE REDUCTION"

Getting beyond the obvious challenges of the economy I am among the many who believe the Events and Live Marketing industries will emerge very much transformed from this recession.

• Cost cutting? Yes, for sure.
• Fewer events? Not so sure.
• More focused efforts? Absolutely.

The shape of and attendance at recent events points to more serious attendees with a mission - find a way to achieve their goals more effectively. This renewed focus on costs has often led management to make rash money based decisions, and the new job of the events professional is to guide the process to a sane and deliberate place.

We have started by recognizing that not every good idea is going to make it into an event. Rather than overdesigning and then doing a 'slash and burn' we have started designing the ability to refocus our solutions in real time while honing costs. By planning for this "selective reduction" we can avoid the worst of the "budget cutting" trauma and replace it with a sane discourse on the doing the best with what we have for the event at hand.

Still there are things that must be done in the near term to satisfy the demands of management and maintain some integrity in your events.

Linda Armstrong of Exhibitor Magazine recently put together a list of 54 new ways to look at costs in the trade show business, many of which have relevance accross the entire events space. While only a begining, Linda has put the best of the hundreds of ideas she recieved into a consise blue print for near term "selective reducion". We contributed several thougths which appear as items # 7 and # 35. Check it out here:

http://www.exhibitoronline.com/exhibitormagazine/apr09/nip-tuck-54-ways-to-cut-your-costs-exhibiting-staff.asp

Drop us a note to hear more about our philosophy of pre-planning for 'selective reduction'. I can be found at Tony.Castrigno@DesignContact.com.

A NEW DIMENSION IN INTELLIGENT SPACE

The need to be both innovative and economical in exhibits has become the order of the day. Wholesale redesigns, new installations and new media are having a hard time finding their way into many museum and corporate exhibition design projects.
Here is an idea for you - [i]cell system technology. Our subsidiary DC CONNECT will introduce this award-winning and low-overhead human-scale interactivity technology solution for exhibit environments in April at the annual American Association of Museum (AAM) and American Children’s Museum (ACM). It is the perfect way to bring new life to an installation, add interactivity to traditional media, and provide flexibility in content - fully managable by the end user. And if you thought you might defer a new interactive for your program - this solution is a great alternative to more complex touch screen interfaces or programming heavy kiosks.

The system is available in easy to install [i]kits for everything from a simple media controller to a fully engaged display wall - at suprisingly modest cost. And it is easy to update -even repurpose entirely - with little effort.

Learn more here and come see us at the shows in Philly.

http://www.exhibitorsdaily.com/index.php/features/0904/dc-connect-introduces-tech-solution-for-museums/

http://www.d-c-connect.com

EXHIBITOR 2009

We are back from the show and despite early concerns about the shape of the economy, we had one of the best events ever. Why? - the people who showed up were serious about their businesses.

• Industry service providers were serious about driving new opportunities.
• Event planners were intent on finding ways to get more out of there spend - not always lower prices- but better results.
• CTSM program attendees seeemed to participate at a higher level than in the past.
• Some of the splash and festivities were less prevelant, but replaced by a seriousness of purpose.

We would like to see the show grow as it has before and hope to see the trend to the serious participant continue to grow along with it.

One of the more successful aspects of the event were the round table discussions. These forums were great outlets for issues and ideas alike. DESIGNCONTACT lead three of these roundtables - and they were among the best experiences we had at the show.

The 3D BRAINSTORMING: Build a Better Booth Design seminar we conducted was also a highlight for us - and we believe for our guests. Look for an update on both of these events in our next posting!