It’s Time to Discover Event Design…
Event design comes in many shapes and sizes. It is the vision for your event and will define how the final product will look. There are so many different things to consider with design and many things can be overlooked. Here’s some of the key elements of event design that need to be considered for any event.
But, What is Event Design?
On the most basic level, event design is all about engaging the 5 senses – Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste and Touch. We have an e-book on the five senses here. These 5 areas define what to focus on with any event and how to create a memorable experience for guests. These sections can be broken down further with parts like the venue/space, furniture, lighting, colour palettes and textures/patterns. While these may all seem like separate issues, every area relies on other areas to support the design elements that they bring to the event and to create a complete experience for guests.
Something that we must also be aware of is what event design is not. Many people confuse event design with event planning, which are two separate areas of work, despite being closely related. For example, event design will define what sort of tables you will have – the table tops, their height, the style of top and base. Event planning will decide how to get the tables from point A to point B, as well as what van is used, who drives it and who puts the tables together on site. Like the elements of event design, the elements of an event can be closely related and rely on each other to work and be totally different.
How To Start Designing Events
When designing events the most important part to decide is the theme. The theme, whether it be a winter wonderland or a medieval feast, will dictate what design choices will be made later down the line.
When designing a circus themed event, what colours come to mind first? For me, it’s red – a classic colour for big tops in cartoons and a colour used throughout circus apparatus and costumes. This process has started giving us the colour palette, which will feed into the design of the lighting and colours to use in the furniture. What sort of seats do we want? Let’s start the process again, what sort of seating comes to mind when thinking about circuses? For me, it’s bench seating, again the standard sort of seats for most of the audience, quite densely packed, not at all comfortable but does the job. So for an event, the design for the furniture could be based around benches.
Set the Scene Without Telling Me…
Event design relies on guests being immersed in the theme of the event and the easiest way to make this happen is to get the guest to buy into the event’s design without forcing them. When I was at college for Technical Theatre, we were taught that every aspect of the set design must match the tone and setting of the piece. One example we were given was the difference between Greek and Roman columns. The average audience member won’t know the difference, but a History professor will, and you never know who is coming to opening night!
The point of the example was not just historical accuracy, more that if the columns were wrong, it would stand out and ruin that audience member’s immersion in the show. This attitude is echoed throughout event design, it is not being designed for the people that walk through the door and snap right into the experience you have created – it is for the people that will look at every little detail and analyse the entirety of their surroundings to get immersed.
In The End, Does It Even Matter?
Event Design is a lot of different things to different people, but the overarching themes are always the same – create the best and most immersive experience for guests. A lot of time and effort goes into event design and when done right it can create unforgettable memories for guests.
Get in Touch
At Panoptic Events, we deliver world-class experiences cross-sector that amaze and inspire. We have the expertise and solutions to design highly effective and engaging live and digital experiential marketing campaigns. Simply tell us your story, and we will create your legacy. If you would like to find out more about our Event Design service, please get in touch at craig@panopticevents.com.
You can also head to our Resources page where you can find articles and ebooks packed with our latest tips and knowledge. You can also keep up to date with Panoptic Events latest news and activity via our Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.