“Design creates culture. Culture shapes values.
Values determine the future.”
Robert L. Peters, Designer, Author, Artist
In Part 1, you learned about the importance of stage design from a branding perspective. To quickly recap, incorporating your brand into your event design establishes and reinforces your company’s identity. It provides meaning and helps align all aspects of your business and company culture. Plus it tells your attendees that you’ve given good consideration to create the right environment. Now let’s talk about the other elements of stage design.
Visual Elements
“When you train seven days a week,
you need good scenery to inspire you.”
Alistair Brownlee, Triathlete
A tremendous effort is used to craft every presenter’s speech. Therefore you should always use a quality audio system to insure these important messages are clearly heard. But understand visual elements play an equally, if not greater, role in effectively delivering a message. You know the old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Properly displayed content is crucial to effectively delivering your message, so don’t skimp on quality here. Be sure that your displays are the right size and brightness, and placed in the ideal location for everyone to effectively see them. This often means using multiple large projection screens or video walls. For larger rooms, additional displays can be placed midway in the venue and/or over the audience if warranted.
Physical Elements
“Good design encourages a viewer
to want to learn more.”
Alexander Isley, Brand Strategist
The physical elements of stage design should include creative furniture. Imagine your VIP keynote speaker presenting from behind a bland venue-provided lectern covered in countless chips and scratches in its 20+ layers of touch-up paint. Not good. Sadly, this happens way too often.
Why not have a custom lectern, or even a reusable lectern wrap, produced with your brand? Or use a beautiful clear acrylic model anyone would be proud to stand behind. Providing quality leather chairs on stage for your panel discussions brings an air of sophistication. Consider the same for your recharge lounge and networking rooms. Adding company logo colored chair covers to your attendee seating is a nice touch, as well.
And when designing your stage (risers), think about the appropriate size and height to accommodate all users and the entire audience’s view. Once that’s established, you can then accent the look with additional sections and shapes, multiple levels, and custom-built add-on elements such as curved stair sections and elaborate entrances. If all that seems like it will be too much or too expensive, there are cost effective methods available. For example, simply rotating a square stage to make a diamond adds an interesting flare to an awards ceremony and usually costs nothing. An experienced production company can determine which options best fit the venue space and support your event theme.
Lighting
A final (but by no means the last) factor in stage design is lighting. Obviously, proper stage lighting is needed for the audience to see the presenters. But effect-lighting is powerful, and can be used in many ways to heighten your attendees mood and experience. Colored décor lighting can highlight scenic elements and branding, and illuminate different areas of the room to transform your event space into an entirely new atmosphere. From simple static (non-moving) colored lights, to lighting gobos (cutouts that project your logo or other patterns), all the way up to using full moving lighting instruments and effects (think X-Factor stage); the possibilities are endless.
“Good design is good business.”
Thomas J. Watson Jr., Former President of IBM
Thinking about the elements of good stage design will provide a strong starting point for developing a first-rate setting for your next event. Partnering with a full-service event design company like Enliven Production Group, will ensure you fully achieve your event’s maximum potential.
