Color Harmony: Packaging

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Job:12-00674 Title:RP-Design for special events

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Design for Special Events

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INTRODUCTION

As a studio focused on design for special events, we often look for sources of creative inspiration, but

had diffi culty fi nding books showcasing incredible invitations, spot-on promotions, or other outstanding

designs for events. So we decided to write our own.

The process of putting this book together was full of pleasant surprises. After we issued a call for

submissions, we were thrilled by the response from the design community and the number of projects

we received. In this generation of electronic invitations, we were at fi rst shocked and then encouraged

to see that print is still alive and well in the special event industry. We were impressed by the obvious

care, inventiveness, and the high production values exhibited in many of these pieces.

Creative professionals recognize that designing for special events is a distinct discipline because its

designs are inherently short lived, generally seen only for the duration of the event, and then never

seen again. Because it doesn’t need to stand the test of time, the work can be completely of the

moment. This ephemeral nature affords the designer the freedom to take risks, to be innovative

and creative—the qualities we specifi cally wanted to include in this book.

While most graphic design aims to promote a company or product, special event design promotes

a singular experience. Special event designers need to capture the mood and excitement surrounding

the event, even before it begins, by creating a promotional piece that evokes those emotions while

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Introduction

identifying what makes the event memorable or unique. The initial project—a save-the-date mailer,

an invitation or a promotional poster—must make the guest eager to attend. When we were judging

submissions for this book, we looked for this engaging quality, asking about each piece, “Does this

make us want to attend?”

In sifting through the nearly 1,500 submitted pieces, we were struck by the overall quality of the work

and by the variety of events represented. We saw designs for everything from benefi ts to elaborate

sporting events, to fi lm festivals, and weddings, and a myriad of other types of gatherings. We were

especially surprised at the number of beautifully designed fund-raising and nonprofi t pieces received

and were thoroughly impressed with how designers were able to meet the diffi cult challenge of

promoting a cause that affects people in a personal (and often tragic) way, while capturing the fun

and positive nature of a fund-raiser.

In organizing all of these projects, we found that everything fi t into one of eight categories: fund-raising,

entertainment, sports and automotive, community and education, business, awards, art and design,

and private parties.

Among the 500 exceptional designs that we compiled to create this book, we’ve singled out nine-

teen events for case studies. The selected pieces either showed the seamless evolution of design in

multiyear events or involved elaborate systems that were carried through an entire event, from

invitations to signage and elements of the décor. Each of these nineteen case studies represents

a unique special occasion, a serious fund-raiser, an energetic sporting event, or an exciting music

festival for which each designer perfectly captured a mood and sentiment.

The quality and scope of event designs that we discovered while creating this book were both eye

opening and encouraging. We hope you have a similar experience as you fl ip through the pages.

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Design for Special Events

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EVENT 29

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Annual Festival Ball

CLIENT City of Hope

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EVENT Humanity through Technology

CLIENT The Shoah Foundation

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About Top Design

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EVENT 26

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Annual Festival Ball

CLIENT City of Hope

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EVENT 24

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Annual Festival Ball

CLIENT City of Hope

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