Harnessing the Power of Creativity
In a dynamic world driven by innovation, creativity stands as our guiding light, navigating us through change and evolution. Join me, Julz Partington, a seasoned event designer and creative director, as we embark on a journey to harness and magnify the spark of creativity, transforming it into a powerful spotlight.
Getting to know the Creative Force
I’m Julz with a Z, living a life immersed in creativity, from Andy Warhol mornings to Friday nights at NGV. Creativity never sleeps, and unexpected moments of clarity often arise, becoming our superpower. With 14 years experience in event design, my career has been a risk-filled journey, shaped by trial, error, and the pursuit of unforgettable experiences.
The unseen complexity of Event Design
Event design is a hardcore, fast-paced realm where a fleeting 3 seconds can make or break audience engagement. Stress levels of event professionals rival those of police officers and surgeons, debunking the myth that it’s just about creating table centerpieces or styling events. Fearless creatives curate experiential events, and without them, your event may fall flat.
Creativity Unleashed!
The imperative role of creativity in today’s landscape
In a world dominated by AI and shrinking attention spans, creativity is essential. As Time magazine notes, our attention span is now shorter than a goldfish’s. Creativity has become mainstream, reflecting societal shifts and the desire for unique, authentic experiences. Brands, like individuals, embrace creativity to stand out in a crowded landscape.
The Why: Understanding the brief
Before delving into the how, understanding the why is crucial. Creativity holds the key to crafting memorable, emotionally charged experiences. Experiential meeting design, as highlighted by PCMA, is vital for fostering connections at events. Knowing the why ensures each element ties back to a cohesive creative strategy. Its not about delivering a pick list of concepts and solutions but the best designs truly understand the events ROI and WHY!
The How: Four Key Messages
Let’s explore ‘the how’ with four key messages
The Why, the So What, the Emotional Journey
- Start with the why, diving into the emotional journey you want attendees to experience.
- Constantly ask yourself, “So what?” to ensure each creative element aligns with the overarching strategy.
Close your eyes.Â
Picture your invited to an enchanted evening and as you walk into into an event, there’s overgrowing forest greenery that brushing past you, sounds of bird chirping in the distance and intertwining ivy, lines the path either side of you, you have stepped foot into and enchanted garden – Now if you were to turn the person next to you…. Don’t worry I’m not going to ask you to talk to a stranger… I’m sure your vision is completely different to the person sitting next to you, but still the brief was the same.
So take your briefs to the next level by getting to know your clients and your audience. Ask them some hard hitting questions, peel back the onion layers, and under the brand, on the clientele and guests and try and walk a day in their shoes.
Personalisation is a Power Tool
- Move beyond standard themes and catalogs, embracing personalisation.
- Use personalisation as a tool to create unique, memorable experiences tailored to individual guests.
When once we used to design from standard themes such as winter wonderland or choose furniture or florals from a catalogue for an upcoming gala, Now we create, we curate and we invent for a more personalised approach.
Here’s a challenge for you – how do you turn a sponsor media wall into an interactive personalised experience…well here’s the quick answer.
Here you can see the go to event solution for a media wall – logos from sponsors, in a step and repeat formation printed onto a fabric skin stretch’s overs a rectangular frame. Maybe with back lights or front lights to capture that peace and pout.
Yawn – what a snooze!
What if you took those sponsors and designed an LED column experience with a touch screen kiosk that allowed guest to walk up to the kiosk so they could…choose their own experience gifted to them by each brand.
Thanks, Cadbury, for taking me on a journey through a candy land with swirling confessionary content, happy chime audio tracks and purple haze bellowing creating a carpet underfoot
Or thank you AFL for allowing me to walk through iconic images of hall of famers as I pose for a photo with Patrick Cripps while hearing background noise of cheering fans and the sent of fresh hot chips and sauce.
A lot better right….
Endless Scrolling is Not Time Wasted
- Combat the ever-shrinking timelines with daily investments in inspiration.
- Embrace the endless scroll as a creative library, preparing your mind for the unknown.
We’ve spoken about the importance of creativity a lot, but the one evil that creativity faces, time and time again… is time itself. It’s not something that can be tamed to fit within busy schedules or something that you can force to turn up before a deadline approaches
So invest in your library. Add pinteresting, article reading and album listening to your everyday routine.Â
You might not have an end goal or brief in mind when you take this task on – and really all it takes is 15 minutes a day. 15 minutes inventing in new ideas, new concepts, saving cool shit you found on google and an adding to your growing number of iPhone photo images. Give yourself the space to be inspired!
I’ve spoken about our ever-shrinking attention spans…. Our deadlines and timelines are also ever shrinking.
We are using tools such as AI generated images and administrative bots to enhance efficiencies and turnaround times within the workplace and our personal lives. You need to be prepared for the unknown. And just like AI it all starts with the data source. These tools don’t work alone, they just know where to find the information, idea or answer. So you should too.
All it takes is 15 minutes a day and guess what you can do it almost anywhere!
But none of the above is achieved without…
Team Culture – The More Brains, the Better
- Build a diverse creative team to tackle unique challenges.
- A varied team with similar technical ability ensures countless possibilities and solutions, turning ideas into reality.
No two briefs are the same.
No two clients are the same.
No two designers should be the same.
Invest in your business through investing in a creative team – your business will thank me for that advice.
In 2023 my focus was building a department and a team. a team that will take brands and business from basic to bold, that will take ideas from single figures to triple figures and that will start to build the future of creativity and be an invaluable partner to our clients and customers that don’t have the overheads to invest in a creative team themselves. They are the chosen extended family to each client, guiding them supporting them and being their visionaries.
While no two designers style should be the same, and their resumes and technical abilities such as software skills should be unique, leaving you with countless possibilities and solutions that you can tap into so no idea is left idling or undiscovered because it falls in the too hard basket.
Be a Fearless Creative
As I conclude, I challenge you to be bold, rebellious, and a fearless creative. Embrace the power of creativity in your business, transforming ordinary moments into extraordinary experiences. Remember the four key messages and embark on a journey where creativity knows no bounds.
Are you ready to push the creative boundaries with us?
With a Creative Department bursting with dozens of brilliant minds, Encore is ready to elevate your next event. It’s time to embrace the power of creativity in your business, so let us help you transform ordinary moments into extraordinary experiences.
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