Voiles for Rafael Saadiq

Recently Rent What? Inc. had the pleasure of working with Raphael Saadiq on some beautiful drape rentals for his concert tour stage design. His crew wanted draping that was simple yet dramatic, something that could be lit to look different at each show if need be, and something that was versatile enough to be able to have its shape and style change from night to night. We came up with gorgeous White Voile draping 24’h by almost 70’w with 100% fullness (lots of pleating) from our Delightably White Drapery Collection, which you can see turned out to be exactly what was asked for.

Because of the sheer textile of White Voile, it could be dramatically lit with all sorts of colors and intensities to help create the right mood for each song being played. They were able to hang these drapes at different angles because of the clever usage of the drapes’ grommets and ties on top, and so they were able to make unique staging while still using the same drapes over and over again.

We love being able to come up with memorable drapery rentals for our clients. This was a perfect example of how we help accomplish what our clients want without them having to spend an arm and a leg on renting multiple types of drapes in order to create a new and unique feel for each show.

Full Proof Aspect Ratio and Resolution-

I love what I do, and I honestly can’t think of anything I’d rather be involved in than creating graphics for shows of all kinds. Many of the projects that come in for production are already created and technically ready for press. My job is to take a look at the structure of the files that are going to press. I check to make sure the art has enough data (ie: resolution so that it prints properly). I check for aspects like file format, color mode and last but not least document set up.

Document set up, in simplest terms, is the deciding factor that dictates if you’ll get a 30′x20′ backdrop if that’s what you want. Lately I’ve found that some designers are struggling with proper file set up .This may be caused by the fact that many graphic programs and computers have limits on document sizes and amount of data that they will push through. This said, a method I’ve found, that has not failed me, is to set up my art at 1/4 scale. If you desire a 20′x30′ backdrop for instance, set up your file (photoshop) 90″ x 60″ at 300 PPI-(pixels per inch)- This will give us a perfect 20′x30′-75ppi file to work with (at size) and a backdrop that will print perfectly.

I’m using 75ppi as an example of a good minimum resolution. You can give your files more resolution if your computer system will handle it. I’ve found that 150 ppi at size is the most you should ever need to assign to any art file for it to print well.

I hope this helps.

Masking Drapes for Church Retrofit

Back in 2011, we were contacted by Mankin Media regarding custom masking drapes for a project they were working on.  Often, we never learn the full details of such projects, so it was great to receive an e-mail recently from Levi Watson at Mankin Media, telling us more about the project.

The project was Silverdale Baptist Church in Chattanooga, TN.  The original intention had been to build an entirely new auditorium for the church.  However, due to budget constraints, the project was altered, and the existing facility was retrofitted with a variety of new lighting and media equipment.  The custom masking drapery that Sew What? Inc. manufactured was included as part of the new design.  Always nice to hear the final result of our custom stage drapes!

Want to read more about this project?  Mankin Media has created an online portfolio with all the details.

Custom Guitar Design For Autism Charity.

Early last summer after meeting and becoming friends with jewelry designer Rich Wright, we started collaborating on a couple of design projects on the side and after the hours of our day gigs. A mutual love for music and all things rock-n-roll naturally guided us to try our hand at designing custom guitars. Collectively, we thought that these guitars might be a great way to give back to our community by selecting a few well deserving charities and auctioning off these guitars to create awareness as well as raise much needed money for those charities. Our latest effort goes to benefit the charity Artists for Autism. Artists for Autism utilizes various forms of art – drawing, music, and much more – to connect with people with autism.

To benefit Artists for Autism, Rick and I have created a Ted Nugent themed design we are calling “The Battle Axe.”  This guitar features custom designed sterling silver hardware, bear claw volume and tone knobs designed by Rich and Nugent Zebra theme graphics featuring an illustration of Ted that I created. Ted has offered to sign the guitar and has been very helpful in getting the word out about the auction. The Nugent Battle Axe Guitar will be auctioned off on Ebay starting near the end of March. Details and a link to the auction will be available at their web site within the next week .

Why Not Try Something “Out of the Box”?

We here at Rent What? Inc. seem to have the most creative and inspiring clients in the world. Their requests and visions help inspire us to keep creating new and innovative designs for our customers to be able to utilize for their special events. Recently we had the opportunity to help create a “Shadowbox” for some clients of ours in Las Vegas, which turned out to be a smash hit!

We basically helped turn some of our super easy to assemble and use Pop Up Dressing Rooms into a fun, flirty, and sometimes even naughty Shadowbox for their fun-filled “James Bond” theme event. The best part is that they were such a huge hit, now we have companies renting them for all SORTS of themed events and parties, because they are so easy to set up and use, and add such wonderful and unique flair. You can use them for any theme that a fun and striking silhouette would help add that special touch to.

Next time you are interested in adding something special and spectacular to your theme event, why not try adding a few Shadowboxes to it? Just imagine what one could add to YOUR event. It will be something your guests talk about long after the party is over!

Rockin’ Clients – Rod Stewart

Born and raised in North London, Rod Stewart began his musical career in 1962 as the lead singer of The Ray Davies Quartet (which later became The Kinks), a stint that did not last long.  After several stints as a harmonica player and then a singer with several groups, and a short stint as a solo artist, Stewart achieved his first real success as a singer and songwriter with The Jeff Beck Group from 1967 to 1969.

While re-establishing himself as a solo artist in the late ’60s, Rod Stewart followed his friend Ronnie Wood in joining The Small Faces, which with the addition of Stewart on lead vocals and Wood on guitar was renamed The Faces.  Throughout the early 1970s, he remained with The Faces while continuing to pursue a solo career, and it was during this time that Stewart enjoyed his first hit as a solo artist with the song Maggie May.

When The Faces broke up in 1975, Stewart turned his focus completely on his solo career, recording a series of hits throughout the late 1970s that included Tonight’s The Night, The First Cut Is The Deepest, You’re In My Heart, Hot Legs, and Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?

Stewart continued to record and tour throughout the 1980s and 1990s, picking up a variety of awards throughout that time, including induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.  In 2002, he changed his musical focus from rock and pop to standards, releasing five albums in the 2000s under “The Great American Songbook” title.  These albums included songs from songwriters such as Cole Porter and Ira Gershwin.  In 2007, he was awarded the title of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE).

After a number of tours throughout the 2000s, in August 2011 Rod Stewart began a two-year residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. 

Sew What? is proud to have made a number of custom stage drapes for Rod Stewart tours throughout the last decade.

The Ease of Using Pipe and Base

Recently Rent What? Inc. had a local production company, Oops Productions, contact us for some draping and pipe and base hardware for a winter formal dance. They had a tight budget, but still wanted something gorgeous to help mask the bleachers in the auditorium, so they could help transform the room into a beautiful winter landscape. Normally they do much grander events, but this dance held a special place in the heart of the designer Vairon Perez, who basically decided to help design for this special dance as a favor to the school. Therefore we wanted to do everything we could to help them out! He had limited resources to work with, and of course some staging considerations to deal with as well, having the dance take place entirely inside a school’s auditorium. But you can see from this video that they did an amazing job! Using the high school students to help with the setup of all of the pipe and drape, they were able to set up our gorgeous White Supervel drapery and pipe and drape hardware very easily in just a few minutes. Add in a little colorful lighting and voila– a gorgeous winter wonderland!

It just goes to show that with user-friendly equipment and quality draping, you don’t have to be a high-end professional production company to be able to manage our gear easily and successfully. We were proud to help by providing low-cost pipe and draping for this event, and very impressed with how beautiful everything turned out!

New Technology – Rent What QR Code

We here at Rent What? Inc. try to stay on the forefront of technology in order to provide our clients with the best, most innovative service. In light of that, we have developed a QR Code for our website, which we’ve attached to all of our pipe and drape hardware, hampers, dressing rooms, and other rented goods.

All you have to do is download a free app on your smartphone which is called a “scanner” or “QR reader”, which gives you the ability to literally “take a picture” of these funny looking squares filled with what looks like random dots. However, once you scan it (even on your computer moniter—go ahead and give it a try!), all of our company’s vital information pops up on your phone. You can see our website, address, email, phone number, and even GPS location which can be used in any mapping program your phone has. You can then save us on your master Contact list, which is a great way for our clients to have all of our information at the tip of their fingertips in case they are out on an install and need some assistance from us.

We strive to stay ahead of the game here at Rent What? Inc., and utilizing new technology has proven to be a great way for us to do that.