Downtown for the Holidays.

So you want to create your own downtown scene and make it either quaint or edgy, uptown or downtown, back alley or main street. This is not a problem.

We recently created a downtown scene for a theater group in Deadwood S.D. for their Christmas show, and the end result was impressive. The objective was to make a believable looking street in Downtown Deadwood. The problem was they needed stores and shops that are not necessarily in the same proximity to appear on the backdrop as if they where actually there.

Using several provided digital assets, we created the new custom street digitally, complete with window decorations, snow, wreaths and the like to make the audience feel like they where standing in the actual street days before Christmas.

The end product was not only believable, but it put you in the mood for the holidays at first glance.

Denim? done’em

In the United States today, and maybe across the world, nothing is more beloved than a good pair of jeans. That emotional attachment can be used on a grand scale on a backdrop, without having to rip up the entire crew’s wardrobe to make it happen. Why not use digital denim?

Illustrated or photographically rendered denim can be created to whatever custom color or texture, stone wash or weathered style that fits your needs. Illustrated seams and rivets can be added to add accents in just any way your heart desires. Actual rips and tears can be added to areas to reveal back graphics or add a glow of light.

It’s all about capturing the essence of the artist and emotion at your show.

Digitally Speaking

Creating graphics the size of a building can be an intimidating prospect for some people. I deal with the issues of proper files set up all day. Questions like “should the art be vector or raster, what resolution do I need to provide and so on come up every day. I’ve found, over the last few months, that if you provide your artwork as a .tif file with an end resolution of at least 75 ppi, you should be golden. Most artwork doesn’t need more than that. If you are doing something complex in Illustrator, I find that it’s the file rips and works better if you rasterize your art before you send it to us. In other words, give us a .tif file. For the most part, a .tif is the least complex of digital files from a data standpoint and the simplicity rips and prints much easier. You can call me if you are in doubt but for the most part, this is the case.

Sharkstooth Scrim with a twist.

Sharkstooth Scrim is one of those fabrics that is so versatile and fun to work with from a creative stand point. When properly lit from the front, Sharstooth appears to be opaque and when the front lighting is turned off and it is back lit properly, you can create stunning lighting affects that can be viewed right through the material. One thing you might want to consider is combining custom cut pieces of digitally printed opaque material with the sharkstooth. This will in effect give your design an incredible dimensional quality creating eye catching shapes, shadows that add to the wow factor of your show.

Image resolution and quality

It’s the time of year when Holiday shows are ramping up. Sets are being developed, designed and produced. I’ve worked on a couple of shows lately creating winter downtown areas complete with decorations like ribbons, wreaths, decorated trees and the like using supplied photographic assets. The one thing I’ve run into lately that I felt some people needed help with is understanding the importance of starting any design project with the highest quality imagery you can get your hands on. If you’re creating the design in house using photographic assets and assembling them to create a desired look, it will help you in the long run if you either shoot or have shot the desired photos. You can also use a stock photo house that sells royalty free high res images. Some photo houses now allow you to download up to 25 images a day for a nominal cost. Resolution, quality and image size add up to a better quality printed piece from us, and will enhance the production quality of your show.

Festival Stage

This was a very interesting project to work on. With this stage we used both our Heavy Knit product for the more opaque pieces like the main body of the backdrop and we used a Supreme Mesh product for the legs and the eye in the center of the main backdrop so that a large video screen could be viewed at a particular times during the show, through the eye, yet appear opaque when lighted from the front during the rest of the show. The challenge on this project was to make the two piece come together and appear seamless. The background art came to us as one piece and we digitally cut so it would print exactly the same size on the Supreme Mesh as it did on the Heavy Knit without excessive overlap. The end result is a stunning visual feast for the eyes. View pictures at by clicking here.

Original illustration. A great value.

A couple of years ago, we did an original illustration of  Ted Nugent as Uncle Sam for tour backdrop. The advantage of creating an illustration from the ground up in the largest possible usable form is afterward he was able to use the art to extend the value of his investment. That same illustration was used on his tour merchandise as well as the cover of a book he wrote and on promotional materials.

I’ve seen this done a few times. When original digital art has enough data and is built right it can be used in many applications as a tool to promote your business and generate funds for you.

Michelle Branch backdrop

I recently designed the new backdrop for Michelle Branch for her 2011/2012 tour. I was approached by her creative team with the idea of putting together an eclectic stack of vintage amplifiers. The first task was to acquire images of vintage amps so that I could create a believable piece of art. As luck would have it, a music store that carries vintage amps was just ten miles away (Back Stage Music, Lake Orion) and they were willing to let me come a shoot all the pictures I needed.

The backdrop turned out fantastic.  Michelle liked it so much she invited me to her show, when they came through town, just to meet me and thank me for my work. No higher praise in my book. 

Thinking Design?

Design of a printed backdrop starts by identifying a goal or desired end result. Depending on your needs and personal taste, this can take on many different forms. The process can start with a cocktail napkin sketch and a few key words that describe look and feel or, it can be a taken from existing brand pieces such as printed collateral, new CD artwork, your web site or whatever brings you inspiration. The key is in translating that vision into a grand format that sets the tone you are looking for. 
Literal translations can work. Sometimes they don’t. That’s when its time to start thinking design.

Use the “forced”

Sometimes you really want to make elements in your backdrop seem huge. At the end of the day, we all have limits to the height we can go to in most venues.

One thing that can help create the illusion of great height is to illustrate the main elements of you backdrop in forced perspective.  What this means in the clearest terms is to illustrate in a way that creates an optical illusion that an object is nearer or farther away, larger or smaller than it actually is. This may be most effective with a building, mountain etc. This creates a feeling of great space or confined quarters to help pull off the feeling you’re looking for with your stage.

I’d be happy to talk to you about how forced perspective can help you.