ABOUT

During my time at Wham I re-branded one of the largest music venues in Europe—Three Arena in Dublin. The brief was to signify a significant step-change in the new sponsor’s commitment to, and passion for live music. I was involved from the pitch and initial concept development through to achieving sign-off and final implementation.

The re-brand included, external signage, way-finding throughout the venue, all large format printed dressing of the auditorium and service spaces, 11 new neon installations, 15 new screens, and four large-scale projectors, gobo lighting, creation of an animation liburary, staff uniforms, website and venue stationery. All venue applictions had to comply with building regulations and public stafty standards.

A state-of-the-art building, the Three Arena is modern-industrial, glass, steel, and concrete, very impressive but was cold and corporate. Using moving image, bright colours, and light ­— the re-brand created an energetic environment that was very befitting of a live music experience without being novel or nostalgic. We used the language of live music both visual and written, to build excitement and anticipation as people worked their way into the building and through to the auditorium. We challenged ourselves to create an aspect to the venue that would change-over-time so that no visit was ever the same twice. This was achieved using huge projectors that were mapped over the sidewalls of the auditorium, these were capable of changing the feel of the space instantly through bespoke animations. These animations were also used on large screens in the bar areas to the same effect.

This project was extremely intense, started and completed within a summer. I would spend three days a week in Dublin and the remaining two in the studio in London, directing and overseeing the creative, whilst at the same time, liaising and negotiating with clients and suppliers. Strong organisational skills were essential, as were the ability to constantly evaluate what the priorities were, as these changed on a daily basis due to fluctuating league times and changing client priorities. This project was a demonstration in the power of good working relationships and team building. It was crucial to build a good, honest repore and communication with all involved so that objectives and requiments were clearly understood, problems, solutions, and prorities were identified and ageed quickly to meet requird standards and deadlines.