The back row gets a vote.
A bigger LED wall is a very expensive way to discover your content has too much text.
Design for the actual viewing conditions.
A presentation is usually reviewed on a laptop at arm’s length. The event audience may see it from across a room, around another person’s head, while a speaker is moving and something interesting is happening near the coffee counter. The design needs to survive that journey.
Start with the purpose of each screen moment. Does the audience need to read, watch, recognise someone or simply feel a change of atmosphere? A speaker slide, an award name and a performance backdrop need different amounts of information and different pacing.
The dimensions belong in the creative brief.
Confirm the actual content canvas, the screen layout and any areas that are masked or interrupted by the stage design. Agree those with the technical team before the animation and layouts are finished. A standard widescreen file is not automatically right for a custom stage.
Keep essential names, faces and messages in a part of the composition people can reliably see. Treat decorative areas as decoration. When the layout changes, check what happens to the content instead of assuming the playback system will make a thoughtful editorial decision.
Watch it from where the audience will be.
During rehearsal, review representative content from the back and sides of the audience area. Can you read the smallest essential line? Does a name stay up long enough? Are faces recognisable? Is the speaker competing with unnecessary motion?
Test the actual playback files, including their opening and final frames, with the planned lighting and audio where possible. Small details become quite noticeable when they are several metres wide.
Give the screen a role in the show.
Screen content works best when its timing is part of the running order. Agree the cue, the person calling it and what appears before and after. For live performance, rehearse the relationship between movement, music and visuals together.
Our Guidewire project brings live performance and digital environments into the same visual world. The useful lesson is to plan the relationship early, while there is still time for the content and the production to influence each other.
The last row paid attention. The design should return the favour.
From the portfolio / GuidewireDeveloper Summit ↗
Event photography