ACI Mural Installation: Rethinking Traditional Street Marketing Tactics
We are no strangers to the use of wheat paste as a street marketing standard. It has been our go-to medium for installing posters outdoors for years. However, when ACI Mechanical and HVAC Sales approached us with an opportunity to decorate their new warehouse and office in Portland, we had to consider every option for executing their idea. We were tasked with telling a visual story of the company to liven up their space in a way that would reflect their character and values to visitors.
After weeks of designing the layout and planning the install methods, we found ourselves returning to the reliability of an old friend, wheat paste, to execute the vision. This project wasn’t going to be a simple wildposting install though. The final design came out to over 1,000 unique sheets and about 5,000 total pieces of paper, all to be arranged carefully so as to create a massive collage of local scenes and company memories that would adorn the interior of the ACI building. When it was complete, we had covered 3,000 square feet of wall space with an intricate array of enlarged black-and-white photos, and added colorful cutouts of local graffiti to bring a pop of color onto the backdrop.
The final effect brought the warehouse to life. The inside had been transformed from blank, unremarkable beige plywood into an enormous canvas of memories that completely encircled the office space. We found a way to turn our expertise in wheat pasting into an interior decorating tactic and got us to rethink how our materials could be used in new and exciting formats. With a lot of wheat paste, a vision, and plenty of planning we had turned the ACI office into a space that the employees couldn’t wait to show off.
Watch us in action putting the final touches on this great project in the video below! See the rest of the project on our Youtube page here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT71YYbMOUqR-AA6zJFyDDw
Regency Centers and Melrose Market: Small Business Saturday Night Market
Melrose Night Market
Community = Good Business. This is the Polite Society motto, and it’s at the heart of everything we do. In 2019, we were approached to throw a winter event for Melrose Market on Capitol Hill.
As we brainstormed concepts, we decided the best date for such an event would be on Small Business Saturday, a day dedicated to supporting your neighborhood businesses and uplifting the local economy. With an event space on the bottom floor, this was the perfect location for our Night Market.
Melrose Market itself is comprised of small, local businesses with a common thread; they all value local, sustainable, premium products. By partnering with Seattle Made, a local nonprofit, whose mission aligns with the market business’ beliefs, we were able to bring in 22 makers to create a European holiday-inspired bazaar.
The footprint of the building was such that we could flow the foot traffic from the upstairs Melrose Market tenants down to the bazaar space downstairs. We were also able to leverage the reach of the businesses and the nonprofit partner to generate more attendance and interest in the event. A win-win for all involved!
On Saturday, November 30th, we filled Melrose Market Studios with the local makers who create everything from handcrafted jewelry to caramels, perfumes and much more! In addition to visiting the market and bazaar, visitors could buy raffle tickets to win one of three baskets filled with a mix of themed goods from Melrose Market and Seattle Made vendors, with all proceeds benefiting Seattle Made.
The day after Black Friday is naturally a busy day for Melrose Market’s tenants, with an influx of holiday customers in Seattle looking for places to dine and shop. To ensure customers were welcomed to the market, we placed local buskers throughout the upstairs space to give it a lively and cohesive feel. A guitarist serenaded diners and shoppers on Melrose Market’s main floor, along with a balloon artist and origami artist who dazzled visitors with a little piece of art they could take home with them. In the event space below, the scene was set by another musician playing holiday songs, an artist who created poetry and watercolor prints for attendees, and a hilarious puppet show that entertained children and adults alike.
A steady flow of shoppers moved throughout the space during the four-hour market, starting off their holiday shopping season by benefiting both local businesses and a nonprofit whose goal is to support Seattle’s diverse local ecosystem of makers.
It was the combination of neighborhood businesses, local artists, and a community nonprofit working together that made this event memorable. When the community comes together, the results are undeniable. It ensures good business.
Check out our Melrose Night Market video below!
Snow Day in Denny Park
When the days get colder, we all hope for the magic of a Snow Day. A chance to escape the drudgery of your day and go out and play. But when days get colder, the nights get longer and that is when the magic truly happens. Is there anything more magical than a Snow Day night? For five weeks this winter, we took over Denny Park, Seattle’s oldest park, to create a magical, immersive winter light installation. In South Lake Union, every day was Snow Day.
In the fall of 2018, Friends of Denny Park & Amazon came to us with a vision of creating a family-friendly, interactive event that would drive people to South Lake Union after hours and give local businesses a boost during the holidays. Even though it doesn’t snow often in Seattle, everyone loves the excitement of a Snow Day, so we decided to recreate this feeling with an immersive lighting display in Seattle’s oldest park.
We strung over 30,000 lights throughout the park, turning it into a winter wonderland. We kicked off the festivities with a Grand Opening Party with a holiday market, beer garden, food trucks, live music, stilt walkers and more. KEXP’s DJ Troy Nelson curated a Snow Day playlist for the festivities, an ice sculptor carved a custom Snow Day installation, and attendees could get their picture taken inside a giant Snow Globe. Event goers were able to experience fun, winter activities all while taking in the immersive scene that lit up Denny Park. After the opening party, the lights remained up for 5 weeks.
Over the course of the 5 weeks, between 20,000 to 50,000 people visited Denny Park to see the lights. The holiday season was an especially wonderful time to activate the park. Providing joy to the neighborhood as well as drawing in more people to this historic park in Seattle was extremely rewarding and exciting.
With this much success and support in the first year of Snow Day, we are very excited to build on the event for next year, and all the years to come all while engaging more and more of the local community!
Check out our Snow Day Video!