ElectriFi on Fountain Square
Project Synopsis
Client
Fifth Third Bank
My Roles
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Installation concept development
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Design partner management
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Promotional content development
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Organizational evangelism
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Event photography and videography
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Custom illustration, animation & motion graphics
BLINK is one of the nation’s largest light and art festivals—using the city of Cincinnati, Ohio as its canvas. The four-night, 30-city-block event inspires innovation and creativity through music, street art, projection mapping and light-based art installations. For BLINK 2022, I led the creative direction for Fifth Third Bank's exhibit, "ElectriFi on Fountain Square"—a massive installation with a range of artistic elements symbolizing a thriving, futuristic, solar-powered ecosystem.
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My involvement spanned the full depth and breadth of this high profile, 6-month engagement, from initial concepting to the final production—all while managing expectations of the bank's C-suite stakeholders and maintaining their enthusiastic support.
Objectives
With over two million in expected attendance, the 2022 BLINK Festival in Cincinnati provided Fifth Third Bank a unique opportunity to connect with consumers through artistic expression—right at the foot of its downtown headquarters, at the heart of the city-wide event. By participating not just as a corporate sponsor, but as a contributing artist, the bank sought to achieve several goals:
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Demonstrate Fifth Third's commitment to the arts and to the city of Cincinnati
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Position itself as an innovative and creative brand
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Position itself as a workplace where creative talent can thrive
Ideation
Through interviews with executive leadership, design workshops (in-person and in Miro), and vetting through PR and corporate legal counsel, our project team identified environmental sustainability as a creative starting place for ideation. Our process began with exploring the various angles of this broad topic, using the bank's ESG goals and commitments as constraints. The aligning inputs led us to focus on the bank's achievement of purchasing 100% renewable energy as the main inspiration for the installation.
Collaboration
To ensure our artistic vision could translate into a structurally sound installation that could withstand the wear and tear of a 4-day festival, our team set out to find an external partner with experience in creating large scale, interactive art works. After leading exploratory interviews with multiple artist collectives and production agencies, we selected Calgary-based B!G ART, whose previous work best demonstrated the futuristic industrial aesthetic we envisioned. They were also chosen based on their shared passion for renewable energy as well as their openness to artistic collaboration and shared ownership with our creative team.
Managing the relationship and directing the design execution from across borders presented logistical challenges that we mitigated through weekly virtual touchpoints and in-person workshops. The result was a truly delightful co-creation engagement that provided learning experiences for both Fifth Third and B!G ART.
Together, using hand sketches and 3D renderings, we explored the design possibilities of transforming Fountain Square into an abstract representation of a future powered by clean energy.​
Execution
Our working team's design proposal envisioned an interactive experience that could symbolize a thriving, futuristic solar powered ecosystem, using three design elements—all connected, but each its own spectacle.
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The Sun
A large cluster of intelligent, moving lights surrounding a 12-foot video screen.
The Panels
A grid of 16 5-foot interactive mirrored structures connected by pathway lighting that each come to life with animation and video content
The Battery
An 8-foot polygonal dome infinity mirror with programmed lighting effects
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The build spanned a two-month production period in which the installation's physical design elements were constructed by B!G ART, while its multimedia content was created by myself and two additional collaborating motion graphic artists. Additionally, to help maximize Fifth Third's reach and awareness for its festival contribution during and beyond the BLINK festival, I led the creation of promotional content including installation photography and videography, social media videos, a VR experience, as well as a behind-the-scenes short feature.
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