DENVER/NEW YORK CITY — Emmy Award-winning design and branding studio Friends of Mine (FOM) (http://friendsofmine.tv) created and produced an inspired graphics show package for the 2018 PromaxBDA Awards show which took place in June at the New York Hilton Hotel in Manhattan. The honor of designing the package each year is by invitation-only to some of the best up-and-coming creative shops in the world.
The PromaxBDA Awards are the world’s premier celebration of outstanding achievement in entertainment marketing and design. Across 11 regional and global competitions, the PromaxBDA Awards honor the teams harnessing passionate fandom to drive audiences, create value and build the biggest brands in entertainment.
Friends of Mine was asked to create a show package for the multiple PromaxBDA Awards shows that run throughout the year. The package was first seen at “The Conference”in New York in June, and then next at the Station Summit 2018, PromaxBDA Latin America 2018, PromaxBDA Europe 2019, and will round out the year at PromaxGAMES 2019.
“Friends of Mine were the perfect partners for this year’s event,” says Steve Kazanjian, president/CEO of PromaxBDA. “They were fantastic — they brought us an excellent awards show package. One of the things we wanted to ensure with this year’s awards show was to make it feel like a primetime, top-tier awards show — one that would elicit a visceral and emotional response. What we got from FOM was beyond our wildest expectations — not only does their graphics package reflect the cultural zeitgeist of the moment, which was unexpected, but it’s crafted, and polished, and incredibly modern. The production values are extraordinary. They were able to capture the luxurious quality you’d want for a prestigious awards show, while at the same time tapping into a modern, contemporary look. What they ultimately delivered was incredibly powerful.”
“When PromaxBDA first approached us to be their awards show partner, we were honored and a bit nervous,” says FOM co-founder and creative director Adam Espinoza. “It’s a huge opportunity — all of our peers, clients and potential clients are going to experience this at the same time. We knew we had to bring our best work and show what we have to offer. For me, the process is just as important as the final product. During the process of creating this package, I felt alive and energized. And personifying the creative process for no less an organization than PromaxBDA energized our entire crew even more.”
The FOM-created PromaxBDA Awards show graphics package, rooted in the concept of “The Legend of the Idol,” represented the physical manifestation and evolution of the creative process. The final execution drew upon influences in antiquity across the genres of typography, texture, lighting and color. The entire project spanned many months of FOM’s time, and included five days of live-action shoots involving art direction, light installations and make-up. Additionally, the post production process involved extensive compositing, color and editing with a mix of Maxon Cinema 4D, Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects and Adobe Illustrator with what the studio refers to as its own “secret sauce” to complete the project.