DOMINÍC was an event held to celebrate my 23rd birthday in September 2014. I was inspired by the singer Beyoncé's self-titled visual album which includes 17 videos per 14 songs. In the spirit of Yoncé, I chose to be ambitious. By combining various forms of media and technology with typical party atmoshphere my team created a truly unique event that billed me as a "celebrity" to match the theme of the celebration.
The first step I took into planning DOMINÍC was executing an invitation that would excite, inform and entertain all at once. After drawing inspiration from each of the videos of BEYONCÉ, the Visual Invitation was born.
THE VISUAL INVITATION
The visual was shot in various locations in Fresno, Clovis, and Selma, CA with a few of my closest friends.
The scenes depicted in this visual pay homage to specific imagery in each of the 17 videos of BEYONCÉ, with some exceptions. Placed within the fast paced and freaky scenes were the details of the party just before it quickly fell into static and ended. Just your typical invtie, but with a fresh new twist.
For this strategy to work, it had to be all about hype, hype, hype.
The plan was to secretly shoot the video and speak nothing of it until it had been completed and burned to discs that would later arrive for the invited guests. No one outside of the filming and editing process knew about it until the moment the Physical Invitations were distributed. Because of this, there was a lot of confusion and excitement going around in the area when the day came - which is exactly what my team and I wanted.
The style was inspired by the title sequence of American Horror Story, the cursed videotape in The Ring, "Film Noir" in general, and of course BEYONCÉ.
DOMINÍC - Visual Invitation (Sans Titles)
In the final weeks leading up to DOMINÍC this teaser video was posted to Facebook to encourage guests to RSVP
THE PHYSICAL INVITATION
The Physical Inviation was designed to be identical to the packaging of the BEYONCÉ compact disc. An all black sleeve with only the name in the center in small print. I chose to use a shade of powder blue instead of the now iconic pink as blue is my favorite color. This shade became one third of the event's main color scheme, along with black and white.
When handed the invite, guests would pop open the sleeve's protective seal and out slid the DVD disc as well as a cardstock info card and (depending on who you were) a guest pass. On the face of the info card were the words "PLAY IN YOUR DVD OR BLU-RAY PLAYER", which they would do in order to watch the Visual Invitation The cardstock info card was for their reference.
Once all 60 Physical Invitations were handed out (there were more than 60 invited so that entailed digital invites), a Facebook event invite was sent out which included a link to the Visual Invitation and urged invitees to RSVP by a deadline in order to secure their name on the final guest list.
Mockup of the physical invitation sleeve which included the Visual Invitation on DVD and one info card and guest pass
Disc artwork
Invitation Card design
Guest Pass design
CLUB D23
We had big plans for the space. Originally, we wanted the entire warehouse to be blacklit in the style of a rave or roller rink. I was heavily influenced by the video "Blow" from BEYONCÉ, which features purple and blacklit lighting and lots of neon glow effects. However, as the planning process went on, it seemed more age appropriate to decorate the space in a sophisticated "night-club" fashion. The dress code was black and white club attire so the team deemed it only neccessary to strike neon colors from the main aesthetic and place blue, violet and white primarily about the space.
We found this to be very successful because since everyone was wearing black and white their outifts would dramatically change in hue with the flickering lights. It created quite a visually pleasing effect.
THE SELFIE STATION
By proping up an iPad onto a stand and shining a light onto a decorated backdrop we created the "Selfie Station". Party guests were encouraged to take a few "selfies" in the style of a classic photobooth and email the photos to themselves or post and tweet using #DOMINÍC throughout the night.
A few of the photos taken that night
THE IN-PARTY VIDEO
An hour long In-Party Video wasmade to loop throughout the night in three different locations in the space. Clips were taken from a stock footage website, manipulated and edited in Adobe Premiere Pro, and meshed with original footage from the Visual Invitation. The full video was projected onto a blank wall, depicting bright colors and interesting visuals to create a giant screen, adding to the epicness of the event.
A short compilation featuring clips from the hour long In-Party Video
Music: Partition (WhatTheDuck Remix)
The music and fun went well into the wee hours of the morning and the energy never stopped. With all of these elements combined with a bar area, food station and other aspects that kept the night-club feel strung together, DOMINÍC proved to be a successful event that many guests declared "The Party of the Year".
I'm just glad there was a dance floor.
