To tell their story, Mailchimp called on Hamilton and Lightswitch to create a booth for Collision Conference 2019 that showcased their quirky brand personality.
To tell their story, Mailchimp called on Hamilton and Lightswitch to create a booth for Collision Conference 2019 that showcased their quirky brand personality. However, Mailchimp didn’t want to tell their story conventionally – what they really wanted was for attendees of the conference to follow their own curiosity, much like a “choose your own adventure” book. Lightswitch partnered with ILC to develop and install this wildly successful booth, which ended up requiring the use of cutting-edge projection and sensor technology.
Hamilton’s design for the Mailchimp booth envisioned a “dynamic mural,” which would reveal new animations when it was interacted with, ultimately weaving an immersive narrative for guests. We achieved this through a combination of projection mapping and biomagnetic sensors embedded in the wall. When guests touched certain activation images, characters and text were cued to animate across the printed graphics.
This interactive projection was quite the undertaking, and first required the latest models of 4K projectors to be built into the booth’s overhang. These cutting-edge machines projected clean, crisp Mailchimp iconography onto the walls and avoided any chunky or pixelated images. However, projecting at a trade show is its own challenge, as exhibitors are only given a small amount of space to work with, and never want to impose on the operations of fellow booths. This meant the projectors had to be installed at a very steep angle to prevent any interference – not to mention interference from guests walking through the projection beam. This led us to our next venture into cutting-edge tech: sourcing the latest and best projection lenses that could produce a wide beam of light to cover the wall from a short distance.
Though this collaborative design experience was quite technically challenging, the payoff was worth all our efforts. Conference attendees flocked to the booth, and Lightswitch had the pleasure of watching a childlike wonder ignite in guests of all ages. This booth exemplified the adage, “The best tech appears to be magic.” Our team was incredibly fulfilled by the combination of technology and creativity called for by this project, and seeing our work so deeply appreciated was a gift.
