Macaron Mosaic Favor Wall, A Case Study

We all know case studies are a great way to share how skilled your creative team is at what they do, day in and day out. In fact, taking a closer look behind the scenes into what we do here at Evantine Design, showing real-life examples of how we’re able to not only satisfy our client’s needs but exceed their expectations, is something we’re going to be doing a lot more of here on the blog. Starting with this complicated project for a recent University of Pennsylvania event to launch their campaign The Power of Penn.

IN REALITY

Many, if not all, of our events contain complicated design work and detailed craftsmanship; yet, we pride ourselves on making it all look easy. Sometimes it can be, as we do have some incredibly talented artists and craftspeople on #TeamEvantine! But many times Evantine World is like a duck gliding on the water: calm and serene on the surface with fast, frenetic feet peddling just below the surface! What we live for is facing new challenges and finding creative solutions to achieve them.

THIS CHALLENGE

To design a visually-captivating design element and memorable event favor “mosaic” that would remind guests about The Power of Penn message, long after the party was over. Specifically inspired by Maura Murphy and Stephanie Eib with UPenn, who imagined us taking the campaign’s intricate, “mosaic” logo and making it into a food favor display that maintained the original logo design as each favor package was removed. Sounds so simple, right? It wasn’t. It was detailed and labor-intensive, a real puzzle! But it WAS amazing!

THE PROCESS

Following several weeks of design consultation amongst the various departments within Evantine Design, a detailed construction process was outlined and materials ordered. Two weeks out from the event itself, the production team began to bring the favor project to life, step by step, with some expected trials and errors, with the winning process as follows:

We created a large display wall to which the client’s artwork was applied.
The decision was made to offer boxes filled with four macaron cookies. The cookies would be made in blue and red, UPenn colors. Neuman’s Kitchen, the caterer for the event, supplied 600 blueberry and raspberry macarons, made to the measurements we specified by their pastry chef, Matt Evans.
Then, using all kinds of math and geometry, we created a grid on the art to mimic the boxes and how they would hang on the wall.

200 custom acrylic pegs were inserted into the wall, according to the design, allowing three cookie boxes per peg. Each box had the exact same piece of the mosaic design applied to the face of the box. Basically, one big label was cut into 600 specific puzzle pieces and carefully applied to each box. Perhaps the most time-consuming (and frustrating) steps in the process.
Then, the 600 acrylic boxes were also drilled to hang on the 200 pegs in the precise pattern that matched the campaign logo.

We also branded each box on the flip side with a Penn logo, small enough to not conceal the macarons in each box.
Hand-made macarons arrived from the catering company and were packaged.

Each box was numbered to coincide with the wall grid, to allow four team members to assemble the whole wall efficiently on-site at the event.

THE RESULT

As you can see from the various video clips and photographs, it was a painstaking process from start-to-finish! But it blew the clients away as the logo presentation never disappeared as the cookie boxes were taken. The integrity of the campaign message remained and yet, each box served as its own encouragement to support The Power of Penn campaign. Below, Maura Murphy, a very happy client!

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE POWER OF PENN CAMPAIGN

The Power of Penn is embodied in the faculty, researchers and students who think creatively and work collaboratively to tackle the most pressing challenges of our time. By strengthening our commitment to inclusion, innovation and impact, we will make our communities and world stronger. Join us—together we are The Power of Penn.

—AMY GUTMANN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA