5 Inspiring Entertainment Designs

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In this post, you’ll read about the following entertainment designs:

1. OT Kun by Live Legends
2. Flying Over Sunset's Scenic Design by Beowulf Boritt
3. NBC Holiday Special by JPConnelly
4. Singapore's 2021 National Day Parade by Gabriel Chan
5. Virtual Nightclub by Lockdown Visual Systems

1. OT Kun by Live Legends

Whether you’ve been using Vectorworks for years, or you’re just now getting started, there are plenty of amazing creations #MadeWithVectorworks that can inspire your next project.

One of these creations is Live Legends’ design for OT KUN in Kunming, China.

The nightclub is a celebration of Kunming and its culture. So, before a single sketch was drawn in Vectorworks, Daan Oomen, Live Legends’ creative director, took multiple trips to Kunming during which he’d drink tea with the locals, learn the environment, and try to understand the local culture — all in the name of a great design.  

Chinese culture can be seen in OT Kun’s design through pre-programmed glyphs that play across the club’s LED installations, a centerpiece in the club’s main room, and the decorative elements on the ceiling — inspired by the unique shape of Yunnan tribal necklaces and headpieces.

Brandon Eckstorm, an entertainment industry expert and a Vectorworks product marketing manager said,“I think it’s incredible how this design keeps culture at the forefront, and then the tech is there to support. So many club designs want to just be fancy, but this one tells a story!”

Image courtesy of Live Legends.

2. Flying Over Sunset’s Scenic Design by Beowulf Boritt

Vectorworks is also a great tool to use for scenic design. Don’t believe us? Look no further than Beowulf Boritt’s design for the Flying Over Sunset musical.

A unique design for an equally unique musical, Boritt’s design captures the abstract nature of imagination and the human brain. The stage itself is open circle, 60-feet in diameter and with walls upstage of the audience that’re a staggering 24-feet high. The circle then morphs and twists, revealing various scenes as the musical progresses through its two acts.

When discussing this breathtaking design, Brandon Budzon, a Vision software engineer said,“This is quite a magnificent and grandiose structure. The use of the moving set pieces and stage elements add an extra dimension to the show! It’s very cool how they were able to export the design straight to a CNC milling machine as well.”

Image courtesy of Beowulf Boritt.

3. NBC Holiday Special by JPConnelly

One of NBC’s holiday specials, Holidays with the Houghs, was designed by the talented James Pearse Connelly, founder of JPConnelly.

This concept, which was inspired by a vintage postcard Connelly found, was “outdoor frozen winter lake.” The design featured a faux ice dance floor, an atmosphere-creating LED screen, and plenty of space for the program’s talented dancers.

The floors were also perfectly smooth, without any nails or rivets. This was to protect barefoot dancers, as well as those on roller blades simulating ice skating. The most exciting innovation to the stage floor was the sub floor installed just beneath. A mainstay in all JPConnelly’s dance productions, this system creates bouncing effect for all the dancers to feel and use while performing.

“The attention to detail in creating an ‘ice dance floor’ in Vectorworks — combined with the care for the safety of the dancers — is astounding,” said Joe Motsay, account associate.

Image courtesy of JPConnelly.

4. Singapore’s 2021 National Day Parade by Gabriel Chan

Singapore’s National Day Parade is a live stage performance that’s also broadcasted across the country. Lighting 2021’s massive, three tier, 100m x 80m stage for both live and television audiences was a crucial consideration for Gabriel Chan and Javier Tan.

To scale 2021’s show, the two built customized lighting pods with 4x4 Clay Paky K25 B-Eyes. These pods were designed to replicate colored molefay blinders that could also move. The lights created text and pixel movements that could be seen both in person and on screen.

When speaking about his design, Chan celebrated Vectorworks’ capability to be a “one-stop solution” for all his entertainment design needs. “Vectorworks is a turnkey design platform that helps us organize and sync information across all phases of our design workflow.”

Eckstrom took notice to Chan's considerations for TV in the design. “I like the cleanliness and balance of this design,” Eckstorm said. “Lighting a stage this size without blocking lines of sight isn't easy.”

Image courtesy of Gabriel Chan.

5. Virtual Nightclub by Lockdown Visual Systems

The experience of walking into a nightclub, immersed in a neon wash of pumping music, buzzing conversation, and pulsating lights, might seem impossible to translate into the virtual world of the COVID-19 pandemic. It might, until you experience the fully virtual club Jazz Hutsby and Oli Gorman at Lockdown Visual Systems(LVS) have brought to life.

The VClub has all the live lighting, visuals, and DJs you’d expect from a real night-out, except it’s an entirely 3D-built experience that virtual partiers can access anywhere through the web. Modeled after a classic Glasgow nightclub that closed down in 2015, VClub resurrects the cherished venue to host DJ live-streams, innovating a way to bring clubbers together while we all stay apart.

With semi-accurate floor plans, pictures, and memories to guide the process, Hutsby leapt from using Vectorworks for lighting design to exploring its full suite of easy-to-master modeling tools. Even the more difficult sections of the building, like its tunneled ceiling with countless arches, became intuitive with Vectorworks’ adaptable toolset.

The design — and concept — of the nightclub was impressive to Eric Stinnett, a Vectorworks account associate.“I can’t tell you the last time I stepped foot inside of a club like one of these, but I can tell you that the level of detail and realism in these designs bring back lots of fond memories,” he said.

Image courtesy of Jazz Hutsby.

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