AR CASE STUDY
GP BULLHOUND NORTHERN TECH AWARDS
OUR PROJECTION MAPPED SETS FOR GP BULLHOUND’S NORTHERN TECH AWARDS HAVE RANGED FROM POINT-CLOUD POOCHES TO ART NOUVEAU FLAIR.
x
0
[EVENTS]
0
+
[ANIMATED STINGS]
[x 1 AWARD]
CLIENTS & TECHNOLOGY
THE BRIEF
The Northern Tech Awards are an annual event that celebrates UK technology businesses. Organised by investment experts GP Bullhound, it is one of the highlights of the tech sector’s awards season in Britain.
From 2016 onwards Draw & Code have been an official technology partner of the event and have provided a unique projection mapped backdrop for each occasion with differing briefs and varying inspirations.
Each event is held in a unique location with themes drawn from the city, the venue and the prevailing tech trends being showcased by GP Bullhound in their influential reports.
In 2016 the Northern Tech Awards came to Liverpool at the newly opened Titanic Hotel. Bringing the tech and investment communities together in this former warehouse, the animations were to be playful, captivating but with a technical aesthetic.
THE PROCESS
As with each year’s animations, the dog that features in GP Bullhound’s logo was brought to life as part of the animation in 2016 – leaping from screen-to-screen as it moved.
In this case we rendered the dog and the abstract environment it dwelled in using the style of point-cloud data. The idea was to show that the world of data-heavy technology is in itself a beautiful thing.
For 2017 the Northern Tech Awards moved to Newcastle and our projected animation this time took inspiration from design trends of typography intersecting with artwork. The approach was for motion graphics to represent the creative formation of ideas and growth, represented by an evolving nexus of colourful abstract shapes.
The 2018 edition was hosted in Edinburgh and the brief was to take influence from the spaces and culture of the area for a projection mapped spectacular. As such, a decadent look grew from studies of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s art nouveau work which was combined with renderings of stained glass to reference the converted church where the awards were to be presented.
In 2019 there was a shift in the overall philosophy of the projections as the awards set up shop in Manchester. This time it was a full environmental projection mapping that used the intricate and imposing features of the Albert Hall as a canvas, as apposed to the predominantly purpose-build projection sets of previous editions.
THE DELIVERY
The four events so far were resounding successes with hundreds of attendees at each and a high production value permeating the whole occasion – led by the inventive visuals and set design that Draw & Code’s projection mapping formed the cornerstone of.
Every show has been unique and spectacular with the animations taking centre stage. The Northern Tech Awards are now established as one of the must-attend events for the business, technology and investment sectors in the UK and are expected to be visually inventive and creatively stimulated every time.
In total there has been over 60 individual stings and animations produced for the events so far, along with associated graphics and branding assets. The next GP Bullhound Northern Tech Awards is currently in production.