Recently, a client came in with a scrap of fabric,  that had a pattern on it, which they wanted to use as a motif in their wedding.

The plan was to order rolls of the fabric, to make our own custom linens and accents, but  a challenge arose, when it was discovered that the fabric in question had been discontinued.

Some would resign themselves to the fact that they would simply have to select a new fabric, but not us! Here's a great example of how our team and resources came together to pull off a seemingly impossible task.

First, we had our graphics department scan the client's fabric swatch. Then,  using a graphics program, we were able to create a tile of the pattern. This allowed us to recreate the pattern without any seams, on any sized surface, no matter what the width or length.

Using our large format printer, we printed the pattern out onto a special canvas, recreating the look and feel of the original fabric!

With a number of our bigger shows in the spotlight lately, I wanted to point out one of the key components to making these productions successful; the minutiae, and I don't just mean nice napkin rings, but awesome details. Here are a few examples:

When one thinks of Wrestlemania, the last thing that comes to mind is an elegant formal affair, but if the team at Encore Creative is known for anything, it's taking charge of a space, and transforming it into something extraordinary!

In this instance, it was the ballroom at the Renaissance Hotel in Glendale, AZ. which is a beautiful, but nonetheless vast, sprawling, empty ballroom.

From the curbside dropoff, we rolled out the red carpet, which led up to a draped entry arch, adorned with a Wrestlemania sign we made in our print shop, and flanked by two gathered drape panels. This made for a very majestic, welcoming entry way.

Inside the lobby, we made sure that guests would have ample space for socializing and enjoying drinks before before heading into the ballroom for the main event. We equipped the lobby with a number of highboy tables and two bars, one on either side of the ballroom entry. The bars were custom branded by our graphics and print department, with big, bright Wrestlemania logos, and the logo was carried through in the form of a light projection, on one of the outer facets of the lobby's recessed ceiling.

While the curbside entry and the lobby were impressive on their own, the ballroom was nothing short of breathtaking. Our client wanted something special and we delivered.

This was a large space with lots of eye candy at every turn, but I think it's fair to say that the first thing everybody noticed upon entering, was the Glowing Ice Bar.  As a larger counterpart to the outside bars, it is similar in it's design, but was built in modular sections that can be arranged in circular and semicircular formations. They featured the same logo branding as the outside bars, and were lit to glow red from the inside.

If that wasn't impressive enough, our crew members constructed a truss over the width of the entire bar, essentially sectioning it into front and back halves. At the center of the truss, three glowing, triangular columns hung over the center of the circle. The columns were motorized, so as to rotate and display WWE logos on all sides. Extending outward from the triangles, to the edges of the truss columns, hung a spectacular sight, unlike anthing I'd ever seen before. If you can imagine an over-sized beaded curtain, but with softball sized blocks of ice hanging down in cabled strands… Words can't really do it justice, but fortunately plenty of photos were taken.

Another key element to ballroom decor was the wall treatment. Covering the 20' high walls of an enormous ballroom in white drape might seem a daunting task, but our on site sewing shop can put together anything we don't already have in our vast linens inventory, even in a short turnaround time.

The draped walls were lit for a dramatic effect, and a variety of seating vignettes were placed throughout the ballroom with potted plants, resulting in a comfortable, elegant space. Between the buffet tables, the bars and the viewing screens, there was plenty there to keeps guests occupied and entertained. With our touches the ballroom really came to life, and made for a memorable, long-lasting impression.

In order to give the appearance that Grant Hill was in front of his Suns locker, we were tasked with creating a scale replica of the locker room. After drawing up the plans, which were based on photos, and purchasing the required materials, work commenced right away. Two of our talented staff members worked through the weekend, and by the time the client came in for a progress check on Monday, much of the work had been completed.

There was still the matter of some paint and finishing work to be done. As you'll see in the photographs, a faux finish was applied to give the appearance of cherry wood. Once the paint had dried, and the trim had been attached, the nameplates were then adhered. Always striving for authenticity, our graphics and print department carefully matched the coloring and lettering to the real nameplates. Lastly, lighting was installed.

The end result was something that we were all proud of, and that the client was very pleased with. This is just one example of how we can take your idea from concept to fruition, with a quick turnaround and stellar results. Do you need a one-of-a-kind prop or decor item? We have the means to make it happen!

I have recently joined the team at Encore Creative to head the new floral department and work with their talented event team. I have always been greatly focused on and influenced by art and design through many different mediums.

I was born in South Africa and raised in Japan and Greece.  Growing up in these countries, with such rich culture and history of art, significantly inspired me as an artist.  Later, I moved to Arizona where I attended Arizona State University and graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Art in Fibers.   In school my concentration was in textile design with a great focus on plants and nature.  Bringing these elements into my art really sparked my interest in floral design.

After graduation my career brought me to Los Angeles, where I was the Head Designer at one of the top floral design studios in the area. There I worked on numerous challenging events and accounts for a high end clientele consisting of actors, musicians, fashion designers, artists, hotels, and corporate business.  Some of these events include: custom home florals, weddings, magazine publication, corporate functions, fashion shows, network television production, talk shows, movie premieres, studio films, industry award ceremonies, and many other social events. Working with clients of this caliber really gave me the opportunity to grow as a floral designer and use my creativity to its fullest extent.
 

My style of design ranges greatly from traditional to sleek and contemporary, with great attention to detail, color, and artistic expression.  Specializing in extremely themed work, I am able to visually produce what our clients can only imagine through the medium of floral design.  Detail is one of the most critical aspects of design.  My attention to detail shows how much I love what I do, even with the smallest embellishments. This quality is extremely important for any event, but especially when working with individuals to create dream weddings and other ceremonial gatherings.  I am extremely sensitive to the relationship between a bride and groom and the floral design for their special day. Making sure that the final product is exactly what the client is envisioning from the bouquet to the adornments at the reception.

I am extremely excited to be working the team at Encore Creative and to be a part of the production that they are so well known for.

In the early stages of planning an event, one of the first considerations in deciding upon event decor is coming up with a stunning entry way. This is key to making a great first impression, and setting the event's tone.

Often, our clients are in search of something which they haven't seen elsewhere, or are working with a theme that's unique to their corporate culture. We strive to accomodate these clients in bringing their vision to life, and that's where our custom design and fabrication services come into play.

The above image is from a recent event with a Boardwalk theme. The pier was created specifically for this event, based on the client's vision. No matter what the event, be it themed or traditional, we can come up with something spectacular for you, and at any budget.

Encore Creative was commissioned by a local casino to construct a Klinko chip game, based on the popular game on The Price Is Right.

Watch a slideshow of the construction process:

Here's a clip of the game in action:

One of the things that makes Encore Creative such a unique and special agency is the range of skills, talent and resources collected all under one roof.

In our Tempe, Arizona warehouse we have on-site designers, drafters, carpenters and fabricators, making us equipped to construct virtually anything you can dream up!

This versatility, along with our reputation for innovation in the realm of Special Event Planning, brings a myriad of clients to our doors. Click here to see a recent example of a custom tradeshow set build.

We at Encore Creative offer such a wide range of creative services and solutions, that it even amazes those of us who work here!

Add one more professional service to our event services portfolio. With the recent acquisition of a high-end Mutoh 64" large format printer, we're entering a new era in providing custom creative solutions for our clients and partners.

How will this work for you? The Mutoh is THE industry standard printer, the same type used by professional printing houses throughout the country, which makes it (and us) capable of designing and printing everything from conventional meeting signage to  banners and even vehicle wraps!  In conjunction  with our amazing graphic design team, we can now offer you near photo-quality, color-correct  output in practically any size….up to and including theatrical backdrops and wallpaper! 
For the more adventurous customer, our graphic and printing solutions will now extend to custom printed fabric-enabling us to personalize and brand a wide assortment of linen options, up to and including logos, photographs, or custom designs for your table treatments, skirting, or ceiling treatments.

Most importantly, as with linen, florals and our fabrication team, large-format custom printing will allow us to put together bigger and better "packages" and, in doing so, offer our customers much greater quality and value overall-especially  when compared to the cost of utilizing individual single-source vendors. 

Check it out and put us to the test.  We guarantee that we can match or beat any event production company's pricing on graphic design and high end large format printing.

Outside of the event production business, please contact us for bids on any type of retail signs, real estate signs, vehicle wraps or promotional event signage of any type.  Whether you have a golf tournament,  construction project, a fair, or real estate to sell, Encore Creative is now your source for creative solutions that will help you to promote your company more effectively than ever before!

One of the most unique characteristics of Encore's business is our costume/fabric shop, headed up by our lead seamstress Kirsten Gilbert and new floral designer/seamstress Andrea Vote. In addition to building a "wow" inventory of linens, overlays and chair covers, along with a wide assortment of stage-related fabric treatments and backdrops, our talented team has created an assortment of showgirl costumes. Wild Horse Pass Casino and Hotel came to us with a public relations event for which they wanted to showcase their brand new property at an MDA Fundraising event. This called for a "showgirl" in costume for promotional and press purposes. The only catch: this costume had to have the essence of Las Vegas showgirls, but had to be somewhat "conservative" given the atmosphere and the presence of families and children. Our team was not daunted by this, and beginning from scratch, designed and built a beautiful costume, which, in tandem with a lovely model, was a huge success. Below are pictures in slideshow format showing the process and the final result. The most exciting piece of this story is that our team is now in the process of building a similar costume for promotional purposes AND we're also building traditional and sexy showgirl costumes for an upcoming promotional event at Jobing.com arena (which will also include several custom choreographed dance numbers both outside the arena and on the ice between periods) as well as the grand opening events at the casino. For this application, we've applied the use of the casino's logo colors into the design….so we have a beautiful set of burgundy and gold costumes for ongoing uses. Encore Creative is a full-service production company, and these types of projects, mostly for the Native American casino market enable us to show our ability to build a "Vegas" style show from the ground up….including scenic design, choreography, dancers, talent, music, staging, etc. In the future, we hope to have the opportunity to create several "production" shows for a host of casino and cruise ship lines. Check out how the costume was built and how it turned out…. Thanks to Melody Wolcott and the P.R. Team at Gila River! Stay tuned for more of Kirsten's work….coming up in future production blogs.