Emotional Event Design: From Styling to Senses

Events are almost always an experience or celebration of a milestone moment, or a way for people and brands to connect with their audience. So as an event planner and designer it’s about evoking emotion every time.

Of course it is fun to create exceptional and original concepts, to push boundaries and explore ideas. Much like art, fashion, interiors or any other creative project really.

However getting to the heart of a clients brief is my thing. I love to produce events that evoke sensations and emotions. I love to be expressive in event design, with each project attracting its own language, where the stimulation of the senses and storytelling takes precedence over trend setting or purely functional aspects of the event.

That’s when the magic happens.

I believe that creating an emotional event design concept requires a handcrafted project developed without haste, listening carefully to our clients, understanding what they truly want and paying attention to every detail. Each project must be given our full attention and seen as completely unique, with a lot of time and effort put into it from the full team of designers and producers.

We imagine ourselves inside the event space, feeling every corner of the environment, considering how the elements impact our senses and flow of each step, and how the guests will be influenced by whatever we choose to develop and install.

It’s so important that whatever brief we get doesn’t detract from how our client and their guests will *feel*.

Finding an event designer who can combine a range of elements to create sensations required in each space is essential, someone who studies spaces and plays with colour, light, shadows, textures, scent and volume - blending art, craftsmanship and creativity into each project.

We will continue with a series of journal topics that explore some of these key areas over the coming weeks and months, delving deeper into event design theory as well as a special consideration for "emotional event design" in particular.

By Jessie Westwood