Music in the City

Logo/Brand/Packaging Project

Cecilia Setiawan and Nicole Wee prepared for DES2101 Design Identity

The Problem The City of Perth is not known for its vibrant nightlife. After the sun goes down, the area turns empty, dark, and dodgy. In a nutshell, it feels unnerving for most people to go to the City at night time. We tried analysing the underlying factors of what makes the area that way. The first factor we found is the lighting problem. The City does not have proper and sufficient lighting, which turns the streets into shadowy and murky spots. In a low visibility environment, people are unable to see their surroundings clearly. Related to the first problem, the second factor is the crime level. Spots with low visibility increases crime level as muggers can attack unsuspecting people. Someone who travels alone at night will have their guards low as there is no sufficient lighting, and therefore crime can be committed easily. There is, however, one core problem that underlies both factors. Both problems are related with the very low number of people rummaging the City at night. With the City being very quiet, there is more room for petty crime to flourish and there is no need to waste energy by fixing the lighting problem. What we figured out is that in order to solve these two problems, we will first need to come up with a solution to bring more people into the City at night time.

Demographics Our targeted audience is aged between 16 to 35. They come from both genders and all ethnicities, regardless of whether they are single or married. Although we are targetting all classes of income status, we are focusing mostly on people from lower to middle class people who fancy outdoor forms of entertainment like a concert or night festival ranging from blue collar to white collar workers. Geographically, our audience comes from Perths inner and outer suburbs.

Development Our initial idea is to increase night time visibility in the City by installing more and better street lights. However, fixing the lighting problem may not mean decreasing the crime level, and we realised that it is not the core problem. We tried analysing the situation thoroughly and we figured that in order to fix the overall problems, we would need to bring more crowd to the City instead.

Approaches and Creative Methods To solve the problem and attract more people into coming to the City at night, we are planning to turn the City into some kind of a game. We believe that in order to make the City more vibrant and lively at night, firstly we will need to create some excitement that will work as a means to get Perth citizens to flock the area. This is where our concept comes into play. A series of pop-up concerts will be held every week on Friday night, for a month. A pop-up event is an event that literally pops out of nowhere, without prior notice or advertisements. A live music concert is a proper attraction for our target audience and therefore we decided to use it for the event. The performed genre will be mainstream music, such as pop, hip hop, indie, or alternative. As it is part of a game, it will be no ordinary concert. The idea is a treasure hunt with the concerts as a prize for whoever manages to follow the clues to the X-spot. Each week, the concert is going to be held in different spots (still within the Citys boundary). People are not going to be informed of where each concert is going to take place instead, the City is going to release clues about the location (the channels are discussed further in Promotion). These clues serve not only as a way to make the event more fun, but also to get people to know the City more. At a designated time and place, the Citys staff will then start building the stage and bands prepare to perform.

The game will be closed with the biggest event in the series. The last one will not be just another concert, but also a pop-up night festival with stands and kiosks. Local businesses in the City are going to be invited to participate in this festival, as an opportunity for them to promote and showcase their businesses at night time. This concept also provides a great chance for emerging local bands to show their talents in front of a greater audience, instead of just hopping from pub to pub.

Location First concert: Forrest Place

Retrieved from http://www.wam.asn.au/Portals/0/images/Sunday%20Bands/New_Forrest_Place_Stage_Nov11.JPG and http://chanraymond.net/blog/2008/06/06/perth-city-at-night-2-part-22/

Retrieved from http://maps.google.com/

Second concert: Rooftop of City Carpark (CPP) His Majestys (378 Murray St)

Retrieved from http://maps.google.com/

Third concert: WA State Librarys lawn

Photo courtesy of Ali Alatas, 2012.

Retrieved from http://maps.google.com/

Last concert: Riverside Drive, grass area next to Barrack St Jetty

Retrieved from http://maps.google.com/

Construction Planning Since this is a pop-up event, the stage and all the equipments need to be ready in matter of hours, if not minutes. Fortunately, these days it is easy to find mobile stage trucks that can be unhooked and prepared in a very short time. Trucks only need to be driven to the designated location and stage technicians can prepare the equipments shortly.

Retrieved from http://www.stageforrent.com/images/14by32fourlarge.jpg

Materials Standard stage trucks come with a highly practical fold-out floor and roof. Our stage will come equipped with built-in wooden back drop and ceiling-mounted flourescent lighting to accommodate night time shows. Floor finish will be non-skid to avoid slipping. Performance area is 20 x 8 metres and 1.5 metres in height, so as to provide better viewing experience from as many angles as possible. Sound system and lighting will also be practically easy to prepare.

Timeline Planning: May 2012 - July 2012 Preparation: August 2012 Execution: all 4 concerts September 2012 Evaluation: October December 2012

Research and Other Models

The idea is fairly derived from a similar concept done by Heineken in some US towns. The campaign was called Occassionally Perfect Billboard in which Heineken built a billboard enigmaticly saying This billboard is occassionally perfect. One night, they did a surprise concert at the billboards location featuring a local band (Heineken, 2011). The idea of adding a treasure hunt into the concept was a result of our brainstorm.

Retrieved from http://images.freshnessmag.com/wp-content/uploads//2011/08/billboard-01.jpg

Trans-Disciplines

In creating an extensive solution we would like to consult the following experts: Town councils Electricians Carpenters Stage and lighting technicians Sound techinicians Performing bands and their managers Event organizers Business owners in the City WA Police Public Transport Authority Sanitation officials Insurance company Graphic designers

Prototypes

Our logo is derived from the Citys silhouette. Orange is chosen as the main colour template as it is a hue that radiates excitement and enthusiasm, and also because Perth is well known for its all-year-long sunshine.

Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/12616079@N00/5634305070/

During the development stage of our new idea, we produced a series of initial prototypes and placed it in the intended locations.

However after a few revisions we decided to settle with a new prototype for our concerts.

Estimated space to be used:

Promotion

Clues on the time and location of each concert will be released on various media, such as: Social media: City of Perths Facebook and Twitter pages Internet: Official City of Perth website, sponsor websites Print media: Newspapers Guerilla/outdoor: Posters, flyers from participating businesses

Outcome and expectations

It is expected that this solution could attract more people to the City at night time, giving the area the much needed night personality. The concerts will bring more attention to the City and hopefully change the perception from dodgy into vibrant and lively. By making the City busier at night, the increasing number of visitors is also expected to motivate local businesses (such as stores and restaurants) to start adding more trading hours, to accommodate peoples need of night time shopping. Increasing number of people may also invoke the City council to install better lighting, therefore warding off muggers and lowering crime levels.

Feedback

Feedback is expected from the general public through questionnaires and surveys on official website and on the night of the last concert.

References 14' by 32' Stage Rental (n.d.) Retrieved from the Stage for Rent site: http://www.stageforrent.com/14by32.html Both, D. (2011). Solving city problems the open source way. Retrieved from: http://opensource.com/government/11/6/solving-city-problems-opensource-way Brooklyn Vegan [n.d.]. Retrieved from the Brooklyn Vegan Web site: (n.d.)
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Cordingly, G. (2009). Renowned architect says Perth needs personality transplant. Retrieved from: http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/renownedarchitect-says-perth-needs-personality-transplant/story-e6frg12c1225717376867 Freshnessmag. (n.d.). Image retrieved from:

http://images.freshnessmag.com/wp-content/uploads//2011/08/billboard01.jpg
Google Maps. (2012). Retrieved from Google site: http://maps.google.com/

Heineken Light | Occasionally Perfect Billboard NYC [VIDEO]. (2011). Heineken

USA. Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v09SEHWpF74 Hubbard, R. (n.d.). On Wicked Problems. Retrieved from the Wicked Problems site: https://www.wickedproblems.com/1_ryan_hubbard.php Mobile stage truck vital stats. (n.d.). Retrieved from the Mobile Stage Truck site: http://mobilestagetruck.com.au/vital_stats.php Nusca, A. (2011). This is your citys future street light. Retrieved from the Smart Planet site: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/this-is-yourcitys-future-street-light/15879 OSullivan, J. (2011). Casper city council considers adding more lights downtown. Retrieved from Trib.com: http://trib.com/news/local/article_72f1c0eb-fc4c-5889-8fb7288fc5e6e6ed.html Perth City at Night 2. (n.d.). Retrieved from Chan Raymond Photography website: http://chanraymond.net/blog/2008/06/06/perth-city-at-night-2-part-22/

Prouty, R. (2010). The problem of the city with too many problem. Retrieved from: http://governingpeople.com/richardprouty/19139/problem-city-toomany-problems Stage for Tent. (n.d.) Image retrieved from:

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http://www.wam.asn.au/Portals/0/images/Sunday%20Bands/New_Forrest _Place_Stage_Nov11.JPG
Ward, L. (2008) Fair, festival & event promotion handbook. Retrieved from: http://stageforrent.com/pdfs/LarryWard-EventBook-HQ-2-5-09.pdf Wife, A. (2006). Perth City from Ferry, retrieved from:
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