Custom backdrops are a rare commodity but the perfect element to make your event extraordinary, Ethos Events are a new and emerging backdrop business who make custom backdrops! Have you ever looked for something unique for an upcoming event and haven’t been able to find anything that suits your desires? Have you ever wondered if a custom backdrop could suit your needs? Read along as we dissect the custom backdrop building process and define who makes custom backdrops!
Getting a custom made backdrop is a whole process and in this guide, you’ll learn the steps including:
Research & Development for your Custom Backdrop
The first step to any custom process is research and development. In this guide we will be using our ‘Fairy First Birthday‘ backdrop as a reference to the custom design process. Our ‘Fairy First Birthday‘ backdrop was commissioned by a young mum who wanted to celebrate her daughters first birthday party. The client wanted a fairy theme with the ‘fairy first birthday’ included, a lot of florals and an overall enchanting magical atmosphere brought by the backdrop. Ethos Events created some vision boards and collated some relative inspiration to get into the right headspace for this magical backdrop.
The Custom Backdrop Design Process
Ethos Events drew up some mockup design which were sent to the client for approval. This is the very first mock-up design created. We experimented and process the design until we found the final product.
You’ll notice a difference in our first mock-up and the final design. This happens with all our designs, the very first drawing is hardly ever the same as our final product. This is because we get the client’s feedback and allow that to influence our design. This specific client was open to us going ahead with our ideas and didn’t want to have too much of an impact on our design. She told us her theme which was ‘fairy first birthday’ and let us decide where to go from there.
Building your Custom Backdrops
The next step in the custom backdrop process was the build. The trickiest element of the fairy first birthday backdrop was the large fairy wings backdrop. This initially started out with a massive height of 2.4m which we cut down to 2.2m for accessibility. We designed these wings ourselves with inspiration from gorgeous fairy wings we found in books and online. We really wanted to accentuate that these wings belonged to a magical fairy and not those of a butterfly. We designed the wings to allow for structural integrity and for beauty. We cut this out of an MDF board measuring at 1200mm x 2400mm (I know huge) with our jigaw.
Bracing your Custom Backdrops
You can make your custom backdrop as pretty and awesome as you like but if it doesn’t stand then it’s worthless. Bracing our backdrops is the most important element for us, we must ensure everyone’s safety by being positive our backdrops will stand even if they are bumped into. We call this ‘kid proofing!’ This was the first attempt at bracing our fairy wings, although this worked we weren’t satisfied with the strength and found using removable timber braces onto hinges was a better option.
Painting your Custom Backdrops
The next step of course is to go back to our previously research colour palette and apply it to our newly built backdrops. We like to use a foam roller from bunnings and sample pots from their paint section. The custom fairy wings were also hand-painted by our owner Katerina who is also a self-confessed artist!
Styling your Custom Backdrops
Last and definitely not least is the styling of your custom backdrop. You can have an amazing backdrop but the styling is the last element that ties your decor together. Part of the styling that is included in your package at Ethos Events is your custom signage, florals and props.
