LEDskin® content: tips, tricks & trends
Bewegend beeld is niet meer weg te denken van evenementen en beurzen. Iedereen wil het, maar het tijdperk van “we maken een filmpje en spelen het af op een scherm”, is volledig voorbij. De content moet opgemaakt zijn volgens de afmetingen van het scherm, beeld in HD, 4K of 3D, willen we er geluid bij? Wat is de “stopping power”? Welke blijvende indruk willen we nalaten op onze bezoekers? … Er zijn zoveel punten om bij stil te staan. We staan je graag bij en geven je een aantal tips waarmee rekening te houden bij het maken en plaatsen van content op de beMatrix LEDskin®.
Clear and coherent message
Have you invested in beMatrix LEDskin® or appointed a LEDskin® bePartner to bring your stand or event to life with visuals? In either case, you obviously want to make the most of this product.
The first question to ask yourself is: “What do I want to use the image for?” This could be for promotion of the company, to boost sales, announce new products ...
The purpose determines what you will put in the picture. Keep your message short, but powerful. This way, visitors will immediately and easily understand what you want to say and what they should do.
Stand builder Commercon Messebau from Germany has already created some great LEDskin® projects, such as the one for Roche. An impressive stand made entirely of LEDskin® where various expressive images reflected Roche's character. A clear message with a clear image!
Use design principles
Design what? Design principles are standard design guidelines that we are going to follow for maximum message effectiveness. There are many for the advanced content expert, but this is a bit too far-reaching. We'll just list the three most important ones for you that apply to the creation of your entire design, not just LEDskin®.
Colours
Use a good contrast in je kleurenpalet van maximaal 2-4 kleuren. This ensures optimal display and readability. Headlines should use a colour with the most legibility and best contrast. Like us, always choose colours from the brand book so that you come across as recognisable.
Fonts
We ourselves are big believers in letting images do the talking, as a picture says more than a thousand words. If you do need text, keep it to a minimum and be clear. Use your brand's fonts for better brand recognition and cohesion. Use no more than 2 fonts - one for your headline and one for your subheads or call-to-actions.
Layout
The third design principle we recommend is a good layout. Use symmetry and place elements evenly with the right hierarchy so that your message is seen, make call to actions stand out.
Know the specs of your LEDskin®
You can't simply play every video on a different screen with different specifications. Optimising your content according to the specs will make your image look great and prevent extra pixelation or distortion problems. We leave this mostly to specialists who work on this day in day out, but to give you the knowledge as a non-specialist we list the three most important specs below.
Ratio
Knowing the proportions of your screen is crucial to properly displaying your video content. Most video content is displayed in a 16:9 ratio, but if you have a custom screen, it may be different. If you want a bit more movement in your design, you can opt for mosaic like MagnumLive or More Than Event. Here you have to bear in mind that areas are left blank when creating the pixel map.
Pixel pitch
LEDskin® tiles are available in 3 pixel pitches: 1.9, 2.5 and 3.1 mm. The pixel pitch of an LED screen is the distance between 2 consecutive LEDs, expressed in millimetres. This distance measure gives an indication of how sharp the image is. For example, at pixel pitch of 1.9 mm, the distance between 2 consecutive LEDs is 1.9 mm. The smaller the pitch, the closer the LEDs will be to each other & the more LEDs will be found on the same area. The smaller the pixel pitch, the more qualitative the image on the LEDskin®.
Resolution
As with pixel spacing, the larger your LEDskin® screen is, the lower the resolution you can work with. If you are testing content and it is grainy or blurry, you probably need to increase the resolution. This is expressed in pixels. You can find all the technical specifications of LEDskin® on page 17 of the brochure.
Use transitions
When it comes to using moving images, animations and video content on your LEDskin® module, you want to build in nice transitions between messages. For example, A nice transition helps and makes it easier on the eyes rather than abrupt, sudden changes on your screen.
Apart from smooth transitions, you also need to make sure you time the different content well so that there is enough time to read it. Too fast and you lose the chance to get your message across, but too slow and you lose another chance to show more.
We chose at EuroShop to work with 3 different showstates . We played a new showstate every 15 minutes to get visitors' attention again. And with success! As soon as the lights went out and the content appeared on the screens, everyone pulled out their smartphones or stopped talking for a moment to watch our content.
Test before use
It should go without saying, but test, test, test! Like a test build, it's best to test out your content beforehand, if you can of course ... Be sure to weigh up the costs and benefits, as a test build can be expensive and unnecessary.
Trends 2024
A new year comes with new trends. Below, we list the 3 most entertaining ones for 2024. Lots of bangs, fireworks, "is this real?" and flashy images on the agenda! Get inspired and be the first to apply them.
More popping than ever
A simple stage won't get you there these days. The most frantic sets, endless fireworks shows and LED screens make the audience pop more and more. Even at a business event, speakers are treated to fireworks fountains.
Combination with AI
There are more and more technical solutions to make it easier for speakers and audiences to follow along. For instance, there are tools such as Wordly that offer live AI translations in audio and subtitles. This brings new challenges to play the content on the LED screens as quickly and as perfectly as possible. A more in-depth knowledge is required.
But not only translations, but also AI generated work is becoming the future. As an example, here we have Refik Anadol's Unsupervised LED wall. This artist used artificial intelligence to interpret and transform more than 200 years of art at MoMA.
Anadol trained a sophisticated machine-learning model to interpret publicly available data from MoMA's collection. As the model "walks" through its conception of this huge series of works, it reimagines the history of modern art and dreams about what could have been - and what might come. Be sure to check out the stunning result by clicking on the picture!
Immersive experience
Dull black backdrops are increasingly being replaced by LED screens that adapt to the mood of the room or speaker's presentation. We recently saw the ultimate in Las Vegas, where U2 performed in the $2 billion 'Sphere' theatre. The 1.2 miljoen LED lights there created an unprecedented experience.
"Like watching a live show with VR glasses on." From the moment you enter the auditorium, you sense that it's going to be something intense and you're standing there with your mouth full. You get sucked in, so to speak. A seed has been planted with many event organisers.
Did you know a Belgian company worked for months behind the scenes to programme all the content on the more than 1 million LED screens?
10 cool AI and blockchain tools
To conclude, we would like to introduce you to some new tools that you can use at your next event. Jan Scheele, entrepreneur, event organiser, TEDx host, crypto specialist and so much more wrote an interesting article about his 10 favourite AI and blockchain tools for events.
According to him, it is a waste not to use these new technologies at your event. Client demands have only increased and the good old apps won't get us there. Get inspired by his favourites via the link below. (The following webpage is written in Dutch)
Jan Scheele's favourite AI and blockchain tools
Looking for skilled experts in LEDskin® content? Knock on the doors of our network! We have partners in the various corners of Europe. Be sure to take a look at our website.
Are you an expert in LED content yourself, have you been in the business for several years and would you like to join our network to expand your market? Then be sure to fill in the form at the very bottom of the website and we will get in touch with you!
Sources
- Firefly LED: https://fireflyled.com/2022/06/5-tips-for-creating-content-for-your-led…
- DACA Ledscreen: https://www.daca-ledscreen.be/nl/wat-is-een-pixel-pitch#:~:text=De%20pi…
- Frankwatching: https://www.daca-ledscreen.be/nl/wat-is-een-pixel-pitch#:~:text=De%20pi…
- MOMA: https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5535
- VRT: https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2023/10/04/concertzaal-the-sphere-las-vega…