Football fever at Transform
In April we were approached by Southampton Football Club to help organise their 2024/25 kit launch, which happened on Tuesday night.
The bold and innovative concept was given extra impetus when they won promotion back into the Premier League – so the original idea just grew and grew.
The concept was to build a room inside a room; displaying graphics to showcase the new kit and creating an immersive environment with a 360-wraparound feature. We printed and laid a floor, along with a tunnel in which the players walked through.
The event was also an opportunity for SFC to sell their new kit, so we designed and created a shop where the excited Southampton supporters could make purchases - head designer at Transform, Clare Rooney, created a turnkey solution by providing hanging rails, hooks and shelves. Our beMatrix desks were perfect to facilitate the points of sale, as we were able to wrap the desks with the branding and create larger worktops for the printing machines.
To create tension and theatre we went with a double reveal; one set of players would enter through an immersive tunnel to a pumping soundtrack while another set would be revealed in the shop by a kabuki cloth drop. The kabuki cloth was branded and large enough for the football players hide behind, at the critical moment the cloth dropped…revealing the players in all their new finery!
We chose SBS to supply the sound and lights for this event as having worked with them on the Utilita Awards, we knew their expertise and hard work would fit well with the event. Clare utilised Astera Tubes along the walls, a perfect fit for this event as they are battery operated and match the geometric nature of the graphic - using the beMatrix meant that we could also place the brackets in exactly the right position for maximum impact.
Top secrecy was the name of the game with this project, so Transform and all of our suppliers signed NDA’s and no phone photography was allowed during construction.
The pre-build took place at our Southampton warehouse allowing us to check all graphics and ensure there were no nasty surprises on arrival at the venue.
For a project such as this, we rely on our wonderful and extensive group of suppliers. Phil Strange from Media Co handled the print of the floor, SEG backlit the wall prints and kabuki cloth and Richard Chalk from Image Perception, who we’ve worked with for years, headed up the graphic wraps on all of the doors and pillars. Finally, Dorset Crew provided the man-power to haul nearly 200 frames up two flights of stairs.
We did it!
“The magnitude of this project necessitated a partner we could rely on, and Transform’s extensive experience made them the ideal choice. Their seamless blend of professionalism and creativity has elevated our expectations, delivering results that perfectly capture the spirit and vision of our club”
