Clever NYC CampaignCombines Full-Time Mural With Projection-Mapped Animations After Sunset

February 13, 2024 by Dave Haynes

Projection-mapping when done well can be quite awesome, but using that technology for advertising and special events has always been somewhat constrained by projection’s greatest adversary – natural light.

So I was intrigued and impressed by an effort in New York that blends a colorful full-time mural for a brand in a high profile space with subtle animation sprites that make the big mural come alive once the sun goes down.

The champagne brand Perrier Jouet transformed its retail storefront at New York’s Hudson Yards (big new multi-use development near the Javits Center). The project was executed by Inwindow Outdoor, which has been active since 2005 turning commercial spaces into ad mediums.

The company was known in the early days for taking unleased street-level retail space and projecting from the insides onto the sidewalk-facing windows. They do digital and static “storescapes” and ones that blend the two, since animated a full, wide set of windows can get complicated and costly.

Inwindow last year launched a new business unit called Inwindow Paint, or IWP.

“We use famous street artists who tend to re-imagine the brands in their own style,” says CEO Jeff Cohen.

In the case of the bubbly brand, IWP “used very carefully calibrated projection to map out specific elements, like a deep blue night sky filled with whimsical little critters, such as a dragon and butterflies that would follow passers-by around via depth-sensing cameras.”

Twelve zones are also masked out to independently and react based on proximity.

I like this a lot because it greatly extends the impact of a campaign that, if projection was the main feature, would have an effective window of just a few hours, and even less come summer.

Here’s a video …

Hope you’re enjoying ISE. When we last corresponded you asked what Inwindow was up to, and honestly, I didn’t really have anything that I thought you’d be interested in. That was in April – a lot has happened since

– While we’re still mainly focused on windows, this past year, we launched a new division called IWP “Inwindow Paint” They’re street-level building conversions that transform into custom murals. We use famous street artists who tend to reimage the brands in their own style. What might be notable for you, is we’re starting to integrate digital elements and interactivity into the executions.

For Disney: it was the modest fabrication and modification of the famed “Venice” Street sign with the multi-building mural in the background to create a cohesive feel on the street.

For Perrier Jouet: We transformed the retail storefront at Hudson Yards in NYC. During the day it had one appearance, and at night the art was transformed into this magical garden.

To achieve this, we used very carefully calibrated projection to map out specific elements, like a deep blue night sky filled with whimsical little critters, such as Dragon and Butterflies that would follow you around via depth-sensing cameras. Additionally, we masked out these 12 independent “glow zones” that reacted based on proximity.

Here’s a video of how we did it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abU4oDDBr94 …and here’s a snippet from the Disney/sign execution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrOvjM_0DPI