🪄 What is C. Scenic?

Oh my! Seems I've let this blog get a bit dusty. Let's fix that, shall we?

We've been pretty deep into our production schedule at the beginning of this year and have a handful of things that can't be shared for the time being. (NDAs, am I right?) That said, we've never really gone over what we do here outside of the pages on our site, and what better way to give new and old clients an idea of what working with a scenic company actually looks like than a blog post that breaks all of that down for you?

What is Scenic Art?

Also known as scenography, scenic design, or set design, scenic work consists of the design and the fabrication or construction of visual elements for an intended environment or space. The most common use of scenic art is for theatrical types of events, such as programs intended for broadcast like film and television, and live stage productions. But it is actually much broader than just staging and settings!

Here are some of the other applications of scenic art that we've done, in particular:

Events

Conferences and other corporate events often need elements to spruce up the occasion and establish the visual identity of brands, sponsors, and companies represented throughout. We've designed and built sets, giant letters, and signage for a number of these style of events.

Trade Shows

Expositions and trade shows are specific types of events that often display a variety of products for presentation and demonstration. We've worked on classic, simple booth designs, as well as custom and stylistic displays.

Exhibits

By far, the most common type of scenic work we've done have been interactive scenery for pop-ups and parks. We've had a fantastic long-lasting relationship with the Dallas Arboretum, in particular the Rory Meyers Children's Adventure Garden (which you can read a bit about here if you haven't already) where we've touched a bit of every exhibit through the years.

What's the Process?

So now that you've got a general idea of the what, how's about the how? How do we go about providing our services in a neat package for clients?

Proposals

For some clients, both prospective and existing, a proposal process takes place before a full design and build. This is a rough and loose job on our end that will consist primarily of pitching different concepts and research to find the right direction for the project and will sometimes include simple, basic sketches. Proposals help to shape budgets and directions and work best when there are a lot of hands involved.

Design

The real meat and potatoes is our design package. This includes a lot of the work of a proposal but with more refined deliverables, including full renderings in 3D or 2D illustrations by hand, floor plans with elevations, material samples, and the ability to request a small number of major revisions. And if the client decides to stick with us for the build, we can also provide a quote for fabrication and installation services.

Build

Whether we design the scenery or not, we are more than happy and capable of fabricating just about any design with the additional options of delivery, install, and strike.

What Do We Deliver?

Concept boards, renderings, spec sheets... We offer a variety of deliverables as part of our packages, but what exactly do these things look like and mean in the context of scenery?

Concept Boards

Concept boards are probably the most important step of any design process. We usually combine a process of scouring Google Images and Pinterest to compile images of references and inspiration that convey our ideas based on the information our clients have already provided to make sure we've established the foundation and are on the same page. The worst possible scenario is to go in a direction that is completely off the mark of our clients' wants and needs, so we make sure to pitch everything first via a presentation document and see what lands.

Check out our Pinterest for some examples of past concept boards!

Floor Plans

Another important part of designing is making sure that everything fits into place and within specific dimensions. This is where floor plans come in. As part of the design renderings, a floor plan is also made, often working within the intended space of an already existing room but sometimes also working within a pre-determined set of dimensions to work within.

Illustrated Renderings

To convey a design idea to our clients, we provide 2D illustrations for each wall and/or flat to be implemented. These are the types of renderings that can be expected within a design package but not for proposals. The depth of realization in this style of renderings depends a lot on the timeline and cost of the project, but regardless, they are almost always to scale.

3D Renderings

To get a clearer idea of how a set will look in 3D space, we sometimes provide digital renderings of a set, either alongside of illustrations or in lieu of fully colored drawings. Like illustrated renderings, the production of these models is dependent on a project's timeline and budget.

Set Decor

Something that is sometimes neglected by many other scenic designers is set decoration, often just shortened to set dec. We find it's really important to fill out a design with the finer details, not just for the aesthetic but to produce a living quality to our designs, and we are more than happy to source, fabricate, and provide this decor when working with our clients!

Samples & Spec Sheets

Speaking of sourcing, we also do the research for all necessary materials when we design. For local clients, we're able to share physical samples that we have available or special order so that they're able to touch and see everything in person. We're always looking for the best price and options for anything that could potentially be purchased and provide that research during the process for clients to reference and approve.

Build

The real fun part of what we do is the construction and fabrication of design. When a client chooses a C. Scenic build, they get more than just scenery. They get something that looks great and most importantly, lasts. Our fabricators go above and beyond to build the highest quality sets, props, exhibits, displays, and everything you can possibly imagine.

Delivery & Install

Knowing how much easier it is for the people who build the sets to install the sets, we also provide our services in making sure things go smoothly as the scenery makes its way to the client and its intended destination.

And basically, that's it! We work hard to accommodate the needs, timelines, and budgets of our clients wherever feasible. Our goal has always been to make people happy and create cool art, and that's what we've been doing for years and intend to do for years to come! To those that have worked with us before and those yet to come, thanks for following along as we look forward to the next big things!