Selfie Studio Las Vegas: How The World’s Most Focal Selfie Studio
The burgeoning worldwide evolution of the ‘self- ie’ was probably inevitable from day one. Let’s face it. Almost everyone has a cellphone; with the great majority of them now being smartphones with cameras.
A good example of this popularity was measured via a survey taken in Great Britain in 2015, which indicated 1.5 billion sales were taken just in the UK, with one in ten people admitting to snapping one at least once a week.
A more recent survey in the USA indicated that of today’s Internet users, almost 50% said their smartphone was the most important device for going online, compared to 37% who opted for their laptops.
So, it was also inevitable that soon an actual ‘Selfie Studio’ would become part of this evolution. And, obviously, where else would it be located than Las Vegas?
Bostik, the global adhesive specialist, has been on a major branding mission since being purchased by Arkema in 2015. “Bostik is very well known in Europe,” commented Scott Banda, Bostik Director of Marketing and Business Development for North America. “We have strong market share in the B2B arena here in the states. But, we know we must capture even more eyeballs to truly become a household brand name, especially because we have the horsepower and overall wherewithal to accommodate great growth”
“So, consistent with the branding campaigns Bostik conducts in Europe in 2016, we co-sponsored Design’N Gather, a mosaic competition, with its originator, Artaic Innovative Mosaics. Last year, we unveiled the winning creative design as a huge backlit 8ft by 20ft tile mural, permanently installed poolside at the MGM Grand’s Wet Republic day club in Las Vegas. The response was amazing!”
That was one year ago. The issue, for the 2017 edition of DNG, was what could be done for an encore?
“We work closely with Joyen Vakil, MGM Resorts International’s Sr. Vice President of Design and Development and his team,” continued Banda. “We agreed upon staging another contest, this year having the winning mosaic unveiled at the Bellagio as a permanent installation, as well. But we wanted something nouveau, something totally reflective of the essence of Las Vegas… that also captured the social consciousness of a focused Vegas visitor. What could it be?’
“Finally, we came up with the idea of having a veritable ‘Selfie Studio’ installed at an amazing new nightclub/discotheque. Joyen offered us our venue at ‘The Height of Decadence’—Hyde Bellagio. The winning mosaic would serve as the backdrop of for the Selfie Studio, setting it on course to be one of the most frequently photographed mosaics in the digital world.”
The overall plan was intricate. A small retail section of the nightclub was to be transformed into the Sel e Studio. The premise for its design was to have the winning DNG mosaic be installed as an 8ft by 8ft backlit mosaic … and, ultimately, night owl guests would saunter into the Studio, pose in front of the mural and have their party faces captured by a special tablet-based, sel e camera programme that would also email the sel e photo to whatever email address the participant entered.
“We were approached by Joyen Vakil of MGM Resorts International,” stated Paul King, Senior Project Manager of Team Construction, the Las Vegas-based general contractor. “We have a strong history of working together, so Joyen asked me point-blank if we’d like to partner in a ‘design-assist’ capacity with Bostik, a rm with which his organization had successful- ly worked with, as well. Obviously, we agreed and met with both Bostik (and Artaic) people immediately thereafter.”
“We were given an eight-week timetable,” continued King. “From original design to nal installation, we had to make this happen. Luckily, the tile installation process included Bostik, Artaic and the amazing tile contractor, T. Nickolas Company, with whom we’ve worked numerous times on some of Las Vegas’ most high pro le projects.”
“So from the start, we were con dent we had the right, most professional team on the job.”
“Everyone loved the sel e concept,” added Banda. “So, it was obvious the right, most attractive and highly durable tile instal- lation products were to be used. These materials would have to complement the mural, which was to be produced using glass mosaics robotically assembled by Artaic, and incorporate Bostik Dimension RapidCure Diamond Grout, which contains 60% recy- cled glass that adds further illumination to any glass wall project.”
One of the most exciting recent product launches within the tile sector worldwide has been the emergence of large format, gauged, thin porcelain tile panels. Major tile producers are manufacturing these in sizes as large as 8ft by 12ft. There are many advantages to using these, one being that durable porcelain can now clad (or skin) a wall in sizes unheard of, right over existing tile.
This process eliminates the costly, messy and time-consuming need to remove already-installed, older tile. Crossville’s new Laminam panels were selected for this project, ultimately to be grouted with Bostik’s Dimension Onyx. And, they were to be installed using a state-of-the-art new product, Bosti-Set, specifically formulated for gauged thin porcelain tile panels, which had just been introduced to the marketplace at Coverings a few weeks earlier.
“This was the first time we had ever even heard about Bosti- Set,” commented King. “And, this was also the first time we had ever worked with Crossville’s lightweight panels. We loved how these two products performed together right from the beginning!”
Ian McGregor, Project Manager at Team Construction, added: “We were so impressed with Bosti-Set, that we actually conducted an in-house analysis. We discovered that per square foot, installation of Crossville’s Laminam with Bostik’s Bosti-Set was less expensive than when using traditional mortar, as the adhesive only had to be back-buttered one time on the panel or the wall … but, not on both!”
“This saved a tremendous amount of time, resulted in a much more durable installation and even brought sound dampening characteristics to the new wall assembly.”
“Crossville was proud to partner with Bostik on the Hyde Bellagio Sel e Studio project,” declared Mark Shannon, Executive Vice President of Sales at Crossville. “We’re excited about how well Laminam can be installed using Bostik’s Bosti- Set, and look forward to working together on many projects moving forward.”
The flooring selected for the project, which was also installed using Bostik surface preparation and tile setting products, was The Allways Collection in the Bench color, from Bedrosians Tile & Stone.
According to Eddie Bedrosian, the rm’s Marketing Director:
“This was a great, creative project, and we’re glad our product was selected. It’s a beautiful, wood-look larger format porcelain tile, which is not only extremely attractive; it’s extremely durable. With all those people taking pictures of themselves, there’s no question there will continue be heavy foot traffic in the room. Clearly, our Always Collection is a product line absolutely ideal for this sort of installation!”
On the evening of May 5th 2017, with more than 600 guests from the hospitality design sector in attendance, co-MCs – Scott Banda and Dr. Ted Acworth, CEO of Artaic – brought the late-night soiree to its crescendo.
Finally, architectural designer Lisa Darroh-Pouls of Pouls Hospitality Design from Albuquerque, New Mexico, was announced as the Grand Prize Winner. Two stunning Vegas showgirls deftly pulled the cord and Lisa’s creation, Champagne Wishes, was revealed to the crowd as the larger- than-life glass mosaic backdrop for what is now referred to as the World’s Most Focal Sel e Studio.
MGM’s Joyen Vakil, one of the ten judges, summed it all up.
“This project was ideal for Hyde. Clearly, it was beautifully designed and perfectly themed for the environment of our nightclub.”
And … it all started out as a mosaic design contest.
