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Sphere Entertainment · Super Bowl LVIII

A screen you walk around

Concepts, visual direction, styleframes and 3D motion for the 16K Exosphere.

Client
Sphere Entertainment
Role
Senior Art Director · Oct 2023 to Mar 2024 · Burbank / Remote. Concept through final spherical content
Timeline
Files dated Oct 2023 to Feb 2024; case published Feb 2024
Tools
Cinema 4D, Octane, Photoshop, Unreal Engine 5, After Effects
Overview

Nothing reads the way it does on a rectangle

The pitch deck states the goal: a brand takeover on Las Vegas’s largest canvas that builds anticipation for Super Bowl LVIII, on site and worldwide. A flat layout does not read on a 16K sphere, so every idea had to be built for the geometry.

16KExosphere canvas
7concepts for Super Bowl LVIII
360°+ perspective: the composite method for the strongest depth
Concept

Seven routes for the Super Bowl LVIII takeover, developed as a 42-slide deck.

Look

Visual direction and styleframes: one material, violet and coral marble, built for the dome.

Motion

3D motion and final spherical content for the 16K Exosphere, with the Sphere Entertainment teams.

Visual system

Violet, coral and marble

The look for the Super Bowl LVIII routes came from a single material: veined marble in deep indigo, with violet and coral running through it. It reads at distance, survives the LED grid and stays recognisable when it wraps around the dome.

Super Bowl LVIII +The Vegas
Sphere

Palette

#1D1643
#251751
#911AFE
#F4455A
#F4F1FF

Type

AaAa

Heavy display caps for titles, a geometric sans for supporting text. Shown in the closest free faces.

01
DiamondA content canvas: bracket, matchups, spotlights and the countdown.
02
RingsThe dome dressed as a championship ring.
03
OrbiSphere characters react to the game, play by play.
04
Honors WinnersAn awards-night route, still work in progress in the deck.
05
PregameThe anthem moment across the whole dome.
06
In-GameHalf-time, with the Sphere as the stage.
07
Champion MomentA tribute to the winner, in the moment it happens.
7 routes
One material, seven stories
Concept frames

Looks for the sphere

Selected styleframes from the routes.

Countdown · 14 days
Countdown · 14 days
Rings · sunrise
Rings · sunrise
Rings · fan photo
Rings · fan photo
Diamond · dusk
Diamond · dusk
Rings · dusk
Rings · dusk
Marble · rings
Marble · rings
Cube · night
Cube · night
Diamond · overhead
Diamond · overhead
Concepts

A closer pass, and the countdown route

A tighter aerial hold for a night broadcast pass, plus styleframes from the countdown route: logos, fan photography and the numbers themselves, all keyed to the Exosphere.

Concepts · night pass
Countdown · 14 days
Countdown · 14 days
Logo · close
Logo · close
Team mosaic
Team mosaic
Fan portrait
Fan portrait
Dome · wide
Dome · wide
Countdown · hrs/min
Countdown · hrs/min
Countdown · 14 days, night
Countdown · 14 days, night
Concept 1
Concept 1
Concept 2
Concept 2
Concept 3
Concept 3
Concept 4
Concept 4
Concept 5
Concept 5
Concept 6
Concept 6
Concept 7
Concept 7
Concept 8
Concept 8
Technical

How a picture gets onto the dome

Three ways to capture a design, one way to combine them. These are the mapping methods we used on the Exosphere, redrawn here so you can move them.

Motion tests

Moving, wrapped and in the city

Tests in 3D, from the unwrapped layout to the venue in its surroundings.

Motion comp of the sphere in the city
Night pass, aerial
Real footage

On the real Exosphere

Clips from the venue itself: the Super Bowl LVIII countdown as it ran on the 16K dome over Las Vegas.

Broadcast clip · LVIII on Vegas
2 days away · helmet reveal
4 days out · LVIII on the dome