Emirati Children’s Day Scenic Fabrication at Umm Al Emarat Park
CREATING A UNIFIED SCENIC ENVIRONMENT FOR EMIRATI CHILDREN’S DAY
Emirati Children’s Day 2018 took place at Umm Al Emarat Park in Abu Dhabi, with a programme that extended across educational workshops, outdoor activity areas, a dedicated media setting and a formal awards presentation inside the conference centre. Each area had a different practical purpose, but the physical environment still needed to feel connected.
Evolution Creative developed the overall scenic design, using paper aeroplanes, illustration, bright fields of colour and simplified architectural forms to establish a recognisable visual language. Evolution Scenic then translated that design into the temporary structures, backdrops, signage and three-dimensional features required across the site.
This distinction between design and fabrication is important. A graphic identity can work very effectively on a screen or printed page, but it has to be reconsidered once it becomes a wall, a suspended prop or a freestanding scenic structure. Shapes need thickness. Graphics need edges and joints. Large elements need internal support, transportable proportions and practical fixing points.
The project therefore depended on more than reproducing a set of approved visuals. The scenic team had to understand how the design should behave in several different spaces and then develop a family of fabricated elements that could perform separate functions without losing their shared identity.
TRANSLATING GRAPHIC DESIGN INTO PHYSICAL SCENERY
The principal construction materials were MDF and plywood. These provided a practical and adaptable base for the project’s workshop walls, branded backdrops, stage scenery, photo features and freestanding structures.
Sheet materials are particularly useful when a scenic project depends on clear graphic shapes and controlled architectural lines. They can form conventional wall panels, but they can also be cut into profiles, layered details, framed openings and more distinctive silhouettes. The same basic material system can therefore support several different environments without forcing every component to look identical.
Because the scenic concept was developed within Evolution Creative, the transition into fabrication could be managed as an internal design-development process. The scenic team could review the original visual intent while resolving the dimensions, joints, material edges and support requirements needed for production.
One of the questions we often ask at this stage is which parts of the design must remain exact and which can be adjusted to make the structure more practical. A graphic line may need to continue cleanly across several panels, while a shaped edge may need a slight change to strengthen the construction or make the component easier to transport. These adjustments should not alter the character of the design, but they can make a significant difference to the quality and reliability of the finished build.
The project also crossed both indoor and outdoor areas. A workshop wall installed inside a tent faced different conditions from a freestanding media backdrop positioned in the park, while the awards-stage scenery needed to coordinate with screens, presentation furniture and the more formal setting of the conference centre.
This meant the scenery could not be developed as one repeated wall system with different graphics applied to it. The visual language remained consistent, but the construction and proportions had to respond to the function and location of each area.
BUILDING THE WORKSHOP AND ACTIVITY ENVIRONMENTS
The workshop areas were treated as purpose-built scenic environments rather than generic spaces divided by drape or rental screens. Custom walls introduced illustrated backgrounds, framed openings, colour fields and graphic details around the different activities.
This approach allowed the scenic construction to perform several roles at once. The walls created backgrounds, separated activity zones and introduced enough architecture to make each workshop feel established within the larger temporary venue. They also provided a consistent surface for the illustrations and project identity.
In practice, graphic coordination becomes more demanding when artwork extends across large fabricated structures. Titles, illustrated elements and feature shapes cannot be positioned without reference to panel breaks, corners and assembly joints. A character or line that appears correctly placed on a flat artwork file may be divided awkwardly once the structure is separated into transportable sections.
The physical fabrication and artwork therefore needed to be considered together. Panel dimensions influenced graphic layouts, and the graphics influenced where joints could be positioned without interrupting important elements.
The workshop environment also needed to remain practical. Openings and wall positions had to support the use of the space rather than reduce it to a decorative backdrop. Temporary scenic construction is most successful when it improves the organisation of the area as well as its appearance.
This becomes particularly important on projects containing several related environments. Each workshop needed enough individuality to support its own function, but a completely different construction approach in every area would have weakened the overall continuity and made production less efficient. Using a shared family of forms and materials allowed variation without losing coherence.
CREATING THE MEDIA AND PHOTO ENVIRONMENTS
Evolution Scenic also fabricated a dedicated outdoor media set. The structure combined a pale blue branded backdrop, illustrated camera graphics, bilingual event identity and a coordinated scenic floor.
Treating the area as a proper scenic set rather than relying on portable signage created a much more controlled physical composition. The backdrop defined the frame, while the floor extended the design into the foreground and reduced the visual interruption created by the surrounding park environment.
Outdoor media settings require particular attention to proportion. A backdrop that appears large in a workshop can feel comparatively small once installed in an open landscape. The structure needs enough width and height to contain the intended views, while the foreground treatment helps establish a complete visual zone rather than leaving the set as a single isolated wall.
The scenic floor was therefore an important part of the media environment. It visually connected the backdrop to the area in front of it and allowed the graphic treatment to occupy more than one plane. This gave the set greater depth and helped it read as a temporary studio rather than a branded board standing on the ground.
Elsewhere within the festival, Evolution Scenic fabricated a large freestanding photo environment based around an oversized illustrated paper aeroplane. Layered wall planes, a prominent speech-bubble graphic and a large aeroplane-shaped foreground element transformed the project identity into a three-dimensional scenic composition.
This is a good example of the difference between displaying a graphic and building from it. The paper aeroplane had already been established as part of the visual language, but increasing its scale and turning it into a physical element gave it a different role. It became something people could stand beside or within, rather than an image viewed at a distance.
The structure still needed to retain the clean, simplified quality of the original illustration. Overcomplicating the construction or introducing excessive visible framing would have weakened that connection. The MDF and plywood construction therefore had to provide sufficient stability while allowing the finished form to remain visually light and graphic.
Large photo features also need to be considered from the expected viewing position. Layered planes and foreground objects can create a convincing composition when aligned correctly, but the effect may disappear if the depth and spacing are not controlled. The scenic team therefore had to develop the feature as a complete view rather than a collection of separate cut shapes.
ADAPTING THE DESIGN FOR THE AWARDS STAGE
The awards ceremony inside the conference centre required a more formal scenic treatment. Evolution Scenic fabricated a custom backdrop incorporating a large screen area, a shaped shield-like scenic feature with an illuminated outline and a branded presentation lectern.
Although the tone changed, the stage still needed to belong to the same wider project. The visual identity could not simply be abandoned when the programme moved indoors. Instead, it was adapted into a more architectural composition suitable for a formal presentation environment.
Stage backdrops often appear simple once completed, but the relationship between scenic construction and technical equipment needs careful control. A screen has fixed dimensions and viewing requirements, while the surrounding scenic elements must frame it without interfering with sightlines or appearing as unrelated additions.
The shield-like feature and screen needed to read as parts of one composition. Their positions, heights and visual weight had to be balanced so that neither appeared secondary or disconnected. The illuminated outline introduced another layer, requiring the lighting effect to follow the shaped profile accurately while remaining integrated into the scenery.
The lectern also needed to correspond with the backdrop. Although physically smaller, it occupied a prominent position and had to use the same graphic and material language. Details that appear minor in the workshop can become much more noticeable when placed alone at the front of a formal stage.
The awards environment included seating for 200 people, supplied from Evolution Furniture’s rental inventory rather than fabricated by the Scenic department. Keeping this distinction clear reflects how projects of this type are actually delivered. Custom scenery establishes the architecture and visual identity, while rental furniture and operational infrastructure complete the functional environment.
The two scopes still required coordination. Seating positions, circulation and the stage layout all influenced how the scenic backdrop was viewed and accessed, even though the chairs themselves were not part of the fabrication package.
FABRICATING AND SUSPENDING THE PAPER AEROPLANE
One of the project’s most distinctive individual elements was the giant suspended paper aeroplane. Evolution Scenic fabricated the prop from plywood and completed it with a vinyl sticker finish.
The form needed to appear crisp and graphic, retaining the folded geometry associated with a paper aeroplane while being large enough to function as an overhead scenic feature. Plywood provided a rigid base for the shape, while the vinyl finish created a controlled surface that could reproduce the intended graphic treatment.
Suspended scenery introduces different considerations from freestanding walls and backdrops. The object must retain its shape while hanging, and the suspension points must connect securely without distorting the visible form.
The aeroplane was suspended using eyebolts and metal ropes. These created the physical interface between the scenic object and the overhead suspension system. Their positions would have influenced how the prop sat in the air, because even a relatively small imbalance can cause a suspended feature to tilt or rotate away from its intended orientation.
What often surprises people is that the visible centre of an object is not always the same as its physical centre of gravity. An irregular shape such as a paper aeroplane may require careful suspension-point positioning to achieve the correct final angle.
The prop also needed to remain visually clean despite the necessary suspension hardware. Eyebolts and ropes perform an essential function, but the finished result should still read first as a large paper aeroplane rather than as a plywood object hanging from several connections.
This is where scenic design, fabrication and installation have to remain connected. The workshop can manufacture the form and establish the intended suspension points, but the final position only becomes clear once the feature is installed within the event space.
DELIVERING ONE SCENIC LANGUAGE ACROSS SEVERAL SPACES
Installation extended across the outdoor festival environment at Umm Al Emarat Park and the separate awards venue inside the conference centre. Workshop walls, media scenery, signage and photo features had to be distributed across the park, while the stage backdrop and lectern formed a distinct indoor package.
The suspended aeroplane required overhead installation using the confirmed eyebolts and metal ropes. The remaining scenic elements were installed as freestanding walls, backdrops and feature structures.
Delivering across several locations creates a logistical challenge even when the individual components are relatively straightforward. Parts need to be labelled and grouped according to their destination, installation drawings must correspond with each area and the loading sequence should allow the correct structures to be accessed when required.
The project was completed on schedule despite the tight timeline. That outcome depended on treating the work as one coordinated scenic package rather than allowing the media set, workshop areas, photo feature and awards stage to progress as unrelated builds.
The completed environment showed how one design language could be adapted without becoming repetitive. MDF and plywood construction moved from colourful workshop walls to an outdoor media set, a large photo feature and a formal stage backdrop. Graphics created continuity, while changes in form, scale and composition allowed each area to serve its own purpose.
Evolution Scenic’s contribution lay in turning the creative direction into a practical family of temporary structures. The strongest connection between the spaces was not that every element looked the same, but that each one appeared to have been developed from the same visual idea and resolved with the same level of fabrication care.
That is often the more useful way to think about consistency in scenic projects. It does not require repeating one structure everywhere. It requires understanding the principles behind the design well enough to translate them into several different physical environments.
