Live Chess Set Hot Foiling

Adobe Summit, London – Live Chess Set Hot Foiling

Following the Adobe Summit at the InterContinental London O2, I was invited back to create a bespoke live personalisation experience for a private Adobe dinner event.

Having worked with Adobe on a similar activation the previous year, I was delighted to be invited back to create another memorable guest experience. For the previous Adobe Summit, I provided live engraving and painting on Apple AirPods, combining personalised gifting with engaging live artistry.

This year, the client chose wooden chess sets as gifts for their guests, reflecting Adobe's connection to creativity and strategic thinking. The brief was to personalise each set live during the dinner, creating an interactive experience while giving guests a meaningful memento to take home.

The original brief was to engrave the wooden chess sets. During the testing process, however, I discovered that hot foiling created a cleaner, more refined finish on the wood, with the gold foil adding a luxurious contrast against the natural surface of the chess boards.

Based on this testing, I recommended hot foiling as an alternative to engraving. The client loved the suggestion, allowing me to use my experience with different personalisation techniques to ensure the finished pieces matched the quality and feel of the event.

Each chess set was personalised live during the Adobe dinner, turning the gifting process into part of the evening's entertainment. The combination of the natural wooden finish and metallic gold lettering created a sophisticated result, while the live element gave guests the opportunity to watch their gift being transformed in front of them.

The activation brought together craftsmanship, personalisation and creativity in a way that felt particularly fitting for Adobe. Rather than simply receiving a branded gift, guests experienced the process of having something created especially for them.

Guests were thrilled by the finished chess sets, with many commenting on how unexpected it was to discover that a chess set could be personalised.
Guests were thrilled by the finished chess sets, with many commenting on how unexpected it was to discover that a chess set could be personalised. The gold foiling was particularly well received, adding an elegant finish that elevated the natural wooden boards and made each gift feel even more special.

The activation also demonstrated the value of choosing the right personalisation technique for the material and product. While engraving was the original direction, testing the finish before the event allowed me to recommend an approach that created a more refined result.

Being invited back by Adobe for a second year was a wonderful opportunity to build on the previous live personalisation experience while creating something completely new. The finished chess sets combined thoughtful gifting with live craftsmanship, giving guests a personalised keepsake that connected beautifully with the creative and strategic theme of the event.

he finished chess sets combined thoughtful gifting

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