Tour Design: Es Devlin on Netflix

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2017-02-21)

Last week a new series debuted on Netflix in Canada and the USA. The show called “Abstract: The Art of Design” features profiles of eight different “creative thinkers and imaginative minds working in the world of art and design today.” One of the eight people profiled is Es Devlin.

Es Devlin is a stage designer who has been working designing concert experiences for years. She has worked with Beyoncé, Kanye West, Jay Z, Adele and The Weeknd. Her most recent work was working with Katy Perry to design the backdrop to the singer’s Grammy Awards performance. Devlin worked on U2’s Innocence + Experience tour, designing the stage set up alongside Ric Lipson of Stufish, a process on which she worked for two years. Devlin is described as the creative / set designer for the tour.

Es Devlin is featured on the third episode in the series, and it runs 43 minutes in length. The episode of “Abstract: The Art of Design” doesn’t heavily feature the U2 material in the program. There are visuals of the tour sprinkled throughout the episode and some time is given to the suspended screen / stage design of the Innocence + Experience tour, but the focus of the episode is on her process and how she vies rock and roll shows.

The series premiered at Sundance, and made its debut on Netflix last week. The program looks at the artists creative spaces, their work and their projects. Each episode is put together by different directors, and the series is produced by Radical Media. The series was created by Scott Dadich, who also serves as editor-in-chief at WIRED magazine.

The eight people highlighted in the series are Es Devlin, stage designer; Ilse Crawford, interior designer; Ralph Gilles, Chrysler’s head of global design; Bjarke Ingles, architect; Platon, photographer; Christoph Niemann, New Yorker cover illustrator; Paula Scher, multiple platform graphic designer; and Tinker Hatfield, Nike sneaker designer.

The series started streaming on Netflix on February 10. All episodes were available at the same time. We have embedded the trailer below for those who are interested.

(Many thanks to Mitchell for the heads up.)

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