Zeptolab Gala Gatsby

The technical challenge appeared minor. The cultural challenge was not. A mobile gaming company lives daily with clean interfaces, polished illustration, and millimetric interaction design. A generic cocktail with white lighting and round tables does not land with that audience. They notice it on arrival. They notice it in the photograph.

At the same time, the client wanted an evening with a narrative. Not just a decorative production, but a recognisable universe at first glance — something that unified photographs, dress code, scenography, music, and menu. Every element had to contribute to the same picture.

The standard corporate dinner with DJ format resolved the calendar, but not the brief. Art direction was missing. A narrative axis capable of sustaining three long hours without the guest disengaging was missing. And a level of execution detail that could withstand the scrutiny of a creative team that examines the seams was missing.

Bacus proposed a Gatsby evening: the art deco of the 1920s as the visual universe that gave coherence to everything else. Gold, deep black, and feathers. Bold geometry, symmetrical lines, and materials with weight. A brand decision that allowed moving scenography, catering, the dress code suggested to the workforce, and the musical direction as a single block.

The creative team built a space in Barcelona where every zone responded to the same code: access with a dark carpet and geometric arches; the main room with candelabras, feathers, and black tablecloths framing the gold of the glassware and floral centrepieces; period props in the photocall and relaxation corners; live music with a jazz and swing repertoire combined with a DJ set for the later part of the night.

Production was executed with the in-house team handling project direction, art direction, technical assembly, and timing coordination. Themed catering selected to reinforce the art deco code in presentation and crockery. Warm lighting with emphasis on tables and the back of the room so that the gold would register both at dinner and in photographs.

Visual coherence was the real deliverable. The concept was not decorated over the room. It was the room.

The experience worked in layers. The first was the entrance. Access through geometric arches with low light prepared the mood before stepping into the main room. The guest arrived already inside the narrative, not coming to a dinner to then discover the concept.

The second layer was the dress code. The workforce arrived largely dressed in Gatsby style, which multiplied the room's visual coherence and drove internal photograph circulation throughout the evening. The scenography worked without guests, but with guests dressed to the code it became a complete picture.

The third layer was the rhythm: a measured dinner, transition to the live band, opening of the dance floor, close with the DJ. The curve allowed every profile in the workforce to find their moment — relaxed conversation for those who came to unwind, extended dancing for those who came to celebrate.

The result is measured on two levels. On the first, the evening delivered what the client asked for: a gala with sustained art direction, an international workforce gathered without logistical friction, and a production executed on schedule.

On the second, the graphic material that came out of the night kept circulating inside and outside the company. A well-built room leaves a visual trace. And that trace is what turns a workforce event into an internal brand piece that comes back every time someone searches for how that year was celebrated.