We are delighted to share with you an article recently published on social media by our friends at I have a friend in advertising.’ showcasing the world of Street Designers, as explained by its founder, Ludovic Perron.
A big thank you to the editor Lea Pruvoost ✨
In this article, delve into the heart of our creative journey, explore the values that drive us, and discover what makes Street Designers a must-have in the events industry.
You couldn’t have missed it: artist Ckeja put on a live painting session at our 2023 Communications After-Work event. A surprising and creative activity, to say the least, right in the heart of a B2B event, which certainly didn’t leave the participants unimpressed! We owe this performance to the company Street Designers, particularly renowned for its artistic team-building activities. It is, in fact, the market leader! And with good reason: the company offers a high-quality service, combined with the expertise of genuine contemporary artists. Graffiti, customisation bars, digital art, street art tours, participatory live painting… The range of creative and entertainment activities on offer is vast. To find out more, we spoke to the company’s founder, Ludovic Perron. How can street art be brought to life in a professional setting? How can employees be encouraged to create a piece of art whilst incorporating their company’s values? He answers our questions!
Interview with Ludovic Perron, Founder of Street Designers
FCDLPU: To begin with, could you introduce your agency to us?
Ludovic Perron : We are an event production company specialising in creative entertainment for businesses. Street Designers is made up of experienced artists from the street art and graffiti scene.
I would like to specify that graffiti – which emerged in the late 1970s – has over time branched out into several practices:
- The tag: a signature applied to various urban surfaces.
- Graffiti: lettering created with colour. This is sometimes accompanied by characters and backgrounds.
- Street art: a more general and relatively recent term (2010). In my opinion, it's a word «Jumble» however, it tends to bring together artists working on collages, sculpture, stencils, chalk drawings, etc. But always carried out in the street. Street artists often have no ties to traditional graffiti artists.
Then, the word «street art» is often used to name all this creative urban culture that we see in our big cities.
What is your greatest strength?
Ludovic Perron Our 20 years of experience as graffiti artists and our understanding of our clients' expectations, particularly regarding the values they hold dear, have enabled us to establish a process that creates a creative bridge between art and the business world.
Street art can be an effective tool for strengthening a business by boosting brand visibility and image. It offers a unique and eye-catching way to convey brand values and connect with a local community. Large-scale murals or installations can become landmarks, generating organic social media attention and local pride. Furthermore, by commissioning street art, businesses can demonstrate a commitment to creativity, culture, and urban renewal, which can resonate positively with consumers and employees alike.
Ludovic Perron Through our team-building activities, specially designed to enable collaborators to work on a common project.
According to a study by L’Agefi, companies increase their efficiency by 30% by organising team-building activities. This increase is linked in particular to the quality of work, the speed at which tasks are completed, and staff satisfaction.
Graffiti – long dismissed and seen as vandalism – is now being exhibited in galleries and museums. Commissions from municipalities to create large murals are also commonplace. Street art thus appears to be THE new artistic movement, following pop art. It sparks our clients' curiosity and interest.
Graffiti team building: Could you describe what your graffiti team building involves?
Ludovic Perron : The idea is to create a mural to decorate our clients’ premises, which will be produced in-house by our own staff. In most cases, these murals depict a «word value», a theme or a team name.
To succeed in the exercise, it will involve several learning phases during the workshop.
- the discovery of spray can techniques and handling, the use of different « caps » (namely, the bung used)...
- The battle phase where participants must agree on a word and colours in order to apply the learned techniques.
- And finally, the creation of the canvases with the application of all the techniques, collectively on all the paintings.
The activity generally lasts 2 hours.
JUPDLC: And your participatory Live Painting animations?
Ludovic Perron These complex frescoes illustrate the universe of brands. Based on a precise brief, our artists develop a tailor-made mock-up. They integrate the client's values, colour codes, graphic charter, logo, and everything that makes up their brand identity.
We design our visuals so that they can be produced in collaboration with company employees. This generally takes place during the’event (seminar, after-work drinks…) organised by the company. These murals are then displayed within the company.
How do these event animations foster creativity, collaboration, and interaction among participants?
Ludovic Perron Event entertainment such as team-building activities are a great way to work together on something outside of the norm. «frame» from the office. Ours are designed to work together towards an artistic and high-quality final result. This helps strengthen social bonds while stimulating everyone's imagination.
We saw it during Covid! Human connections have been «broken». This is why there's a desire to rebuild them. That's why the year after Covid was an exceptional year for events: a period based on reconnecting and reunions. There's nothing better for organising a team-building activity! With creative, sporting or even culinary entertainment, for that matter.
JUDPLC : Who are these activities aimed at?
Ludovic Perron Our company responds to two types of requests:
- Event-related activities ;
- Wall decoration.
In the case of events, these activities are generally aimed at SMEs, large companies and multinationals. It is common for us to be involved in events that bring together hundreds, even thousands, of employees. For example, we can cite the annual conventions of L'Oréal, Crédit Agricole, Total, Google, etc.
JUPDLC: Do you have any examples of projects or creations you can share with us?
Ludovic Perron Yes, here are some examples:
Depending on the projects, we work with groups ranging from a minimum of 10 people to 600 people or more. We operate in event venues privatised for the occasion or at our clients' premises.
For example: we worked on setting up a team-building event, with a collaborative mural for 400 people, at the Reims exhibition centre. We suggested participants – divided into 40 tables – each complete a section of the artwork. Thanks to our process, each table was able to interact with the others and the connected canvases, avoiding any errors in the sketching and colouring stages. Thus, once the canvases were assembled, the «murale puzzle» was unveiled to the 400 participants on stage by a curtain drop. This reveals the entire brand universe of the Biocoop company with illustrations of men and women, inclusion and diversity, the products sold by the brand, and showing the values dear to the brand.
Also, we were recently contacted to «to graffiti» on display vehicles from the Citroën brand. On this occasion, we also produced a limited series of adhesive stickers designed by the artist Ckeja.
Yes, could you introduce us to some of the artists you work with?
Ludovic Perron In the team, Frédéric (alias CKEJAand Jérémy LUKS are very often selected by my clients to accompany them in the design of their murals or their creative animation. Stéphane (alias Operaalso stands out.
They have different universes but are just as aesthetically pleasing. Furthermore, they know how to adapt to our clients' visual constraints and perfectly translate their ideas into meaningful images.
Within the team, artist CKEJA will handle the more figurative requests. They understand and visually translate clients' ideas. If a client wishes to feature inclusion, diversity, and ecological transition on their mural, the chosen style will align with these expectations.
For his part, artist Jérémy Luks focuses more on plant-based universes, the CSR theme, typography, and the subject of logotypes. All within a prolific universe, composed of curved and colourful lines.
Finally, the artist OPÉRA appeals more to brands with his handling of colours and graphic forms. He will bring out more geometric imagery, also composed of figurative elements, but treated in a graphic way while respecting his style and that of the client.
There are many avenues that allow for collaboration between a brand, an institution, and an artist. We have over 100 talents on our books in order to offer our clients the best possible collaboration. It is also important for them to envision more ambitious projects, on formats other than canvas.
Back to the very essence of street art: the street! I am currently working on a ground mural project that would integrate a sporting and artistic experience at the same time in order to encourage people to practice physical activity. With the Olympics just one year away, this is the perfect timing!
JUPDCL: Finally, what advice would you give to companies considering integrating street art into their team-building strategy? What are the important steps to consider for a project of this kind?
Ludovic Perron In my opinion, it’s important for teams to be well-informed about what team building really is so that they don’t fall into the trap of a meaningless, process-free service. An activity where participants simply colour in without ever questioning and discussing what they are doing.
The client must define the objective of this team building. Is it to recreate and strengthen the bond between the teams? To integrate new employees into the company? To work on its values? This event can also allow for a moment of creativity to be shared with departments or poles within the company that do not know each other, or simply to have an unusual moment with an original creative activity. Fortunately, graffiti or pop art meet these ambitions!
