Short n’ Sweet
An immersive fan journey concept designed to elevate the live concert experience for Sabrina Carpenter through personalized digital and physical touchpoints. By integrating interactive technology, social engagement, and venue transformations, this framework reimagines how fans connect with the artist before, during, and after a show.
Collaborators: Tara Modi, Brandt Youran-Li
Timeline: F24, 2 weeks
Tools/Skills: Interaction Design, UI Design, Immersive Storytelling, Digital Prototyping, Physical Prototyping, Procreate, Figma, Unity, Arduino, Adobe Illustrator
Overview
Setting the stage.
The future of live entertainment lies in creating personalized, immersive, and interactive experiences that enhance fan engagement and artist expression. This project, sponsored by Brian Mirakian from Populous, explores how interactive technology, social integration, and adaptive venue design can transform the concert experience from ticket purchase to post-show interactions.
Transforming the concert experience.
We chose Sabrina Carpenter as the focus of this project because of her strong artist identity, unique brand, and ability to be multi-dimensional, distinctive, and memorable. We designed experiential touchpoints that amplify emotional connection and audience participation, creating a multi-dimensional fan journey that extends beyond the concert itself and setting a precedent for the future of artist-driven immersive venues.
Social Integration:
Carpenter’s Confessions is an interactive confession experience that transforms fans’ unspoken thoughts into a collective emotional moment. Inspired by “emails i can’t send,” concertgoers physically write their confessions, seal them in envelopes, and drop them into a collection box. These messages are scanned, moderated, and projected onto venue walls, creating a living tapestry of shared emotions. Fans can walk up to read others’ confessions, fostering a sense of connection and vulnerability.
As a special interactive moment, Sabrina selects confessions to read aloud during the concert, deepening the fan-artist connection. To expand this experience beyond the venue, an online platform allows global fans to submit their confessions, ensuring that all fans can engage in the collective experience. The digital prototype showcases this platform, highlighting the potential for moderated fan interactions and exclusive content. This system also provides opportunities to display behind-the-scenes clips, advertisements, and multimedia elements, making it a dynamic storytelling tool that enhances both the live and virtual concert experience.
Fan Interaction:
Carpenter’s Candle is a modular, interactive light-up accessory designed to enhance audience participation and integrate fans into the concert’s visual experience. The item consists of two parts: a heart-shaped top, reflecting Sabrina Carpenter’s branding, and a base that lights up when connected. This interchangeable system allows fans to customize how they use it, whether as a bracelet, hair tie, chair attachment, or other creative forms, by simply attaching the base to their chosen item.
At the concert venue, these lights are synchronized with the performance, dynamically animating in sequence with the music. Additionally, the venue can remotely control the lights, orchestrating large-scale visual effects, messages, or symbols across the audience. This collective light choreography transforms fans into an integral part of the show, heightening immersion and emotional connection.
Audience Participation:
By designing the top and base as interchangeable components, venues can transform into artist-branded light shows, with fans swapping tops featuring iconic artist symbols. This system allows concerts to feature artist-specific visuals and synchronized light effects, creating a personalized, immersive experience that evolves with each performance while reinforcing the artist’s identity.
The prototype features a magnetic connection system, with the top containing a magnet and the base housing an ESP32 Feather microcontroller. When the top and base are linked, the NeoPixel LED Ring activates, enabling real-time light synchronization. This modular design ensures that fans can repurpose their Carpenter’s Candle beyond the concert, turning it into a keepsake that continues the experience even after the show ends.
To build anticipation and engagement before each concert, a location-based mobile game launches one month before the event in the upcoming concert city and closes one week prior. Inspired by Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” music video, the game places fans in a virtual coffee shop where they take on the role of a barista at Sabrina’s drive-thru café on the beach. Players serve espresso drinks inspired by her music, earning coins with each customer served. Drinks take varying amounts of time to prepare, encouraging strategy and competition as fans unlock more complex beverages.
The game fosters social integration and regional excitement, with a leaderboard tracking top players. Fans in the general audience compete for concert tickets and fan packages, while concert attendees have a chance to upgrade to VIP experiences. This pre-show gamified engagement connects fans through a shared interactive challenge through a digital experience.
Venue Transformation:
Carpenter’s Cup is an exclusive tea party experience that extends the fan journey beyond the concert venue. As a whimsical and intimate space, fans can take photos, enjoy sweets, and participate in a sing-along experience with Sabrina Carpenter herself. This interactive event blends nostalgia, community, and artist connection, offering fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse.
This VIP experience is part of the fan package awarded to top winners of Carpenter’s Café, creating a special reward for the most engaged fans. Attendees receive exclusive merchandise and collectibles that commemorate the era of the tour, making Carpenter’s Cup not just an event but a lasting memory of the concert experience.
