Google Maps 15th Birthday

CLIENT: GOOGLE | 📍 NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Context: To celebrate the 15th birthday of Google Maps, we created an informative experience that showcased the best innovations of the navigation app over the last 15 years—and hinted at what’s to come.

Concept: No matter where you are, Google Maps helps you navigate and explore the world around you.

To highlight the many features of Google Maps, we created five unique demo stations, each representing a different category of features in a destination city. From transportation in NYC to restaurants in Rome, from hotels in Tokyo to sightseeing in New Orleans, press were able to take a tour of a few top locations with examples of how to use Google Maps in various scenarios. While demo sessions were in progress, light bites from each city roamed the space: biscotti and cappuccinos from Rome, salmon tartines from Seattle, and pastrami rolls from NYC completed the experience.

Demo stations took the form of paper foldout maps to allude to our pre-Google Maps life from not so long ago. An embedded screen played interactive GIFs of Maps features to support the script.

The journey ended with four additional moments: 1. a timeline of Maps innovations from the past 15 years; 2. the Pin Portal, where guests could connect to local businesses; 3. the newsstand, advertising hot-off-the-press news from Google Maps; and 4. the projection room, which cycled immersive views of stunning Google Earth images from around the world.

ROLE: Art Director, MAS Event + Design

concept, art direction, design, renderings, graphics, sourcing, on-site styling

A Google Street View Car filled with balloons set the tone for the playful, bright, birthday-themed event.

Google Maps is no longer only about getting from point A to B. With the Explore tab and added features such as restaurant recommendations and top attractions in the area, Google Maps helps you get from A to Z so you can explore all the hidden gems i… — Google Maps is no longer only about getting from point A to B. With the *Explore* tab and added features such as restaurant recommendations and top attractions in the area, Google Maps helps you get from A to Z so you can explore all the hidden gems in between. Sometimes, the journey is the destination.

Demo 1: NYC

A taxi, subway rail, crosswalk, pedestrian crossing sign, and bike lock in a NYC street scene set the stage for a demo speaking to the transportation and commute features in Google Maps.

Demo 2: Seattle

Seattle’s demo station was all about getting things done in a city—from contacting businesses to searching along your route, a wide range of Google Maps features can be used in a diverse, quirky city such as Seattle. We included fresh fruits and flowers from Public Market Center, the Market Street gum wall, shop signs, grunge posters, and a coffee window.

Demo 3: New Orleans

New Orleans was a natural destination for showcasing features such as finding events and happenings nearby, looking up local guide lists, and choosing where to eat and drink over the weekend. French Quarter-inspired architecture, a Bourbon St. lamp sign, and jazz busker dressed the backdrop for this vignette.

Demo 4: Kyoto

In a city like Kyoto, translation, navigating offline, and booking hotels are made convenient with Google Maps. This demo station is lightly reminiscent of a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn), complete with a stone garden, lanterns, and a bamboo tree dressed for Tanabata (Star Festival). Sterilized hotel slippers offered guests the chance to try out the new AR translate function.

Demo 5: Rome

What better city than Rome to highlight all the restaurant features of Google Maps? With Maps you can book a table, see top dishes, discover hidden gems, and even see popular times of a restaurant. This trattoria scene included an assortment of Italian wines and condiments, a stone fountain, and a menu of delicious entré options for the evening.

The Projection Room

Guests culminated their journey in the projection room, where immersive images of stunning natural wonders cycled around a single Street View Trekker backpack on display. Guests could try on the 50 lb. backpack (used to capture street view images in hard-to-reach places in the world) and get a taste of the beauty and expansiveness of earth (easily navigable and discoverable with Google Maps!)