In 2019, after a few gatherings with my friends in a flat in front of the Masonic Temple of Tenerife, I decided to start branding these events. Such building, the only masonic temple left in Spain, gave a strong enough atmosphere to the flat to name it this way. This was the birth of MASON, which has grown to be an event brand with several themed events to date.

In this page there’s material created prior to the events, in order to advertise and promote them, as well as content created to extend this identity to the gatherings themselves. This content is very varied, ranging from videos and posters to video mappings and decorations.

MASON1

The first of these events was hosted in April of 2019. Inspired by the Santa Cruz Masonic temple, promotional graphics for the first MASON event explored the idea of a distorted facade, inviting guests to a fun DJ set by Sleeping Pills. Using Bau Super for titles, which later turned into the events’ main font, and Space Mono for body text, all branding for MASON1 used red, beige and black tones.

MASON and video mappings

Using a projector, the wall of the main room was turned into a 2,5 x 5 meter screen, on which a colour-changing grid was used to create visuals that reacted to the music produced by the DJ. Mixing electronic music, pop and indie, Sleeping Pills' set inspired visuals that also included 3D letterings and moving elements, which can be seen in the clips below. These mappings became a signature part of the gatherings.

Following events

After this first gathering, a second MASON event was hosted as a celebration of the summer. This is reflected in the colour palette chosen for all content for this event. Additionally, animations and graphics prior to the event took industrial inspiration, given the event was going to have a purely industrial techno DJ set.

Themes at MASON

My friends agreed a party is more fun when its themed, so why not developing themed parties? For the following MASON event, I asked everyone to come dressed up. They were attending a party in the 80s. I designed and printed posters and stickers, got a room covered in foil to emulate Warhol's studio and even projected on to the Masonic temple. Following the good reception of party, themes became recurrent for MASON.

An initiation to the cult

COVID hit and parties were not safe. After the first big lock down, during the summer of 2020, restrictions were reduced and allowed for reduced gatherings. Together with David Ujja, we envisioned turning the small meetups we were having with friends into (again) themed parties. We found inspiration in the temple and the history of freemasonry in the island, and designed a four hour initiation experience to a fictional masonic cult. Different initiation challenges and games were posed to the lucky novices.

But the backbone of the entire experience was not the games, but Francisco Clavijo y Plo. Francisco was one of the first engineers of the island, who led the building of water management infrastructure. For the purposes of MASON Cult, he was also a freemason, and served as the guide of the initiation ceremony. His portrait was central in the room, and an alleged recording of him (voiced by Eduardo Zerolo) proviided instructions before the initiation started.

It wasn't until halfway through the evening that the portrait started to gasp and talk, to the point of criticizing the novices while they were completing the challenges. The effect of Francissco Clavijo y Plo was challenging, as the painting was in reality a video mapping with a hidden audio system that controlled both ambient music and the voice from the portrait. To see more about this, check out my Mappings page.

Invitations by mail

It was Christmas of 2021 and restrictions were reduced enough to host another larger gathering, or that's what we thought. It was sensible to host a Christmas party this time. A visual language was developed for this new gathering, with motives repeated throughout.

My excitement brought me to invite my friends via physical postcards, which I sent to where they were living at the time. Sadly, COVID restrictions made it impossible to host the expected party, so I gathered a few small groups during Christmas break - obviously keeping the Christmas dress code.

Celebrating the return of the summer

The summer was here, and we could gather! For real! In July of 2022, I envisioned another party to celebrate the arrival of the warmth. Everyone was asked to come dressed as if they were attending a pool party. For the visuals of this gathering, I explored the idea of a big bright ball of sunlight. These were projected on to the main room, following MASON1's style and grid. Several were produced, in different colours and paces.