NoOoºoºO, it’s not a pharmacy. Nor an aquarium. Director Alon Isocianu and production manager Anna Junger, partners in Toronto-based Reactiv Pictures, simply wanted their fledgling full-service video production company’s name, logo and blue/green branding to make a distinct impression. A bubbling test tube may not scream “Video production!” the way, say, a camera lens or film reel graphic would. But it does say “Experimental, alchemical, transformational, shazam-anything-can-happen-here-folks.” And, like they say in show business, you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.
SoOºoOoo, it’s not a drugstore or underwater whatever, but Reactiv does lead a double life. First and foremost, Reactiv Pictures, represented by blue, is a commercial post-production facility catering to other companies, such as advertising agencies, for whom it provides such services as video editing, broadcast design and animation. Green represents Reactiv Post, a music-video production house, already well known for its creative camera work, engaging narrative and special FX for such acts as Candy Coated Killahz, Done with Dolls and Finger Eleven, all hits on the MuchMusic countdown. This office space was mostly designed with Reactiv Post in mind, as most music video production happens while filming on location. Lux Design, a young Toronto firm, was hired to perform some kind of magic on a banal 1,000-square-foot concrete and drywall cube in a basic refurbished downtown Toronto red brick, beginning with a startling entrance that featured the firm’s branding. “Because we work with ad agencies it was important to show an appreciation for brand awareness,” notes Isocianu.
POºoooOºf! Reactiv’s logo front and centre. The designers got a big bang for the tight budget by mixing inexpensive effects and materials – light, paint, aluminum and vinyl – to achieve multi-sensory theatrics. The 3-D aluminum logo is lit and animated via digital projector perched over the entrance door. Follow the vinyl inlay bubbles on the floor and painted stripes along the walls to a CNC-cut partition that lets visitors peek through giant 3-D suds into the kitchen. Keep following the floor bubbles to Reactiv’s screening rooms: two cozy, chic spaces designed to function formally by day and serve as lounges for entertaining off hours. These upscale rec rooms are wired to the max with jumbo screens and computers, connected to the main brain tucked away in tiny offices at the end of the hall. Just follow the OoOºoos. cI