Delivering something "new, fresh and hip" is a tall order, especially when it's the sixth time around. But NY's Blur Studios rose to the occasion, creating the design package for repeat client Billboard Music Awards that goes for the "latest in design without following the trends".

This year, Blur went for a design aesthetic that creative director/designer Norn Kittiaksorn calls "grungy and streetwise". He says inspiration came from the virtual animated band Gorillaz. In addition to chart toppers, the "band" is known for its hip and striking anime-style videos.

In addition to esoteric requests for fresh and hip, Billboard also wanted a sexy nighttime feel for the work, so Blur started with a darkened virtual Tokyo to serve as the backdrop. "You zoom over the city and close in on billboards displaying [core elements such as] nominee headers," says Kittiaksorn, who was unaware of the 'billboards for Billboard' irony at the time. "It was a happy accident."

Billboard liked the idea but preferred a Las Vegas setting, which was the actual site for the show. This only served to enhance the serendipity. "In Vegas, all the hotels and casinos have huge signs. We made it so each award category had a different casino's billboard."

Building a virtual Vegas was done nearly completely from the ground up. "We looked at lots of pics of the city and had video reference. We took the most iconic landmarks, all hotels and casinos, and created them from scratch. We bought a few models - the Eiffel Tower for one - and laid them in."

Riffing off the now approved Vegas theme, Blur decided to incorporate more design features appropriate to what the city is really known for. Wipes were created using a gambling motif; cards and dice swooshing across the screen to get the viewer ready for the next segment. But Billboard didn't want to go that far with it. "The dice became blocks and the card just had '2005' on them."

The cartoonish elements are all cell shaded - flat looking but with a 3D feel - and characters and objects are defined with black lines.

"They also wanted us to make reference to the style of the actual charts in the magazine," say Kittiaksorn, noting that by far, "the most challenging thing was to create Las Vegas from scratch."

Blur Studios> www.blur.com
Billboard> www.billboard.com