The Brief

The Storyland Studios team collaborated with Yostar Global to imagine and design a booth for AnimeExpo 2023 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The Mission

Yostar approached Storyland to design an elaborate and unconventional Yostar Games booth concept, which would blend elements of gameplay, retail merchandising, and entertainment all in one cohesive space. This concept would feature a cohesive story element that set it apart from typical expo booths, allowing guests to immerse themselves in Yostar’s brand experience.

We designed a booth for Yostar complete with an interactive space where fans could connect with the brand’s iconic anime games and characters, space for photo ops, a merch loading bay, and even a stage and DJ platform for a unique entertainment experience. To top it all off, we designed a custom itasha – a car that features anime graphics and characters from Yostar’s fan-favorite games.

Our team worked closely with our fabrication partners at Southern California’s Kilcrew Productions, going above and beyond to deliver on a short-turnaround production and delivery timeline.

Due to a late start, we had to compress our overall design and fabrication schedule to a three-month start-to-finish effort – less than half the amount of time we would usually target. We accomplished this without compromising quality, which preserved the intended guest experience.

Outcome

The Yostar Global booth was easily the most successful at AnimeExpo 2023, with lines so long that some guests had to be sent away! Lucky guests who gained entry were able to learn and experience more about popular games like Arknights, Mahjong Soul, Azur Lane, and the brand’s latest release, Aether Gazer.

Fans also enjoyed live entertainment, cosplay, meet-and-greets with Yostar artists, quiz shows, interactive programming, and more.