When The Creative Group formed its motion graphics design studio, Mantra, they reached out to Fred Salkind, a veteran of Sony Music Studios, who had spent years as an editor for The Image Group, working mainly for clients from MTV Networks and editing videos for Michael Jackson and U2.

Back in those heady days when music videos were a novelty, the Viacom triumvirate of MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon were in their creative golden age. Producers and editors were encouraged to color outside the lines. Heck, there were no lines.

“In the early days of MTV,” recalls Salkind, “a promo producer would come into an edit room with a wad of Brillo and an audio track and say, ‘We need to create a 30-second spot, this is what I got, what can we do?’ There was a lot of making things up on the fly and using the edit room as a tool.” It’s obvious that Salkind has maintained that pioneering perspective because it has become a hallmark of Mantra.

What’s their Gig?

Mantra is first and foremost a motion graphic design studio that focuses on broadcast promotions, show opens and agency work. However, Salkind points out, they also create what he refers to as “large-scale events” such as the Grammys, The Video Music Awards, The VH1 Hip Hop Honors and The Country Music Awards.

He’s proud of his team at Mantra and speaks enthusiastically about their work on the show open for Russell Brand’s special on Comedy Central and for ESPN’s on-air campaign for 360.com. Still, he keeps coming back to what he considers this new frontier of Event Design where video, live performance, stage design and even retail advertising all merge into one all-encompassing interactive experience.

The Cool Factor

Mantra’s work on VH1’s 2008 Hip Hop Honors is a prime example. The video “screens” are actually giant tumbling letters that spell out the title of the show much like a 3D Scrabble game. Each letter, along with myriad additional beams and lights, project startling images and lighting effects that threaten to upstage performers like Too $hort and Busta Rhymes, no small feat in itself.

“That’s one of the beauties of dealing with these events,” explains Salkind. “We’re no longer working with a 16 x 9 aspect ratio anymore. We’re dealing with aspect ratios that are limitless. Any shape you want. That’s been a really refreshing creative challenge, and liberating. In 2006 we did the Video Music Awards in Radio City and that was the job that really enlightened me as to what the deal was, because basically the set design was video projections.” Indeed, Mantra transformed Radio City Music Hall into a 360-degree happening where the building’s architecture became part of the overall experience.

The Geek Factor

Salkind’s next big initiative is to transform the retail shopping experience. “I’ll never forget the moment three years ago when I went into Prada on Spring Street down in SoHo,” he recalls. “In the store, the clothing dividers that normally divide the clothes by size, you know, small, medium, large…well, instead they had plasma displays that divided them, and they had branding – video – being played back on them. And I thought, ‘Wow, now that is cool.'”

Salkind envisions a day when moving images give us a new way to experience shopping, just like videos gave us a new way to experience music back in the pioneering days of MTV.

“The printed media of advertising for both outdoor and indoor is changing to video and interactive. And that’s what gets me up in the morning.”