TikTok at Cannes Lions 2025

Cannes, France

2025

Industry: Tech

Creative Team - - Environmental: myself. Graphics: Kenneth Liew, Mike Hinson, Joy Seet. Motion: Peter Henderson. Copy: Heliz Mazouri. Design director: Hamilton Tamayo

Events Director: Yvette Banks. Event Lead: Tiffany Perez Cook

Production: Jack Morton Worldwide. Fabrication: MAC

After a successful 2024, this year TikTok wanted to highlight the platform’s uniqueness as a place to search for information, get plugged into trends, and learn about any topic of interest. We brought in more digital and tech-driven interactive touchpoints into the Garden space to amplify the storytelling of the core message “The World Finds its POV on TikTok”.

Site: The Carlton Hotel, Cannes

TikTok’s annual location for Cannes is in the heart of the Calrton’s central garden. Each year with new growth coming in, the challenge is to maintain the same footprint and capacity with minimal damage to the lush landscaping.

The Structure: Le Retro with the Parametric Cladding

Leaning into the success of 2024’s space and in having a direct impact on budget and timing, I recommended that we repurpose the Retro tent along with the parametric cladding and “Create” bracket entrance. Opting to keep the simple white exterior allowed the team to lean into a different approach to the interior color palette without visual dysfunction.

Going into development, I worked with the events team and XFN’s to block out the experience. Through some challenges that included overall creative direction, I leaned into taking a step back to sketch out the concept for each area and to walk through with executive stakeholders. This achieved buy-in from leadership to proceed with designing the new creative direction for the Garden.

Initial garden activation diagram
Rough sketches of each area
Sketch for new garden layout
Concept for Culture Drivers activation space
Concept for Culture Drivers activation space
Sketch for new workshop bleachers and demo area
Sketch for bar and self-serve station, and POV trend flapboard activation
Sketch for POV trend flapboard activation
Sketch for swag zone, sound activation, and exit area
Stage sketch

CANNES LIONS 2025 RENDERINGS

I designed the whole interior of the space and the internal elements, having more fun with the forms and breaking out from the bounds of the columns that are part of the structure. This year, due to excessive heat in Southern France, I worked with Jack Morton WW on bringing in a/c units into the footprint, and we kept the roof opaque. Introducing transparency internally, I partnered in lock-step with 2D lead Ken Liew on taking a creative risk in using lighter tones of TikTok’s core colors razz and splash. We leaned into bold text and color blocking to highlight each zone, and highlighted TikTok’s search capability LED “search bar” digital graphics crafted by Peter Henderson.

Approaching the entrance to the garden from the hotel. We covered last year’s window with bold photography
First look into the Garden space, including overhead pendant lamps in TikTok’s core splash and razz colors
TikTok’s soundbites trend, Renaissance trend, and MVPs of POV activation zone
TikTok’s soundbites trend, Renaissance trend, and MVPs of POV activation zone
Exit area featuring to dichroic walls with messaging and TikTok’s UX selfie mirror
Swag station with large displays for partner item giveaways, and dichroic TikTok UX selfie mirror
View into main central seating area
Workshop activation with repurposed high tables and new bleachers
I designed a new modular set of bleachers for increased capacity
Product and Creator demo station activation, using repurposed screen surrounds from 2024’s design
I repurposed last year’s bar by reskinning the surface and adding new illuminated elements
Oat Foundry Flapboard activation showcased the POV trend along with repurposed screen casing
Central seating and connection area and a view through the hero wall aperture into the Programming Area
The stage design for the year reuses the large screen surrounds from years prior. I reskinned the bases with the dichroic surface for effect.
Stage right
Stage left and emergency exit/service exit

This year’s Cannes was a hit and one of the most successfully designed to date, with many folks interacting with the fun activation touchpoints. Accolades and positive feedback came in from several company executives, much of which were complementing how the whole space looked elevated with impactful messaging all around. A key takeaway was in the creative risk of using unofficial lighter tones of core colors that were not yet officially part of the palette, yet it created a striking look that everyone loved. Those lighter tones ended up becoming part of the new core color palette for TikTok’s brand refresh.

Repurposing Elements

I often opt to reuse as many elements as possible in the interest of sustainable practices. This 3D note was solid black in 2024 and placed inside the hotel at the Meeting Rooms check-in area. For 2025, it was revived as a “graffiti note” and placed out in the garden so guests could scribble on it while queuing up.

The spinning cubes “TikTok-Toe” game that was inside the garden for 2024 was repurposed and reskinned with new copy as a fun way to showcase measurement, and placed inside the hotel meeting room check-in area for guests to play with.