On September 21, 2024, Western Beerfest took over the Mustang Lounge on the Western University campus in London, Ontario. Booth Empire delivered a print photo booth activation built around a single objective: give every guest a branded physical keepsake that captured the social energy of the event itself.
Over the course of the evening, the booth produced 210 finished prints. Each one was a simple white 2x6 strip carrying the Western logo, paired with a custom-printed Western step-and-repeat backdrop that carried the event’s identity into every photo.
The Brief: A Branded Keepsake for a Campus Social Event
Beerfest audiences expect a social, photo-friendly experience. They arrive ready to celebrate, they move through the room in groups, and they leave with whatever the event gave them. A print photo booth was the right format for that audience because the print itself becomes the takeaway - a small piece of Beerfest the guest carries out of the Mustang Lounge and keeps.
Western University student organizers came to Booth Empire with a clear brief. They wanted a branded photo experience that felt native to Beerfest rather than a generic booth dropped into the room, and they wanted physical prints - not digital-only output - because a print is the format a campus audience actually holds onto after the night ends.
A Custom Western Step-and-Repeat Backdrop
The most visible surface in any print photo is the backdrop, which is why the activation leaned into a fully custom Western step-and-repeat. Rather than pulling a stock backdrop from a catalogue, the backdrop was custom-printed with Western branding and built specifically for Beerfest.
A step-and-repeat format does something specific at a social event: it turns every photo into branded event content. The repeating Western mark fills the frame behind every group, every couple, every friend pile-up that walks in front of the camera. When those prints go home with guests, the event’s identity travels with them.
The Deliberate Choice for a Simple 2x6 Strip
The print design was a simple white 2x6 strip carrying the Western logo. That simplicity was the point. A more elaborate print template, with heavy overlays or busy graphics, would have competed with both the photography and the Beerfest branding visible on the backdrop. A clean white strip with the Western mark lets the subjects and the step-and-repeat backdrop do the work.
This is a decision worth calling out because it runs against the default. Photo booth activations tend to add visual elements to prints to demonstrate customization. At Western Beerfest, the customization lived in the backdrop, and the print itself was deliberately restrained so the brand and the people in the photo read clearly.
Why the Mustang Lounge Mattered
The Mustang Lounge is on the Western University campus, which made it the natural venue for an event built around Western’s student community. The room is social by design, with the layout and capacity to handle a high-energy crowd, and it set the tone for the kind of activation that made sense: casual, fast-moving, group-oriented.
Print booths work well in that context because the throughput matches the rhythm of the room. Groups walk up, get a quick branded photo, and leave with a finished print while the next group is already forming behind them. Over the course of the evening the booth produced 210 prints without becoming a bottleneck.
Activation by the Numbers
- 210 prints delivered on-site at Western Beerfest
- Custom-printed Western step-and-repeat backdrop built for the event
- Simple white 2x6 print format with Western logo overlay
- Mustang Lounge venue on the Western University campus in London, Ontario
- Branded physical keepsake for every guest who stepped in
Why Prints Work at Campus Social Events
Student and campus audiences are saturated with digital photo output. They take photos of each other constantly, and a digital-only activation has to compete with what they already carry in their pockets. A print is a different category of object. It is physical, it gets pinned to a fridge or a bulletin board, and it carries the event’s brand into a space digital content never reaches.
That is why the print booth, not a digital-only build, was the right format for Western Beerfest. The 210 prints the activation produced are 210 physical artifacts carrying the Western mark and the Beerfest memory into student residences, apartments, and group chats weeks after the event itself.
Book a Similar Activation
Booth Empire provides print photo booth rentals in London, Ontario and across Canada and the United States for campus events, festivals, brand activations, and galas. Activations can include custom step-and-repeat backdrops, branded print overlays, and on-site printing. Contact Booth Empire to scope a print photo booth for your next event, or browse the full case study library.
