Summer Fun Day 2023: Neiger Tiger's Day Off

Every summer, we plan a full day of surprises and learning to celebrate our creativity and community at NeigerDesign. This year’s Summer Fun Day was centered around the theme “Neiger Tiger’s Day Off” – a spin-off of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and a celebration of famous films made in Chicago. Here’s what we did: 

A few days before SFD, we were visited by Gretchen Brown, a Chicago Location Scout Manager since 1984. Gretchen gave us the rundown of how she got started as a location scout, as well as her day-to-day tasks and processes. She got to work on some pretty cool movies, including Ferris Bueller's Day Off. With a better appreciation for movie-making, we tested our knowledge of famous Chicago films with a quiz. 

We received our movie poster t-shirts featuring Neiger Tiger riding in front of the Chicago skyline in the Blues Mobile from The Blues Brothers. Can you spot the rest of the movie references?

When SFD finally arrived, we traveled to the city for breakfast at a spot featured in Chicago PD, The Chi, and Electric Dreams—Lou Mitchell’s, a family diner and Chicago staple since 1923. One hundred years later and the food is still delicious.

After breakfast, we journeyed to Millennium Park to present our blogs. In preparation for SFD, everyone prepared a blog post related to marketing, design, or a mix of both. After all, a fundamental tenet of SFD is learning and discussing ways to elevate our work. Here are some of the topics you can look forward to reading: 

• The Importance of Discovery Testing
• How has History Impacted Design Trends?
• Theater of the Absurd: A Design Agency Owner’s Ruminations on the Post-Pandemic Workplace
• Using Social Media to Appeal to Your Audience's Emotions
• What Fairy Princesses Can Do for Your Design and Marketing Strategy: Supercharging Your User Experience by Designing for Play
• 5 Tips for getting more impact into (and out of) your annual report. A guide for nonprofits, associations, and foundations looking to connect with their community and audiences.
• The Importance of Sustainable Web Development and Design

Since we were in the area, we took a quick trip to the Bean, our first significant art viewing of the day.

Once we captured the perfect Bean selfie, we walked to the Chicago Cultural Center to kick off our movie tour. We were met with enthusiasm by our amazing guide, Kelli Marshall, who truly knew everything there is to know about Chicago's culture and film. She took us through multiple sites of famous movies, including The Untouchables, Batman: The Dark Knight, City That Never Sleeps, The Blues Brothers, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

We took pictures of Chicago's iconic art pieces, Calder's Flamingo, Chagall's Four Seasons, and Chicago's Picasso in Daly Plaza, all featured in Ferris Buehler's Day Off. (If you are interested in booking this tour, visit Chicago Movie Tours, and make sure to ask for Kelli!) 

Hungry from walking the city streets, our team stopped at The Berghoff, featured in The Dark Knight, to enjoy a delicious lunch and present the rest of our blogs.

We couldn’t complete our day of movie magic without a self-guided tour through the Wizarding World. 

Harry Potter: Magic at Play was a success, and after hours of walking and posing for pictures, it was time for a sweet treat. To end the day, we visited The Original Rainbow Cone. Even Neiger Tiger stopped by.

SFD 2023 was unforgettable. We can't wait to see what next year brings!