Slush FIN

The world’s most founder-focused startup event

Client since 2009

Slush is the world’s leading startup event, held every year in Helsinki. Sun Effects is the design and production company behind Slush, designing the event and producing it from scratch.

Design scope

End-to-end design · Full production · Main event & official side events · On-site Supervision

Design objectives

Slush’s motto is “never settle”. Every edition aims to reinvent the event’s look and feel without compromising its distinctive identity. We work to protect the feeling that Slush is not like any other tech event.

Sun Effects design concept

A startup conference that feels closer to a rave than a traditional tech event.

Sun Effects has designed and produced Slush since its beginning in 2009. Over the years, we have created stages featuring lasers and projection mapping, as well as spaces built from wood and sauna stones. We have designed decorative installations ranging from building-sized waterfalls to environments made with several tonnes of sand, and developed systems supporting more than 25,000 individual meetings every year.

Most importantly, we have helped Slush grow to its current scale without compromising its distinctive visual identity.

The main event and official side events are built around an annual theme set by Slush, which Sun Effects transforms into a comprehensive design concept. The process begins in January and continues until the doors open in November.

Client Slush Country Finland Attendees 13,500 Venue Messukeskus, Helsinki Venue Area 42,500 m² (457,466 ft²)

Slush main stage with purple laser beams and two large screens, above a crowd in the darkened arena
Large ‘SLUSH’ logo on a dark wall beside a reflective water feature and mist installation
Slush stage and crowd bathed in radiating golden beam lighting across the hall
Indoor garden lounge at Slush with hanging plants, warm string lights and white pavilions where attendees sit on a green floor
Slush stage flanked by walls of small screens forming a grid of images, with rows of empty seats in front
Illuminated green ‘SLUSH’ sign built from stacked screens, with attendees mingling in front
Slush stage under a large circular halo light, with speakers seated among bundles of leeks and plants radiating across the stage
Mirror balls hanging above a caged meeting lounge at Slush, with attendees seated at tables in teal light
Large ‘SLUSH’ sign on a textured tiled wall above an industrial staircase, with attendees mingling below
Blue-lit Slush stage with geometric beam lighting and parasol decor, a speaker on stage and screens above the crowd
Single speaker on a small round Slush stage beneath a canopy of hanging lantern lights in a dark hall
Corridor lined with pink neon light strips forming a glowing tunnel at Slush, with a reflective floor
Slush networking hall lit with blue linear light bars and a hanging cube screen above the crowd
Attendees networking under purple lighting and a tall light column at Slush
Cluster of white linear light tubes suspended as a sculpture in a dark industrial hall at Slush
Large faceted sphere structure lit with pink beams as a stage centrepiece at Slush, with a crowd in front
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