Helaba at the Future Summit: seven stencil layers per letter

For Helaba at the Future Summit 2026 in Frankfurt, an artwork went up across five canvases. Passers-by spontaneously painted the background, and on top of it came the HELABA lettering in balloon letters with a three-dimensional look. The pieces were then hung in the atrium.

The brief

A summit runs a packed programme, and nobody has a workshop slot in their calendar. Anyone who wants something creative there has to build it so that joining costs nothing: no sign-up, no fixed time, no sense of obligation.

At the same time, the end result couldn't be a craft project — it had to be an artwork that could hold its own in the atrium of a conference. Two demands that usually conflict: open to everyone, and still precise enough for a brand surface.

How it went

We split the task into two layers. First, the background went up across five canvases as walk-in Action Painting: anyone passing by who felt like it joined in, no sign-up and no prior experience needed.

On top came the HELABA lettering, done as balloon letters with a three-dimensional look. Each letter was built from seven parts, sprayed one after another over small stencils. Only this layering creates the depth that a single stencil never can. The letters were sprayed together once the background was finished.

The result

The five canvases were hung in the atrium using a scissor lift. On top of the images came the sprayed message MITEINANDER MEHR MÖGLICH MACHEN ("achieve more together").

For you as the planner, the hanging is the real trick. An artwork that gets carted off after the event becomes a keepsake. An artwork that's already on the wall during the event becomes the backdrop for everything that happens in the room afterwards, including every photo anyone takes at the summit. The effort for that is one line in the schedule and a lifting platform, nothing more.

Frequently asked questions about this project

How do you create a 3D effect with spray cans?

Through layering, not through a single stencil. For the Helaba artwork at the Future Summit, each letter of the lettering was built from seven parts, sprayed one after another over small stencils. Only these seven layers produce the depth of the balloon letters.

That also explains why lettering like this takes longer than it looks. A flat stencil is done in minutes; a three-dimensional form needs seven clean passes per letter in the right order, because each layer sits on top of the last. For your planning, that means: brand lettering at this quality is its own block of work in the schedule, not a side product of the afternoon. At Helaba it therefore ran only once the background stood on all five canvases, and was then sprayed together.

What is a walk-in format at a trade fair?

One where nobody signs up and everyone can still join. At the Future Summit, passers-by spontaneously painted the background of the five Helaba canvases, with no slot in the programme and no prior experience.

The difference from a hands-on station with individual surfaces is in the result. Someone who gets their own small surface takes their own piece home. Someone who works on a shared canvas leaves behind a share of something bigger than themselves. In practice, all you need is one thing: a surface along the walkway where people can stop without blocking traffic. For Action Painting we plan groups from 15 to 500 people, indoors or outdoors.

Can the finished piece stay hanging at the client's site permanently?

At Helaba it was already hanging during the event. The five canvases were hung in the Future Summit atrium via scissor lift, topped off with the sprayed message MITEINANDER MEHR MÖGLICH MACHEN over the images.

That's different from hanging a piece in an office after the event. In the event space itself, it becomes the backdrop for the rest of the event: for conversations, for stage sets, for every photo anyone takes at the summit. If you want something like this, clarify two things with the venue in advance: whether hanging is allowed, and whether a lifting platform is allowed on the surface.