Ferris Wheel, Ocean City, NJ
Here's something funny. Ferris Wheels are named after the guy who inv3ented them and not because they are made out of Metal(Ferris=Iron). About a year out of Art School I designed Ferris Wheel to be built inside a casino. It was about 40 feet high and actually worked! I completely forgot about that until I looked at this picture I took. Now I think back at how crazy it is to have a graphic designer do the intial drawings...the CAD guy who made the plans didnt change any of the dimensions or anything, he just figured out the materials, bolts, and engine...kinda funny!
Actually there's more funny things I've done for Casinos. I designed a 2 Story Tall Slot Machine that was built inside the Tropicana, and was probably there 10 years before they took it down...it actually worked.
One of the most popular things I did was design an enourmous Safe...10'x10x 15'. It was for some 'Break the Bank' promotion. The safe was made entirely out Plexiglass with huge brass bolts and lights all over it. The doo was Steel and had a huge metal wheel as a handle. What was cool was it was Filled with $100 Bills. Actually it looked like it was. It was a huge plywood box with stacks of dollarsized pieces of paper wrapped and stacked around and over it. Only the top piece of paper was an actual $100 Bill.
They hired an actor (usualy a weight lifter) to stand in front in a Security Uniform like he was guarding it. The deal was you brought your 'break the bank' postcard with you and gave it to the security guard. He'd punch the number into a typepad and tell you if you won the Million.
I used to walk through the casino floo at lunch and people were alway mobbed around the safe. It really looked like it was full of real money. I was even drawn to it, and I knew the secret! It was supposed to be a summer promotion but they wound up keeping it for about 2 years.
Actually there's more funny things I've done for Casinos. I designed a 2 Story Tall Slot Machine that was built inside the Tropicana, and was probably there 10 years before they took it down...it actually worked.
One of the most popular things I did was design an enourmous Safe...10'x10x 15'. It was for some 'Break the Bank' promotion. The safe was made entirely out Plexiglass with huge brass bolts and lights all over it. The doo was Steel and had a huge metal wheel as a handle. What was cool was it was Filled with $100 Bills. Actually it looked like it was. It was a huge plywood box with stacks of dollarsized pieces of paper wrapped and stacked around and over it. Only the top piece of paper was an actual $100 Bill.
They hired an actor (usualy a weight lifter) to stand in front in a Security Uniform like he was guarding it. The deal was you brought your 'break the bank' postcard with you and gave it to the security guard. He'd punch the number into a typepad and tell you if you won the Million.
I used to walk through the casino floo at lunch and people were alway mobbed around the safe. It really looked like it was full of real money. I was even drawn to it, and I knew the secret! It was supposed to be a summer promotion but they wound up keeping it for about 2 years.
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