Projection on Buildings from NuFormer Digital Media on Vimeo.

Thought we'd start with this video right at the top. It's a mind-blowingly impressive taster of what a handful of graphic design enthusiasts, advanced 3D mapping software and a big ol' set of projectors can do after dark. It appears that European designers who have been honing their skills in this kind of production have kicked off a new trend in PR stunt spectacles.

The creations above are the work of NuFormer Digital Media, a Dutch design studio which has entertained commissions from the likes of weighty car firm Volvo. In fact, their building projections for said auto giant were equally crowd-pleasing and to be noted for also being a collaborative effort with PR dab-hands Saatchi & Saatchi. These kind of displays have been around for a little while now, and the concept of 3D mapping has been around even longer, but in the past two years or so, projection artists have been experimenting with the technology and coming up with new, particularly eye-goggling light shows that have got the internet talking.

Collectives like EasyWeb, a French group of graphic artists, helped to develop the popularity of the format and have been putting on increasingly intricate public projection displays for the past five or six years. A collection of videos showcasing their work is available via their website, and you can clearly see the evolution of the medium towards its epic present-day standards.

And the best example of this stuff we've seen comes from a German design group called Urbanscreen. Their most widely talked about video is a joy to watch and no mistake. But where does the transition from art to advertising come into all this?

Realising the business potential of 3D projections, NuFormer set up a website in order to promote the animated designs to clients. A spokesperson for the company explained that NuFormer is one of the first to turn building projections into a viable marketing product on a grand scale.

"We thought it was a really exciting thing to do, to combine design with the existing architectural elements of a building and communicate in a new and distinctive way."

She explains that, since the popularity of videos of the group's work has boomed online, the company has been swamped with requests for similar projects from new clients. "We get about five requests a day, actually" she says.

PR loves spectacle, and building projections like the ones created by NuFormer have benefitted from public interest in the live events (which often run for a number of days at specified times in special locations) but it has largely been the viral dissemination of the project videos which have accrued no small amount of interweb cool.

If you want to check out NuFormer's next piece of live public projection wizardy, we suggest you head over to the Copenhagen Climate Summit which starts on the 8th December. The NuFormer spokesperson we spoke to said, "That's where our next projection will be. I can't say anything more about it yet, but it's one to look out for." Tantalising stuff, no?