This water-charged advertisement combines two of the things Seattle is perhaps best known for: rain and music.

Using stencils and a superhydrophobic, industrial strength waterproofing paint called NeverWet, advertising agency Publicis sprayed messages advertising Bumbleshoot – Seattle’s 2014 International Music Concert – onto sidewalks around the city. When dry, the NeverWet painted messages are practically invisible. But when it rains, which in Seattle is of course often, messages advertising the festival appear throughout the city. Watch the video here.

When water beads up on a surface, it is called hydrophobic surface. When the contact angle between a water droplet and a surface is more than 150 degrees, the surface is considered to be superhydrophobic. This is also known as the ‘Lotus Effect,’ referring to the way water is efficiently shed off the leaves of the tropical rainforest Lotus plant. Superhydrophobic paints and coatings such as NeverWet mimic this phenomenon as water beads up into a near perfect spheres when it comes into contact with a superhydrophobic material and then easily rolls away. For wet cities like Seattle, super-waterproofing materials are a natural fit, although to date the durability of superhydrophics and their cost have prevented their more widespread use.

Nevertheless, emerging materials such as NeverWet are continually developing more affordable superhydrophobic coatings that in this instance, also happen to have additional benefits including self-cleaning, anti-icing and anti-corrosive properties.

Using environmental phenomena is a great way to make designs come alive. Take a look at some other rain and water activated materials in our catalogue, such as Rain Change Concrete.