Neocon 2018

Surface Design

2018

THE CLIENT–

NeoCon is the world’s leading event in the commercial contract industry. Every year, hundreds of brands get together at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago to showcase their newest and most notable developments in products, resources, and tools. Steelcase owns four different showroom spaces at The Mart, each of them devoted to a different sub-brand or market, and every year they get a complete remodel to be unveiled during the event.

THE OBJETIVE–

2018 was the year of partnerships for Steelcase. More than 20 companies joined the Steelcase family of brands and exponentially expanded the product portfolio. The main objective of the remodeled showrooms would be showcasing all those products in the most cohesive and inspiring way possible. My team was tasked with creating the supplementary graphics that would help each space come together.

THE SOLUTION–

Using bespoke patterns on upholstery, wallpapers, floor tiles, digital and analog artwork, we told the story of each of the spaces. Part of the process involved defining themes for every application (like imagination, biophilia, science, among others) and ensuring those worked together with the sales story. We worked not only with our own internal capabilities but involved illustrators and artists to create a robust set on graphics that could be applied to almost any surface in a space. Some visuals were utilitarian: they could represent notetaking on a whiteboard or work being done on a computer, while others were merely decorative and told a more abstract story of each space.

Photography by Jeremy Frechette.

This showroom won IIDA's and Contract Magazine's "Best of Show"

and "Best Large Showroom" awards at Neocon 2018.