Wolf-Gordon Installations
- Environmental Graphics
- Advertising Strategy
Since 2012, Karlssonwilker has collaborated closely with the design company Wolf-Gordon’s creative team in a series of installations for the NeoCon trade show. We developed large-scale, three-dimensional sculptures that represent the range of the brand's wall-covering and upholstery offerings in a visually striking and unexpected manner. The sculptures became the highlight of Wolf-Gordon's show presence as well as the foundation for its annual campaigns. The ads showed the unfolding of the design process of the installations, allowing the Wolf-Gordon customer to peak behind the curtain at each stage of the development as the project was revealed in real-time throughout the year, evolving from sketches to 3-D renderings, and, once the project was completed and installed, actual photography.
"Karlssonwilker carried through the conceptual strength of the trade show installations into successful ad campaigns. It's become this very beautiful temporal voyage, where we let the customers in on the creative process and the sculptures take on more life."
“Folio” celebrated Wolf-Gordon’s 50th Anniversary via a display of its commercial wallcovering and upholstery partnerships with leading international designers, as well as its monograph "Wolf-Gordon: Sample Book". Arrayed in consistent rows, the sculpture displays each of the book’s 150+ spreads.
Wolf-Gordon’s annual communication campaign centered on the design process of the installations.
The "Excavate" installation was inspired by Wolf-Gordon’s move from Long Island City to Manhattan. It’s an interpretation of the evolution of the office — a cubicle grid erodes into a collaborative lounge-like environment. The grotto and fabric-covered forms around it encourage lounging, sitting, or perching.
The "Slice" installation featured a long screen with thousands of LEDs suspended over an escalator bank. At the bottom of the escalator, passengers could see an image of themselves displayed in the LEDs. As they traveled up the escalator, the image was deconstructed into abstract fields of color.
The 1,300-pound sculpture “Ribbon” was suspended from a gridded truss that was rigged to the building’s massive load-bearing structure. Appearing as an assemblage of sculptural ribbons, it is covered in 144 pieces of wall-covering and upholstery textiles. Twelve individual ribbons wind through the space, twisting and folding, giving show attendees a dynamic visual and spatial experience.
Resembling a twisted spine that gives a sense of movement through color and form, the "Force of Nature" installation is nearly 30’ long and 14’ wide. It showcases 136 of Wolf-Gordon’s products, one on each side. As visitors ascend the escalator, the slats appear above them like an undulating row of fanned-out cards.
The 1,380-pound sculpture "Crystalline" was composed of over 250 sides covered in over 500 yards of various Wolf-Gordon upholstery textiles, mirrors, and wallcoverings.
