CLOSEUP + Personal

ICFF + WantedDesign

October 30, 2020

We miss trade shows! Yep, words seldom said by anyone. But, true. Despite the blood, sweat and tears — and copious amounts of rum (a plus) — that go into getting and staying expo ready, in-person experiences are key ingredients to really getting a feel for the Flavor. Think: color shifts, scale, special effects, texture, content, vibe, three dimensionality, etc…it all plays a part in our wild wallcovering world. Alas, 2020. Fortunately for the design industry, our friends behind ICFF and WantedDesign (both of which were cancelled due to the times) teamed up to create CLOSEUP, a two-day TV show style event broadcast from Brooklyn's Industry City for the A+D community with product presentations and panels…and our Vortex wallpaper as the mainstage feature.

Created in collab with French artist, Ara Starck, Vortex is an immersive room scale painting with tremendous depth. It’s also one of our most complex designs, both in process and effect, and takes inspiration from the dynamic, fluid nature of a vortex. Given it’s hypnotizing atmospheric aesthetic and that these swirling masses are designed pull things together, CLOSEUP set designer Kristen Cochran gravitated towards the mural immediately to add elegance and energy to the industrial studio. Mission and vision accomplished!

While we’re jonesing for trade events to return in 2021, we were thrilled to partner and impressed by the team for doing digital right, and right out of the gate! Special shout out to media sponsors Hospitality Design, Dwell, Design Milk, and Clever, too. Crushed it!    

Photo love goes to Sandrine Charvet.  You can catch Vortex and the programming in action below.  

Filed under: Videos, Custom Work, Press, Our Events, Neighborhood