Inhabit

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Inhabit

EF Contract Neocon Showroom 2019

EF Contract’s new products and showroom were inspired by the layers of the city. 

“Driven by the people who call it home and visitors alike, the city never sleeps—its layers, new and old, molded by the institutions, the artists, and the innovators. We’re charmed by the city’s grit, that on second glance is beauty.

It’s the taste of a craft brew, the song of a guitar that echoes from a local stage, the peeling posters lining the walls of an alleyway. This is what inspired us to step back and realize—how it’s the collective people inhabiting each city, adding these elements day by day, that slowly build a city’s unique texture, layer upon layer.”

Collaborating with EF Contract’s Susan Curtis, Widgets & Stone designed a simple and striking showroom.

Creative Direction: Paul Rustand; Design Direction and Design: Liz Tapp, Mark Slawson; Writing: Jacob Biba; Photography: Grant Williams; Print production: Adams Litho; Installation and fabrication: Range Projects.

Form + Finish

Form + Finish

J+J Flooring Group 2017 Neocon Showroom

For more than a century, a small studio in Detroit has made clay into ceramic. With careful hands and lightest touch, Pewabic pottery is shaped, thrown and fired. Changing, and then changing again.

But it’s the finish that defines the work: an iconic, iridescent glaze that infuses every piece with striking movement and beautiful fluidity, perfect in its imperfections. 

Earlier this year, J+J’s design team traveled to the studio, where they became part of the process. Intrigued and inspired, they returned home, asking, can a finish become the start of something new?

Guided by inspiration from lead designer Ginger Gilbert of J+J, Widgets & Stone designed the Neocon showroom to feel like a traditional pottery studio. Potter’s marks, aprons, subtle textures and glazes, framed windows, simple tables and stools help set the stage as the flooring designs come to the forefront in the interior design.

Creative Direction: Mandy Lamb; Design: Brad Dicharry, Mandy Lamb, Travis Hitchcock, Paul Rustand, Mark Slawson, Liz Tapp, Virginia Brooks; Writing: Keely Hungate, Adam Haskew.

Here today, gone tomorrow

Here today, gone tomorrow

Mannington Showroom · Neocon 2016

When Mannington approached Widgets & Stone to design not just a showroom, but an experience, for their centennial year at NeoCon 2016 at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, we knew it would be an exciting yet challenging project to tackle.

Widgets & Stone devised a “pop up” showroom that completely transforms between Day 1 and Day 2, from the floor to the ceiling. With careful planning and strategy, a hide and reveal system was employed so that both days of displays could be installed all at once for easy transition. The two different showroom experiences would drive repeat traffic to the showroom both days, as well as maximize the relatively small 2200 square foot space to show the versatility of Mannington’s products.

Day one was an energetic mosaic of color, infused with cultural inspiration from New York, Mexico City, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Chicago, with a distinctly urban feel.  On day two, the same space morphed into an elegant, sophisticated showroom featuring lovely moments drawn from nature–from the grand scale of topography to the intimacy of a blown dandelion. The result was unprecedented traffic in the showroom, greater brand awareness, and happy reps. 

To see more about how we changed the flooring, displays, wall colors, upholstery and more, overnight, watch the video here: https://youtu.be/Pzi_fX0G6e8

Click here to take a virtual tour of the Day One showroom and here for the Day Two Showroom.

Creative Direction: Mandy Meredith; Designers: Mandy Meredith, Liz Tapp, Travis Hitchcock, Mark Slawson, Laura Michael, Stephanie Fast; Fabrication and installation: Range Projects.

The Next Big Thing: A Million Little Things

The Next Big Thing: A Million Little Things

Mannington Showroom Neocon 2014

Widgets & Stone directed the full scale redesign of the Mannington Commercial Showroom in the Merchandise Mart in Chicago for the third year in a row. The designs showcase new products in a visually exciting and memorable way, both on the floor and in wall displays.

This year’s showroom design was based on the theme of the “Next Big Thing” being “A Million Little Things” – so displays took the form of thousands of 2-inch squares (covered with Mannington’s products and colors), each making up a single big image. The STYLIST collection drew inspiration from fashion, so a large image of Debbie Harry (photographed by Steven Meisel) was used. The Connected collection drew inspiration from the Brooklyn Bridge; Design Local used an image of one of the three cities participating, Philadelphia; other displays were simple images or even symbols.

The pixel effect proved quite a delight as viewers in person could not always get far enough away to make out the full image. However, as soon as they took out a phone or a camera to photograph it, the image became immediately visible on the digital display screen.

Design Direction/Art Direction: Mandy Meredith; Designers: Amy Trumbull, Ben Dicks, Kerry O’Connor, Paul Rustand; Fabrication/Design-Build: Range Projects.