Fun Graphic Wallpaper for a Design Company
In one smooth stroke of genius, this interior design moves from minimalist and modern to colorful and creative. Wallpaper in the style of stacked magazines makes the space come alive with a home-made look that is appropriately clever for the office of a company of graphic designers. Crisp, clean, contemporary … and just plain cool.
Placed to divide a conference room as well as a copy and storage space from the main entry and work area, the wallpaper runs from floor to ceiling and wall to wall (except for windows and doors of course) on either side of this central and conceptually pivotal room divider. Designed by Elding Oscarson for Oktavilla, these wallpapers make you want to literally turn the page to walk into the next room.
Simple white ceilings, likewise walls and structural elements combined with wood desks, tables and work stations make the rest of the space seem subtle, stylish and contemporary rather than bare and boring as black-and-white color schemes can be. Abstract in the background, relevant and bold close up, this whole design idea from start to finish is one great graphic illustration of the potential of a single well-chosen designer strategy – what better way to brand your graphic design agency?
“This design bureau for magazines and web is housed in an old textile manufacturing hall in the very center of Stockholm. They loved the naked, lofty and bright spaces, but needed to alter it drastically to make it operable for their business. There was a mezzanine in the space, with a windowless meeting room underneath and an country style kitchen sprawling along the walls, all arranged in what appeared to be an L-shaped space. Our client liked the uninterrupted row of windows, and wanted to keep it that way. Yet a bigger meeting room with windows, an atelier table for informal meetings, and more workstations was on the wish list, along with an entrance lobby and a small kitchen with a dining table.”
“Dividing the space with a wall gives a very bright and large meeting room, as well as a clean rectangular room for the rest of the program. This large space is softly divided with a box containing service functions and a kitchen. By compressing the contents of the box and positioning it very carefully, the program effortlessly falls into place without breaking the impression of a single large room. The purposefully magnetic cladding of galvanized steel picks up the colors of the surroundings in a hazy reflection and further defines the box as an inserted element.”
“By finding the right balance between a very large pane of glass in the wall and a construction method for the wall that makes it feel both temporary and solid, the spatial atmosphere of an uninterrupted row of windows is kept while the rectangular geometries of the rooms are clearly defined. Besides having a literal relevance to the client’s business, the wall made of stacked bundles of magazines is not only a natural conversation piece in its mere irrationality, but also works as an acoustical absorbent.”
