The exit sign can't be moved.
As part of the final push to finish Ace Hotel New York, we were hired to help with wayfinding signage, art moments, and to help tie up various loose ends with the branding and collateral.
The solution for this particular installation was proving to be tricky—it was at the end of a long, dark hallway that was mainly used by the SRO tenants (not the hotel guests), and it had an exit sign stuck right in the middle of the wall.
What are supposed to do with that?
EMBRACE THE EXIT SIGN.
(duh.)
We tried lots of things. Like, what if we got tons of exit signs and filled the entire wall?
TOO EXPENSIVE.
(and not quite right.)
After several other failed attempts, we finally landed on something that seemed to work: a type-driven installation that used the exit sign as part of the piece.
The quote we used was from Tom Stoppard. We liked it because it felt right at home with a lot of the other positive statements that we had written for Ace over the years.
The finished piece has become one of the most loved (and consistently photographed) pieces in the entire hotel.
- Concepting
- Art Direction
Johnne Eschleman
Installation & execution
After working on the Ace properties in Portland, Seattle, NYC and Palm Springs, we have a lot of work to show. Everything from the letterhead to the signage, and from the blankets to the printed collateral.
We have updated our site with slide shows of our other work here.