Scout with the IIDA Creative Excellence Award in Showroom Design

Scout Branding was just honored by the International Interior Design Association with a Creative Excellence Award for Small Showroom Design at NeoCon, the largest design exposition and conference for commercial interiors in North America. Considering that designers from all over the world compete to create the most inspiring design experience in over 700 showrooms, being singled out for this recognition is a huge achievement.

I thought it would be interesting to show our original presentation to Mannington compared to photography of the finished project. There are so many factors that can intervene with the initial concept and vision for a large project like this- budget, technical limitations, and building team consensus just to name a few. But with careful planning, attention to detail, and teamwork with the client, you will see that the transformation from concept to reality was seamless.

Starting with the overall view you will notice the drama of gunmetal walls and rich hardwood floors (Mannington Commercial’s new offering called Earthly Elements) contrasted with gleaming white lacquer displays and the brightly colored large scale patterns of the Sylvan and Monarch collections in front. The technique we employed was simple-create a visual focus on the flooring products and elegant displays by framing everything with dark tones. This allowed a unified and cohesive look to the space while drawing in the viewer with high-contrast lighting.

You will see here the concept vs. execution of several of the specific product displays. With the help of some amazing vendors we were able to make these displays come to life. The branches were transformed from our drawings into high density foam sculptures covered in white lacquer. The nest was woven here at Scout from samples of Mannington’s Sylvan Collection, and real ostrich eggs proved to be the right scale for it’s interior.

In the environmental display, arrows fabricated from different post-consumer materials products create a simple explanation of Mannington’s commitment to redirecting landfill-bound products into new flooring.

Thanks to Mannington and our whole team of vendors for working together to steal the show! You will see the showroom featured in Interior Design’s Show Daily, the IIDA website, and an upcoming feature in Contract Magazine.

That was my experience until I met Rusty, a yellow lab who spends his time with his owner Karen Cunningham serving as an animal-assisted therapy team for Hand-In-Paw. Here at Scout we have been designing all of the promotional materials for Hand-In-Paw’s Picasso Pets, and little did Rusty know that his mug was destined to appear all over Birmingham. He did exactly as he was told, patiently, and thoughtfully, all for little more than a few milkbones for pay. Within twenty minutes he had looked straight into the camera with his nose and paws bright blue, giving the photographer the exact endearing, loving-life look I envisioned.

Picasso Pets is a unique event that benefits Hand-In-Paw, a local animal-assisted therapy organization. Hand-In-Paw’s certified therapy teams visit local hospitals, nursing homes, and schools where they do everything from help children with developmental disabilities learn to walk, provide a listening ear to those learning how to read, or simply provide companionship. At Picasso Pets the animals “paint” with their paws and then an accomplished artist incorporates the animal’s marks into a final painting, which is then auctioned to support the program. This auction raises a substantial portion of the yearly budget for Hand-In-Paw, so the success of the promotional items to drive potential patrons to the auction is paramount. Scout is proud to donate our services to making this year’s Picasso Pets a success. And now we know that the exception to the art director’s maxim is a dog named Rusty.