2016 Knoll Modern Always Campaign Wins HOW International Design Award

The 2016 additions to the ongoing Knoll Modern Always publicity campaign were honored with an International Design Award from HOW Design, an online and print publication for the graphic design community founded in 1985. The advertisements will appear in the Spring 2017 edition of HOW. In addition, the Modern Always campaign is in consideration for inclusion in the Graphis 2017 Advertising Annual.

Shot by Brooklyn-based photographer Ilan Rubin and developed in collaboration with Chicago-based creative agency 50,000feet, the Knoll Modern Always campaign puts elements of classic Knoll graphic design to a contemporary beat. Carefully composed photographs of furniture hark back to the 1950s-era collages of photographer Herbert Matter, while the copy, set in neatly kerned Helvetica, nods to the lasting influence of designer Massimo Vignelli.

This year, the campaign grew to include advertisements for a number of recently introduced products—the Prism Lounge Collection by architect David Adjaye, the Bertoia Collection in two-tone color combinations, and the reintroduced Womb Settee, first designed by modernist Eero Saarinen in 1948.

Appearing in leading art and design publications including Artforum, Wallpaper*, and Architectural Digest, the advertisements bring the best of classic and contemporary Knoll design to an international audience. "Together, they represent significant contributions from architecture’s leading figures and create a compelling juxtaposition, with Saarinen’s work employing organic shapes in contrast to Adjaye's recognizable geometry," wrote 50,000feet on their website. "Both, however, exude a grace that tells the Knoll story in equal measure."