LinkedIn NY: Empire State Building

Brief: LinkedIn located inside the Empire State Building is currently undergoing updates on several of their floors. Each floor is themed celebrating different facets of NY that makes the New York it was and is today. The pieces I was able to design each have a specific brief and range from signage to EGD to even a hanging piece.

Roles: Designer

Programs used: Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop

Design Lead: Sean Williams

 
 
 
 

Ten Eleven Eight Skybar

Brief: The “10118 Skybar” is an exclusive lounge in the Empire state building, belonging to LinkedIn. Signage for it needs to feel elegant and reminiscent of the Art Deco, giving awareness to the building it’s in.

Here we have a full design process from sketches to presented concepts and mockup of the chosen Option 1. The client really gravitated towards the hidden detail that was incorporated into the design via the piece’s borders (10118 numbers in a repeating Art Deco pattern).

The piece will ultimately be closer to the solid rectangular sketch in gold with the simplified design in Option 1 incorporated. The piece has been approved and is currently in fabrication to be installed.

 
 

Vintage Ads

Brief: A series of posters that communicate the impact that LinkedIn has had in the professional world. Posters will live on the 14th floor, themed: opportunity (an homage to the golden age of the ad, print, publishing, and newspaper era).

This series is composed of Ads reminiscent of the graphic style that illustrations were done in old newspapers. Images are put in context with the playful use of typography seen above each image talking about LinkedIn’s contributions to the professional world.

 
 
 

Craft: Tattoos

Brief: To create drawings in the “American Traditional” tattoo drawing style with imagery that celebrates NY incorporated with drawings that talk about LinkedIn.

Throughout the different drawings, we see NY iconography everywhere like the Statue of Liberty, a pizza slice, and the Empire State Building along with imagery and phrases that talk about LinkedIn. Some of this imagery include the InBug hidden behind roses, the crystal ball bringing good news, and the hidden “in”s in the moth’s wings.

These drawings were done in collaboration with another artist to incorporate into the final graphic installed as a large wall piece, seen below.

 
 

Quilt Story

Brief: Create a hanging piece that spans the 16th, 15th, and 14th stairway through a fabric materiality.

Both options presented talk about the themes assigned to each floor in 3 sections:

  • 14th floor: opportunity- iconic newspaper ads

  • 15th floor: craft- sewing/ fabric district

  • 16th floor: diversity- people/ cultures of NY

Both options have a gradual gradient that intensifies as one ascends from the 14th to the 16th floor. One celebrates color saturation while the other intensifies in contrast. This gives the client two very different visuals to choose from: one more fun, bold, and playful while the other is more subtle, subdued and sophisticated. Both showcase hidden “in”s for the viewer to try and find as they walk up and around the piece.

 

Elevator Bays: Icon Story

Brief: Elevator bays on the 14th and 15th floor have wall space that is quite large. The space needs graphics that can give it a little more interest.

The approach we went with was an all over wallpaper graphic with a repeating pattern. Illustrations within each piece talks about interesting facts associated with the city and hidden details about the organization itself. From the year LinkedIn was established to the years indicating when the garment district provided uniforms for the Union during the civil war, with each element, there is a story to see.

 
 

Conference Room Graphics: Which Way

There are several conference rooms throughout the LinkedIn floors within the Empire State building. This graphic is part of a series that talks about the different parts of Central Park in a meaningful way.

This simplified graphic of a cross street just outside Central Park talks about the different paths we can all have during our career journey; a process that LinkedIn has helped make a lot simpler.

The drawings display different stages of the design process from line drawing/ sketch to an illustration and finally a second edited and simplified version of that illustration, giving the client options to choose from.