The Challenge

Showcase Our Services — and Entice Trade Show Guests to Take a Hygge Break

Both an interior design competition and a secondary showcase for manufacturers to exhibit their products, these lounges at the BDWest and BDNY Trade Fairs provide an opportunity to make an impression on hospitality industry decision-makers.

I collaborated with a team of interior designers and suppliers — art and lighting consultants, makers of wall coverings, casegoods, carpet, and more — to create a pop-up lounge that would capture the attention of judges and conference attendees alike.

The Approach

Naming & Copy

For a lounge that highlighted transitions — day-to-night and indoor-to-outdoor — in a contemporary Scandinavian style, the name needed to evoke airiness, nature, and Nordic nations’ signature attitude toward savoring a good drink — without being hard to pronounce.

The word altitude conjures deep fjords overlooked by high cliffs covered with towering, old-growth forests. Styling it with a double “a” is a nod to famous Nordic designers like Alvar Aalto and Eero Saarinen — a readily understood reference for an audience of professionals trading in the design of furniture and interiors. 

Welcome to a Scandinavian-inspired space of contrasts — where indoor meets outdoor, and daytime fades into dusk as you raise a glass with friends. Skål!

The bright indoor bar transitions to a shaded patio terrace — where an unmissable selfie op awaits on a custom chaise among the Nordic pines.

As evening arrives and creates invitingly dim corners under the pergola, artwork transforms from wild woodlands to the majestic aurora. Visit at 2:30 PM to witness the scenery transition from a sunbathed thicket to an ethereal evening on the fjord.

Complementing the Lounge’s Design

The boldly patterned space required a brand that also felt fresh and bold without blending into the (literal) scenery. I selected a mid-weight sans serif for signage to ensure its legibility over artwork that was still not finalized. To play up the light, airiness of the brand, I utilized pastel tones found in carpets and upholstery, but skipped bolder jewel tones that would add visual weight. As a contrast to the bolder patterns in the space — like the color-blocked carpet and lattice-inspired graphic patterns — I opted for an abstract watercolor motif that allowed for variation, but as a light-handed motif, didn’t compete for attention in space already lush with visual interest.

I collaborated with the lounge’s suppliers to develop a variety of signage options that would seamlessly integrate into the lounge’s design — rather than feeling tacked on — like raised lettering on a clear panel behind the lounge’s popular Instagram spot.

The lounge’s interior designers chose updated spins on classic Scandinavian furniture for an exuberant and contemporary mood. This inspired my approach to typography,  pairing a simple word mark and body copy — in a mid-century-inspired sans serif — with a more expressive serif for headlines.

I utilized existing alternate characters and drew my own custom ligatures to give headline copy a tailor-made appearance.

Our work wrapped up shortly before The Oxford Dictionaries declared “hygge” a finalist for their 2016 Word of the Year — so the idea of hygge was on trend… but its pronunciation was still a struggle. We playfully helped guests learn the meaning and pronunciation of several Nordic terms (that we would be so lucky to have words for in English).

Color-matched to carpet swatches, the pastel palette is employed in a bolder fashion on pieces that would be carried outside of the lounge on the trade fair floor — like drink tickets to draw VIPs to the lounge.

To pull the brand concept through into the lounge’s flavors, I researched and recommended a variety of Nordic food and beverage options that would work well for a small bar that needed to serve quickly and efficiently. I was thrilled when many of my ideas made the cut — from a Malmö Mule to mocktail flavored with elderflower syrup.

In a space brimming with bold jewel tones and energetic patterns, airy layouts that embraced white space helped draw the eye to signage and menus.