
- Award
- Gold
- Design Firm
- Ralph Appelbaum Associates
- Client
- Eaton
- Designer
- Ralph Appelbaum Associates
- Category
- Exhibit
- Country
- United States of America
- United States
- Award
- Gold
- Design Firm
- Ralph Appelbaum Associates
- Client
- Eaton
- Designer
- Ralph Appelbaum Associates
- Category
- Exhibit
- Country
- United States of America
- United States
- Title
- Eaton Experience Center
- Photographer
- Chuck Choi
- Project Manager
- Walter Froetscher
- Writer & Content Developer
- Darla Decker
- Senior Producer
- Lilly Preston
- Senior Developer
- Michael Neault
- Alex Nguyen
- Senior Designer
- Walter Froetscher
- Project Director
- Tim Ventimiglia
- Project Coordinator
- Carlin Wragg
- Lead Designer
- Tim Ventimiglia
- Interactive Designer
- Nina Boesch
- Graphic Designers
- Mia Beurskens
- Michael Schnepf
- Robert Homack
- Exhibition Designer
- Katherine Kline
- Executive Producer
- Alex Vlack
- Content Coordinator
- Heather Christian Smith
- Animator
- Andrew Papa
- Jamie Boud
Assignment
Eaton Experience Center is a large-scale immersive multimedia installation integrated into the main atrium space of Eaton Center. The EEC was created to help communicate Eaton's values and strengths to employees; customers; suppliers; business partners; media; and government and civic leaders and to provide a communal space for employee and talent acquisition events.
The installation consists of an Entry Gallery with large-scale lenticular graphics, an atrium space with an 80 foot long LED mesh Curtain that features abstract or natural landscapes and data visualizations, a brilliant 53-foot LED Chandelier suspended from the ceiling, an immersive soundscape, and four large interactive multi-touch screens.
Approach
A primary challenge for communicating Eaton's story was that most of the company's products and services are embedded in their customers’ products, and are largely invisible to the eye. With four major lines of business – Electrical, Hydraulics, Aerospace and Vehicle -- many Eaton customers and employees did not understand the breadth or depth of the company’s offerings. Eaton wanted to spur innovation in their employees, and inform them in a unified way of the megatrends that impact business and daily life. Megatrends are global changes in our economies and our lifestyles. They impact the way we live and do business today and will continue to do so in the coming decades. Understanding megatrends gives Eaton employees an edge in getting to the root of their customers’ needs.
The design solutions varied based on the purpose assigned to each area. Our design solution for the Entry Gallery was to use large-scale lenticular graphics that showcase Eaton solutions - letting them visibly emerge through an analogue interactive. Our design solution for the atrium included various digital media surfaces. Digital animations produced for the Chandelier and Curtain explained -- mostly without words -- Eaton's various markets and solutions, while the four touch-screen media tables introduced world trends and needs that indicate future growth areas for power management. As specific technologies and solutions change rapidly, it was important to keep the content at a very high level and speak to overarching themes and trends in a way that is accessible, engaging, visionary, and at times even poetic.
Results
Although the majority of users are Eaton employees, Eaton Center hosts visitors on a daily basis. The design served to inspire and inform both employees and visitors of the importance of Eaton’s activities on a daily basis. As Eaton CEO Sandy Cutler described, shortly after the grand opening, "Every morning when I drive up Eaton Boulevard and make the graceful turn into our entrance, I see the power of Eaton – our values and our culture visually playing out in this site… the bright pulsing blue emanating from our Customer Experience Center and Chandelier – the veritable power that comes from our customers that energizes our entire company."
Contact Information
- Company Name
- Ralph Appelbaum Associates
- caseylynn@raai.com
- Website
- raai.com
- Address
- New York, NY
US