Theatre Row Supergraphic

As a part of their renovation of Theatre Row’s five-story complex, Architecture Outfit asked Flyleaf Creative to develop a supergraphic to wrap the building’s prominent staircase.

Inspired by the organization’s geometric logo and the natural angles of the space, I conceptualized, designed, prototyped, and coordinated production of a large-scale mural. The design responds to the movement of the staircase, following its ascent and becoming more complex with each level climbed. Wayfinding nests neatly inside the design, guiding viewers up (or down) to their destination.

What I did:

  • Environmental Design

Who I worked with:

  • Flyleaf Creative (Agency)
  • Theatre Row (Client)
  • Architecture Outfit (Architect)
  • MG Imaging (Production & Installation)
A staircase with walls wrapped in a bold, black and white striped design.

5 stories is a lot of space to fill. To help Theatre Row begin to envision how they might best utilize it, I prepared three mood boards with sample supergraphics.

A collage of mood boards with images of murals and environmental graphics.

The "Dynamic" concept was the clear favorite, and the bold, graphic stripes inspired a few of my initial sketches.

Through rounds of iteration and mockups, we arrived at a concept that combines a full-length main wall with bands that run in parallel to the staircase.

A five-story mural design is shown on an architect's diagram of the space

This seamless design concept meant that the design needed to be incredibly precise: any inaccuracies in the five stories of height would mean cascading misalignment, and a disaster upon install. Over countless site visits, I carefully measured every inch (and angle) of the space.

A collage of drawings of a staircase with detailed, handwritten measurements.

As I worked on the final designs, I also made several prototypes to test questions we had: What width of stripe would feel too small? How would the design look against the stairs, and with the lighting? Would the vinyl material stick to the wall? Would the wayfinding be readable from the lobby?

Collage of the prototyping process. In the first photo, a man holds up two pieces of paper with different stripe widths against a wall. In the second, two people tape together large printed plots to make a mockup of a large design. In the third, the paper mockup is hung in an illuminated staircase.

With those details settled, I prepped the final design files (over 30!) for production, and created an annotated schematic to help the team on install day.

A red bench with a large printed page resting on it. The page includes a detailed diagram of a design for a five-story mural.
Collage the mural installation process. In the first photo, two men look up an open staircase as another man installs large sheets of vinyl. In the second, two men are seen from above as they place vinyl sheets on a wall. In the third, two men are holding up and placing a large place of vinyl that has printed wayfinding.

The careful measuring paid off, and the install went up without any problems.

White railing along a staircase contrasts with a bold black and white striped design, creating an almost psychedelic visual effect.
A white staircase railing against a bold black striped design.
A staircase with a black and white striped design that includes wayfinding for a five-story building.
A corner that has a black-and-white striped design wrapped around it.

The design won a Silver Indigo Design Award in 2022...

The principle wayfinding graphic in the Theatre Row building. Over the photo is an Indigo Design Awards 2022 Silver Winner badge.

... and continues to be a defining feature of the Theatre Row space. (Thanks to @pringpoductions and @natalie_newyork for letting me include their posts!)