Abn Amro

— Award winning project: GOLD European Design Award 2019 —

In the Netherlands, buildings are responsible for 40% of the country’s total carbon emissions. ABN AMRO finances about 10% of the countries real estate. This means they have the opportunity to drastically reduce their carbon footprint. That’s why they set a goal for 2030: ensure all homes and offices they help finance have an average energy label A. They call it “Mission 2030” and want to share this mission with the world. They asked Brandbase to help design a unique experience during the ABN AMRO Wold Tennis Tournament. They in turn approached Artbox with the idea to create a laser-cut light installation because if you have an amazing story to tell the world you don’t just want to talk about it. You want to show it.

Artbox asked me to create the illustrations for this installation, showing the goals and solutions that Mission 2030 has to offer. These illustrations would be turned into a lampshade that would create a spectacular display of light and shadow on the walls. Visitors would wear headphones and listen to an explanation of the 2030 mission while walking around inside the installation.

The lampshade has seven sides and would be shaped like the house that surrounded it. Every side visualizes multiple stories about sustainable problems and their solutions. Since the illustrations would be lasercut out of wood I couldn’t use lines or strokes smaller than 5 millimeter. That’s why I ended up using an iconic art style with recognisable shapes and bold strokes. This would make sure that the shadows cast on the wall and the stories they would tell could easily be understood. The end result was an amazing display of corporate storytelling using a spectacle of light and shadow, sharing the 2030 mission with over 100.000 visitors.