06.08.09

The Republik two-story collage

Environmental Graphics, Self-Promotion

The Republik is an employee-owned ad agency with offices in Durham, Charlotte and New York. To house its Durham staff, the agency recently purchased a former insurance building. As the public face of its new offices, it created a mutable, pop art collage (22-feet high and 30-feet wide) that rides on a system of pulleys and billows in front of the facade. The novel exterior identity system is a reflection of the agency’s trademark, “Change or Die” motto. The colorful, yard-wide banners are perforated vinyl (see-through from the inside, opaque from the street) and include elements from The Republik’s projects; aside from serving as a sunscreen, the display is intended to inspire evaluation, adaptation and movement.

Robert Shaw West, creative director; Dave Avis, designer; Phil Szostak, Chapel Hill, N.C., architect.

[photo credit: © Gerard Blanton]

www.therepublik.net