CASE STUDY
Joel Berman Iterative Process
m+ services provided
Showroom Design
Branded Environments
Graphic Design
Environmental Graphics
Product Display
Interior Architecture
Interior Design
Commercial Office Design
Business, Marketing and Brand Strategies
description
Joel Berman, world renowned art glass artist, designer, and industry leader in kiln and pressure-formed products, has been a client, colleague, and friend of marquardt+ for 22 years. m+ has had the privilege to collaborate with Joel and his team at Joel Berman Glass Studios and we continue to do so with Joel Berman Design. Over the last four decades Joel has built an international reputation for design and innovation.
Joel Berman and Tom Marquardt
Conference room
Joel and his team provide ongoing research and development in glass, resin, and other processes and materials; continuously expanding the boundaries of what can be achieved in creating new product forms and textures. His new practice allows Joel an elevated focus on art glass and sculptural art commissions, incorporating many materials and ideas to create one of a kind installation experiences worldwide. Learn more at https://www.joelberman.design/
marquardt+, in support of Joel Berman, has provided design solutions for numerous Berman tradeshow exhibits, showrooms, and other inventive product displays and environments. We also provide ongoing business, marketing and brand strategy services to Joel as his approach evolves over time.
When working with Berman, we share schematic conceptualization early on in the design process. We know Joel so well that our programming has been our iterative process experience. Joel pushes us to design as we see fit and supports that effort while contributing as an integral part of our design team. Along with his key team members, they make sure the designs meet their needs and at the same time allow us to take them on a journey they may not have initially considered.
Berman helps us actualize our ideas as combined vision by honoring our intent; making adjustments back and forth in the progression of the design, development and implementation of the work. It is not uncommon for us to continuously exchange sketches, red marks, notations, and details up to the completion of a project. With Joel, a great design is never really complete; it is just finalized at that particular time. New ideas or discoveries during this process will inevitably become inspiration to subsequently evolve or develop a foundation for a new project.
Joel is so in sync with our thought processes that we would find ourselves completing each other’s sentences and ideas. Honestly, if anyone is considering working with Joel Berman, or utilizing one of his products, they can more than trust that the outcome will be beyond their expectations. This is why we have continued to work so successfully together for over two decades. marquardt+ and Joel Berman Design hold the same values within our creative processes and outcomes.
Left: Initial dialog napkin sketch; Right: Exhibit design outcome
outcomes
The design process and exchange of ideas are as informative to our work and abilities as the outcomes, even in their most rough forms. Thus we created a multitude of trade show exhibits, sometimes taking old components and rough forms of ideas from the iterative process to invent new display experiences. For example, knowing the variety of trade show venues where Berman planned to exhibit, we designed the components to fit the unique dimensions and column interruptions of the Mart exhibit space and yet anticipated the need for them to also fit more standardized exhibit venues in the US and Europe. Thus we created assemblies that could be reconfigured to adapt to all trade show standards, without additional components or costs.
Left: Glass sample display beam; Right: Transformable exhibit
The showroom in Chicago was a testament to custom interior architecture, hardware systems, display strategies, and experiences. Our goal was to integrate the showroom with interior architectural display components that created an occupiable sculpture, and thus be in line with the artistic brand truth and applications of the products and Joel’s visions of his artistry.
IIDA/CONTRACT MAGAZINE CREATIVE EXCELLENCE AWARD: SHOWROOM
Showroom walkway detail
Showroom entry with recessed storefront enabling product interaction when showroom & pivoting “doors” are closed
The m+ team emphasized product layering, light, and translucency, all without losing focus on the benefits of the product as both functional materials and art. Every aspect of the space was designed with consistency of scale and materials to maintain the original minimal feel of the showroom while increasing and changing specific product displays, preserving the sculptural quality of the environment. This approach developed an installation brand vocabulary we instill into every subsequent project we work on with the Berman team.
The design utilizes post-mounted, pivoting displays and product panels laminated to walls that allow client review without reducing floor space. The layered, pivoting display panel and hardware also allow better understanding of transparencies, textures, and light control in privacy applications.
Berman glass additions display showing privacy qualities by pattern
We have been advising Joel on his business, marketing and brand strategies over the years, making sure that when changes occur as they do with companies of longevity, that they never lose their core values and focus. To this day, we provide Joel with insight and exchanges of ideas that support his goals and aspirations in the context of the ever-changing marketplace.
Vancouver showroom schematic plan
Left to right: Joel Berman, Reva Revis, Emmanuelle Roux, Saleem Khattak, Romana Mirza, Tom Marquardt
These efforts over the years culminated in a 2-day business, marketing and brand strategy work session and subsequent strategy report, created with marquardt+ and the Berman team by Romana Mirza.
We both guided and participated in an intense workshop of bench marking, brand, and strategy thought process exercises to rediscover and refocus the Berman brand essence. The strategy work was an astounding success for the team and created the foundation that Joel has subsequently built upon leading him to the creation of Joel Berman Design. It also led to marquardt+ developing our business, brand, and marketing strategy services. marquardt+ strategy service offerings continue today led by Jennifer Fondrevay, Reva Revis, and the m+ team.
“I started working with Tom, Vince, and their team around 1997 or ’98 on a series of modular pop up exhibit stands for Neocon, ICFF, 100% Design and other tradeshows. They grasped what I was trying to do as an artist and designer, solving aesthetic problems in the workplace with glass. The extent that they understood became a large part in determining our brand presence not just with our evolving showroom but with all levels of our story.
Tom’s perspective of the vast uses of glass art married to his knowledge of interior space, entertainment and storytelling quickly became a long serving successful partnership and above all, friendship. I look forward to his next chapter in collaboration with my next chapter.”
Joel Berman
Joel Berman
design team, marquardt+
+ Tom Marquardt
+ Vince Gammino
with…
+ Ann Chin
+ Mark Rupsis
+ Billie Knipfer
+ Katelyn Landeck
+ Mandy Toothaker
+ Mary Beth Rampolla
+ Gretchen Miller
+ Kelly Ziegenhagen
+ Jaysen Goranson
+ Romana Mirza
+ Reva Revis
Photography:
Bob Harr, Hedrich-Blessing
Michelle Litvin
Jaysen Goranson
marquardt+