WASSILY
Realistic Art Ad Campaign
The aim was to create a photo-realistic illustration that could be shown in various formats, such as magazines, store displays, outdoor ads, web banners, or packaging.
PROCESS & OUTCOME
To create a realistic, digital illustration of the Wassily Chair, I first researched its historical context. Then, I sketched the chair in Adobe Illustrator from a reference image and applied textures to achieve a photo-realistic finish. For the leather, I used cowhide textures and Diffuse effects, enhanced with brown shadows via Gaussian Blur. The iconic chrome tubing was rendered with 3D Inflate effects and detailed using black, grey, and white strokes for added realism.
I replicated the stitching with dashed strokes and a Sprinkle Grain effect, and added signs of wear using hand-drawn marks, layered textures, and shadow shapes. The result was an illustration that blended digital precision with organic detail.
For the Wassily campaign, I created a visual language that felt timeless, inviting, and a little cheeky. Starting with a focus on color, I developed a modernized palette with a nod to Bauhaus' primary hues, then paired it with sculptural typography to reflect the chair’s form. The design process began with a single poster and evolved into a larger system, incorporating typographic experimentation, consistent framing, and repeated motifs like rounded rectangles. This resulted in a cohesive campaign, affirming the Wassily legacy while infusing a modern playfulness across print, digital, and environmental applications.
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Brand Strategy
Editorial Design
Art Direction
Brand Messaging
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Illustrators
3D Effects
PROCESS
Here, I utilized 3D Materials in Illustrator to realistically replicate the leather texture and the chrome frame
REFERENCE IMAGE
ILLUSTRATION SKELETON
REALISTIC ILLUSTRATION
wassily
wassily
AD CAMPAIGN POSTERS
This poster series serves as the anchor of a modern branding campaign for the Wassily Chair by Knoll, celebrating its Bauhaus roots while introducing it to a contemporary audience. The posters highlight minimalist design, typographic clarity, and a custom color palette to reflect both heritage and reinvention.
COLOR PALETTE
The color palette draws from the soul of Bauhaus and pays tribute to the Wassily Chair’s radical simplicity. While Bauhaus is best known for its bold use of primary colors, this interpretation pays homage by reimagining those hues using a modern lens. Each shade is a reinterpretation: blue becomes cobalt steel, yellow turns to brass, and red is substituted for a grounding forest green. Anchored by a light neutral, the palette celebrates structure, balance, and legacy.
MAGAZINE AD’S
Expanding on the visual foundation of the poster series, the campaign evolves into magazine ads titled The Chair You Should Know. This cheeky phrase is suggestive of the chair’s legacy and its long-overdue rediscovery. The humor is subtle, but intentional, softening the authority of modernism with a warm, conversational tone that creates a tension between play and precision.
One notable execution features a forest green background, overlaid by a bold typographic treatment with text wrapping around the chair. The typography becomes more than a headline—it becomes a structural element, echoing the skeletal beauty of the chair itself. In this way, the type and chair aren’t in competition; they’re in conversation.
POSTCARD MAILER
Postcard mailers for The Wassily Event offer a tactile, collectible piece of the campaign—bridging physical and digital worlds. Printed on textured stock with the Canvas color, they feature realistic illustrations of the chair in three shades. These mailers act as both an invitation and an artifact, encouraging website traffic while reinforcing Knoll’s appreciation for material experience.
BILLBOARD
This application showcases the bold geometry and striking minimalism of the campaign. With high-contrast visuals, clean type, and the recognizable form of the Wassily, these large-scale placements serve as architectural echoes of the chair itself, commanding attention in urban environments.
SOCIAL MEDIA
To maximize the reach of The Chair You Should Know campaign, a targeted social media and web strategy creates a multi-layered engagement strategy. This digital presence modernizes the legacy of the chair while inviting new generations into the world of timeless design.
KNOLL WEBSITE
A simple version of the Wassily Chair campaign on the Knoll landing page allows the iconic design to speak for itself, highlighting its timeless form.
