Enter the Design Age

Enter the Design Age, an installation by the Paris-based creative studio H5, is a response to a challenge. The Wolfsonian asked H5 to make a statement about the richness of the museum’s collection on the façade of our building. H5 chose its favorite medium, typography, to issue a giant appeal for people to enter and discover what’s inside. The installation highlights the richness of The Wolfsonian’s holdings—which date from 1850 to 1950, a century when design emerged as a profession and transformed the visual and material world—by embedding a timeline with information about key pieces in the lettering. Extending the installation is a video screened at night on the north side of the building, a kind of animated “big-bang” that imagines the collection’s origins.

H5’s fusion of playfulness with cultural and political critique makes the studio a natural partner for The Wolfsonian. Founded in 1996 by Ludovic Houplain, H5 is composed of art directors, graphic designers, illustrators, filmmakers, and producers who collaborate on music videos, branding campaigns, and independent artworks. H5’s Logorama was awarded an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 2010.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website