new work – ‘smart’ lift lines for Hub by Premier Inn.

We’ve penned words for all kinds of things — books, leaflets, posters, taxi sides, treasure hunts, sleeping masks, pencils, websites, biscuits, mobile phone UIs, and tubs of ice cream. But never a ‘smart’, animated lift. Until now, that is.

Back in the summer, Rick Banks at Face37 brought us in to help out with a series of projects for hub, a new urban, hi-tech concept hotel by Premier Inn. The most unusual of these tasks was an ingenious mirrored lift, which projects a variety of messages to its occupants, as they travel upwards and downwards. We came up with around 50 different lines, tailored to the time of day, slightly cheeky and site specific. These were then typographically embellished by Rick and animated by Alex Dobbin.

A few of the animated lines are shown below, and there’s a short video at the bottom of the post to give you an impression of the ‘smart’ lift in action.

So that’s one more medium ticked off the list… what’s next, a talking pillow?