Mohawk Fine Papers
Trade Show Exhibit

Mohawk Paper Mills is that rare paper company with a strong record of leadership in sustainability. Known for high quality paper, Mohawk is privately owned and family run since its founding in 1931.
Our own sustainability guidelines helped shape the exhibit as much as Mohawk’s own ethics guided the campaign.

In response to the advertising campaign created by Pentagram, Biber Architects designed a traveling trade show display for Mohawk Paper Mills. The campaign, “When is Good Design No Design,” urged designers not to waste paper on frivolous or unnecessary pieces; to go even further than the “use recycled paper” campaigns of other manufacturers.

The display had to express the theme of not designing as an approach to creating form.
When asked what they needed, the clients said “well, just a table, a chair and some light, really”.
Our solution was to create a generic set of forms required for the display (table, chair and lamps) which were papered in the mill wrap that Pentagram designed for reams and rolls of Mohawk stock. The result is a set of furniture that clearly and unostentatiously says “Mohawk.” For large events, any number of the set-ups can be displayed together.

The backdrop is a backlighted banner erected on the exhibit’s packing crate. The crate is used at the trade show site and collects labels and stickers as it travels from one show to another. The crate shows that nothing has been wasted in the exhibit; all of the pieces become part of the show.

The project has been featured in Creative Review magazine.