A Flexible Framework for Storytelling

A legend in the industry, Knoll has been creating modern workplace and residential furnishings since 1938. Knoll helps their clients create inspired modern interiors, a practice based both on their long experience as well as the extensive research they conduct about how people interact with their environments and how their environments, in turn, impact what they do.

Knoll approached Schema looking for ways to engage audiences in the expertise and research that went into new products they planned to launch at NeoCon 2016. Working closely with the digital team at Knoll, Schema created a single-page experience that could mesh seamlessly with the existing website but provide opportunities for a richer narrative.

Process

We began by examining the structure of compelling stories — what draws readers in, and keeps them engaged? We then devised a set of flexible tools to help Knoll create different kinds of narrative arcs, specific to each story they wanted to tell. The templates enabled experiences incorporating large imagery, slideshows, animation and video through a single-page interaction model that also incorporated parallax motion

Outcome

Our work coincided with Knoll’s brand re-envisioning, thus creating additional opportunities to tell the story of their company and their culture. The story template offered a wide range of solutions to tell many different kinds of narratives, allowing for a framework that was both highly structured and highly flexible.