2D Design: Flag Design

Rockefeller Center
The Flag Project

Client

Rockefeller Center

Scope of Work

Concept
Research
Layout

This spring, the Rockefeller Center asked designers across the world to submit a flag design showcasing their love for New York City. Our design was chosen to be flown in the temporary art installation on one of the flag poles surrounding the Rockefeller Center’s iconic ice rink. Our winning entry drew inspiration from old New York City maps and overlaid them on top of one another.

The distinct New York City street grid is legendary and historic. Both rigorous and quirky, it represents a mesh of straightforward problem solving and accommodations to anomalies. It was created in 1811 and blankets Manhattan and beyond. It is heralded as a brazen planning tool that captures the city’s early bold ambitions with “beauty, order and convenience”. The colours of our flag were taken from the official city flag and its use of orange and blue. Our flag will be up from August 1st to 16th.

During our design process, we looked at a range of ideas for inspiration. The city offers an extraordinary variety of objects, symbols, colours and even textures that could be considered iconic. One of our lines of study looked at graphics inspired by the subway system. The maps and signs are distinctly playful. We also explored naval flags representing “NYC”. We interpreted sidewalk grates, sewer covers and street furniture and we created a number of kaleidoscopic photographic patterns from the skyline and landmarks as we celebrated Gotham.

View the full map of the flags here (our design is on page 46).