Behind the Design: Mingle Gallery Frame

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THE STORY

In highschool, I had a job stacking boxes, so I often like go to our warehouse, right here in Toronto to see the action. 

When I got the task to design new gallery frames, I looked at everything in the market, which all featured the same traditional and standard look. I wanted to design something fresh.

When designing Mingle, it made me think back to my highschool days, helping to stack boxes of different sizes. When packing delivery trucks, boxes must be stacked strategically in order for everything to fit nicely. I noticed that warehouse workers were challenged to organize different sized boxes, without having any negative space. Unique shapes were then created.

 

It's almost like a game - fitting boxes in the right sections.

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I was interested in these shapes, and how they could be used in a gallery frame. While thinking about the boxes, it reminded me of the game Tetris, helping me to create the final shapes of Mingle.

 

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THE GAME OF TETRIS

The goal of Tetris is to neatly fit different shapes together, without creating a gap. Although Mingle was not originally inspired by the game of Tetris, I realized how much the stacked boxes resembled the moving blocks of the game.

 

 

I decided to start sketching, using the different shapes to design picture frames, which could fit together in multiple configurations. 

 

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DESIGN YOUR OWN WALL ARRANGEMENT

My favorite part about Mingle is that consumers can decorate a wall space by mixing up the different shapes and customizing the frames' arrangement. Mingle's frames' unique shape allow you to maximize the amount of photos showcased and create a gallery wall display. Two of four of Mingle's picture frames feature multi-openings, allowing you to layer different photos in one frame. 

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Inspiration often comes from everyday life and ordinary objects. Designers are always paying attention, no matter where they are, to their surroundings and things that pass them by. 

 

 

To explore all of Sung wook's designs, click here.