CREATIVITY   |   POSTED ON 20.05.2014

IBM decided to turn street ads into urban city furniture to promote the “Smarter Cities” program which focuses on comfortable urban living. Their “People for Smarter Cities” project uses a different approach to the standard big signs and billboard advertisements. Their approach was to create a three dimensional structure with 2 purposes: to visually promote the program but also as a functional form to be used by the community. Three metal spray painted signs were made, one simply curved at the bottom to double up as a bench, another was flipped upside down to create a shelter for the rain and the last one folded over concrete steps to provide a useful ramp. All of these ads featured a message that inspired the community to share their ideas on the “People for Smarter Cities” online hub and make their area a more comfortable place to live.