Motorola wanted to create an exhibit that would up its profile amongst the design savvy. But the company wanted a show on mid-century modern – and they wanted it in an impossible six months. Instead, I suggested a different approach: the company’s own design heritage, how it developed the world’s first cell phone in the early 1970s.

I convinced them that that the exhibit “Mobile” had more integrity because it communicated the fact that Motorola owns the history of mobile phones. Important at a time when the company wasn’t the most popular handset producer on the market. With its retro-techno appeal and compelling story, the show would also impress its intended urbanite audience. Consulting on Mobile’s development, I guided its content and design. The resulting show illustrated how the cell phone has impacted our culture while the exhibition’s key message was that Motorola created the technology that changed our world. Mobile has travelled from London to Shanghai and New York and been covered in Time, The Guardian and CNN as well as European style magazines.