Case Studies, Home Furnishings

Art is Freedom

How five artists transformed an event at Neocon into a must-see event.

During NeoCon, the commercial interior show in Chicago, Chicago artist Liz Flores expressed, “Art is Freedom” in an interview promoting our off-campus event. Milliken floor covering’s marketing team Sherry Dreger and Todd Van der Kruik orchestrated a unique experience, deviating from the norm. They enlisted four artists— Liz Florez , Amy Star Brown, Tubszilla, StukOne—each with their distinctive style, to paint live. This initiative, titled ‘Above and Beyond,’ showcased Milliken’s commercial carpet print process called PrintWorks, enabling designers to print virtually anything on commercial-grade carpet.

To enhance the experience, Tim, a mixologist from Pour Souls, was hired to craft specialty cocktails representing each artist’s style, fostering engaging conversations and interactions among attendees.

Crobar developed a unique 6-pack concept resembling a craft beer pack, housing six new collections. And, to expedite the launch timeline, CGI work was leveraged extensively, resulting in significant time savings. The team handled brochure design and container creation and produced a product launch video. Post-event, email marketing, and social media channels were utilized to extend the promotion of the collections to other designers

Amy Star Brown: https://www.emmystarbrown.com/about

StukOne: https://stukone.com

Liz Flores: https://www.lizfloresart.com

Tubszilla: https://www.instagram.com/tubsz_illa/

Tim from Pour Souls: https://www.poursoulschicago.com

The result was an increase in expected attendance of over 400%.

Leveraged Creative:
• Strategy
• Creative direction
• Graphic design
• Video and editing
• Copywriting
• Account service


Todd Kinley

J. Todd Kinley

Founder | Executive Creative Director: Crobar Creative Leverage. Husband, Father, and Moose owner. Lover of art, photography, golf, and strategy. Follow me: