Top Secret, a Vinyl Flooring Collection

This fall at NeoCon 2021, Design Pool is introducing The Cryptology Collection, a collection of twenty original pattern designs inspired by code, the hidden messages they communicate, and the women codebreakers of World War II. Designed by Kristen Dettoni, The Cryptology Collection is part of Design Pool’s digital library, the only pattern library created exclusively for interior designers and home to over 600 designs. The Cryptology Collection includes four smaller groupings designed for specific markets, including upholstery, wallcovering, flooring, and acoustic panels. Top Secret is a vinyl flooring collection.

The Cryptology Collection invites people to meet the codebreakers.

Codebreaking pioneer, Elizebeth Smith Friedman broke thousands of codes during World War I, Prohibition, and World War II and was the inspiration for this collection. Yet, though she is one of the best-known codebreakers today, she was not the only woman doing top secret work for the government. These women all paved the way for women to have careers in the sciences, intelligence agencies, and the military.

Kristen Dettoni, Design Pool founder and designer, is excited to debut this collection at NeoCon this fall. “When I first learned about the women codebreakers from this era, I felt an immediate kinship. Like them, I have worked with patterns my whole career and know their power to communicate in our lives. Through this collection, I hope to spark a conversation about what interior designers communicate in a built environment through their choices of materials and patterns.” Dettoni started her design process with a message written in code. She then used that code to create shapes and finally created a pattern from those shapes.

Top Secret: a vinyl flooring collection printed by Graphic Image Flooring.

In this collection, each design pays homage to a different accomplished codebreaker. The collection begins with pattern Daisy Chain. Using the Greek Square Cipher to write Dorothy Braden Bruce in code, a cheerful floral pattern emerges. This pattern is a nod to Dorothy’s job at a floral shop where she worked to pay her college tuition.

Next, pattern Science uses Morse code in an energetic stripe. It spells the name Jacqueline Jenkins Nye, a chemistry professor, an officer in the US Office of Naval Communications, and the mom of Bill Nye, the Science Guy.

Pattern Bird uses bar code to spell the name of Ann Caracristi, a cryptanalyst with the Army Signal Intelligence Service and bird enthusiast. This textured geometric pattern is inspired by Ann’s reconstruction of enemy codebooks. Her codebreaking made her one of the first people to learn of Japan’s surrender.

Five Languages uses binary code in a crisp pattern with strong shapes and spells Agnes Meyer Driscoll. Agnes spoke five languages and was instrumental in breaking the Japanese Navy Manual code for both the Red Book and the Blue Book.

Finally, Railroad also uses binary code in a sophisticated pattern. This code spells Genevieve Grotjan Feinstein who worked as a clerk at the Railroad Retirement Board before being offered a job in the Signal Intelligence Service. During WWII, she decoded the Japanese Purple machine by discovering cyclable code behavior, aka: pattern.

We partnered with Wisconsin-based Graphic Image Flooring to digitally print these designs on 100% solid polyvinyl sheet flooring.

It is slip and stain resistant and will cushion impacts, thereby reducing noise from traffic and dropped objects. At 1.9mm thick, their flooring provides one of the thickest wear-layers in the world. These floors are commercially recyclable, yet their long lifespan is perhaps the biggest positive impact on the environment.

Interior designers eager to integrate sustainable, on-demand printing into their material selection, now have access to this technology. And with low-to-no minimum requirements, quick turnaround, and high-quality products. It’s a new way of working and it’s super easy.

“While I was intrigued by the work these women did with pattern to crack codes, I was also inspired by their enthusiasm for science and the cutting-edge technology of their time,” reflects Dettoni. “I know they would be as excited as I am about the technological advances in digital printing and its ability to change the way products are manufactured in the US and around the world.”

NeoCon is the world’s leading platform for the commercial interiors industry. The event takes place on October 4 – 6, 2021 at theMART in Chicago, IL. This will be an in-person event. Find Design Pool on the 7^th floor of theMART in Booth 7-4049.

Photo credit: Kristen Julianna Photography