Moen KBIS 2026 //
Seeing Water Differently.
With a commitment to make an impact at the 2026 Kitchen and Bath Show, Moen came to Clutch with the question, “How do you renew excitement for existing product lines, and pull attention away from the competition?” To answer that, Clutch shifted perspective away from the tap, and instead to how you experience water through shape, form, and light.
The Experience //
Moen capitalized on height, drawing their booth design up to rise above a crowded footprint so visitors would be pulled in before any other brand.
With the design featuring a large wrap-around screen, it provided the opportunity to awe with an animorphic animation, pushing out towards the viewer. Complimented by custom sound design, the work took on a new perspective on the relationship between a product and it’s function.
On the ground level a segmented screen spiraled in sync with the overhead display, motivating it’s transitions. Between those moments, it featured products in multiple finishes, highlighting form and materiality.
In the center of the booth, simulated water cascades down transparent screens connecting to an educational digital experience.
Concepting //
Inspired by the movement, composition, and materiality that Moen carefully considered in the booth design, Clutch developed three concepts: Dance, Experience, and Elevate.
In the selected concept, Experience, we were inspired to connect the featured art of Frank Moth and Philippe Huggonard that Moen had incorporated into the interior of the booth design. We felt such a strong choice deserved to be brought forward and connected to the exterior, creating a not to be missed experience.
Look & Feel //
With a three-minute run-time, our goal was for this piece to feel real, but also surreal. It used color and movement to tell a visual story. The exposition sets the stage, the rising action builds suspense, the climax surprises, and the resolution is grounding.
Our story was designed so that at any point it catches the attention of an attendee, they are pulled in, and can be brought along for the next wave.
Look Development //
Virtual floral arrangements began with sourcing over one hundred individual flower and greenery types. Selections were made based on closest resemblance to the artwork, and each model was individually refined to bring out the tactile nature of texture and color.
Clouds were carefully styled, too wispy and you risked them coming across as smoke, too dense and they lost realism. Subtle movement was just as critical to the look as the shape and material itself.
Pulling on over a decade of experience crafting digital twins of Moen’s products, our artists we’re already intimately familiar with the engineering, materiality and how to best lens and compose the product. A total of four unique forms and seven finishes were created, totaling sixteen featured products. Additionally, we were able to bring Moen’s Flo Shut Off device from a previous project into this animation.
Animations & Simulations //
Considering an aspect ratio of 14x3 (6,193,152 pixels), we looked for ways to handle computationally heavy simulations efficiently while still allowing for exploration and experimentation.
Using EmberGen & LiquiGen, we leveraged the power of GPUs for real-time simulations and playback. Instead of the traditional workflow of creating an alembic for render in our DCC, we opted to light and render directly in the elemental suite and brought the elements together in comp.
Perspective Planning //
To ensure our creative translated to the unique screens, and the animorphic illusion would pay-off, we built a virtual booth in Unreal to pre-visualize the scale, perspective, and surrounding environment. We were able to provide these renders to our client to review the creative within situational context.
Audio //
The bespoke soundscape shared equal importance, delicately balancing it’s role as an audio backdrop throughout the booth and reinforcing the visuals. The singing bowls calm and ground while light splashing and babbling water syncs with the visuals. Thematically connecting with the concept of experiencing water.
