Turning Patents Into Interactive Storytelling
OVERVIEW
Making an Invisible Legacy Impossible to Ignore
Services
Enterprise Installation Management
Experience Design
Global Deployment Strategy
Interactive Design and Installation Development
Real-time Data Integration
Scalable Multi-Screen Architecture
Adobe is a leader in creative software innovation, with a patent portfolio more than 3,000 inventions deep. That legacy of invention is core to the brand, yet it lived where no one could feel it: in databases and records, not in the culture or the space where people experience Adobe every day.
Adobe partnered with Wrecking Ball to change that. We designed and built an immersive touchscreen installation for the headquarters lobby and global offices, turning the patent archive into an experience that showcases Adobe’s innovation leadership to hundreds of daily visitors and staff the moment they walk in.
Previous Patent Wall
Global Headquarters | San Jose, California
THE CHALLENGE
Bringing a Static Patent Wall to Life
Adobe needed to transform a static patent wall into an engaging interactive experience. The brief carried real tension: communicate the sheer breadth of 3,000-plus patents and hundreds of inventors, while captivating both technical and non-technical audiences, all in a high-visibility corporate lobby where first impressions carry weight.
"When we kicked off the project, I was at my daughter's science fair. Her constellations project inspired me and connected to what we were building, and that's when it clicked, patents as points of light that map how Adobe thinks."
– James Begera
Executive Creative Director | Partner
We Had to Solve Several Challenges at Once
Scale Without Overwhelm
Thousands of patents and hundreds of inventors is a vast dataset. It had to feel explorable and inviting, not like a database dumped onto a screen.
Zero Learning Curve
A lobby installation gets no onboarding and no instructions. A visitor, recruit, or executive had to be able to walk up and understand it in seconds.
Always-On Reliability
As a permanent installation running continuously in public space, it had to perform flawlessly across offices in different countries and configurations.
THE SOLUTION
An Interactive Constellation of Invention
We introduced a touchscreen installation inspired by cosmic constellations, where individual patents form interconnected data clusters that assemble into a larger relational composition. Visitors explore the system through intuitive navigation, browsing or searching Adobe’s vast patent portfolio and inventor profiles with no manual and no friction.
Brand-Aligned Experience Design
We built a touch-first interface anyone could use on approach, letting users move between patents, inventors, and technologies through a browse-or-search experience tuned to feel unmistakably like Adobe: precise, modern, and quietly impressive.
Data Visualization and Real-Time Integration
We connected the installation to live patent data through custom API development, so the constellation reflected Adobe’s real, current portfolio. Each patent became a node in a living system rather than a static entry in a list.
Scalable Multi-Screen Architecture
Ready to Turn Your Space Into an Experience?
At Wrecking Ball, we are proud to work with enterprise-class companies like Adobe. Connect with us to discover how we can turn a live data source into an interactive installation that scales across every office and lobby you have.
THE RESULT
From a Data Archive to a Daily Expression of Innovation
The Adobe Patent Innovation installation turned an invisible archive into a tangible, daily expression of Adobe’s innovation culture. Employees, recruits, and visitors now encounter Adobe’s legacy of invention as something they can touch and explore, not something buried in records.
The installation’s success led Adobe to scale it from a single headquarters piece to a global deployment across offices worldwide, adapted to different spaces and screen configurations. It became a lasting signal of who Adobe is: a company where invention is the point, made visible the moment you enter the room.
PROOF IN THE NUMBERS
Adobe at Scale
3,000+
Adobe patents brought into one interactive system
100s
Of inventor profiles made explorable by touch
Global
Deployment across Adobe offices worldwide
Zero
Instructions needed to walk up and explore
24/7
Always-on installation in high-traffic lobbies
One
Unified experience built from live patent data
THE RESULT
From a Data Archive to a Daily Expression of Innovation
The Adobe Patent Innovation installation turned an invisible archive into a tangible, daily expression of Adobe’s innovation culture. Employees, recruits, and visitors now encounter Adobe’s legacy of invention as something they can touch and explore, not something buried in records.
The installation’s success led Adobe to scale it from a single headquarters piece to a global deployment across offices worldwide, adapted to different spaces and screen configurations. It became a lasting signal of who Adobe is: a company where invention is the point, made visible the moment you enter the room.
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