back in may 2018, artist camille walala signed one of her most ambitious projects to date, a 130 feet high mural commissioned by wanteddesign, on the face of a seven-story building in brooklyn’s post-industrial complex industry city. new york-based filmmaker, romain thomassin, followed her throughout the project, documenting — for the first time — her inspiration, references, methodology and ultimate goal: achieving the walalaland, a city where all the buildings would be bright and colorful.

camille walala industry city
camille and creative producer julia jomaa

 

 

thomassin’s short documentary dissects the process and inspiration of graphic artist camille walala as she paints her gigantic ‘pop city mural’ across industry city. inspired by the memphis-style of the 80s, the artist used multicolored geometric figures framed by thin black lines to create a three-dimensional effect. ‘sometimes simplicity is the hardest way to do it,’ says walala in the movie. ‘I am very specific about the thickness of my black lines.’

camille walala industry city
inspecting the finished work without the scaffolding

camille walala industry city
camille walala in front of her ‘pop city mural’

 

camille walala industry city
everyday walala sits down and does graphic research for an hour

 

camille walala industry city
drafting the pop city mural

 

camille walala industry city
the scaffolding covering the building

 

camille walala industry city
all the measurements need to be perfect

 

camille walala industry city
walala wanted to play with some 3D effects around the windows

 

camille walala industry city
the artist is obsessive with her black lines that will make the colors pop at the end

 

camille walala industry city
camille’s outfit is as colorful as her work

 

camille walala industry city
camille selected her color palette in harmony with the sunset

 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: maria erman | designboom