V&A London’s blockbuster exhibition ALICE; Curiouser & Curiouser showcased the origins and global impact of the iconic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland story, its inunmerable adaptations and reinventions since it was written over 157 years ago.

We wanted to create a rich and immersive graphic language suited to the themes of the Alice story, that could transform to conjure and support a range of shifting environments. Using our photography, illustration and environmental graphics we helped to evoke a series of magical spaces, each with a distinct sense of place; from emulating the academic setting of the story’s beginnings to bewildering and playful anamorphic illusions within psychedelic worlds of a counter culture that it inspired.

We explored the Oxford riverbanks and the incredible library at Christ Church College, photographing the collections to recreate both typographic treatment for the introduction to the historical narrative and a backdrop to the story’s earliest influences from Victorian society and culture. Manipulated medium format imagery formed a dream like river side scene representing fragments of memory of a ‘golden afternoon’ and the journey taken by boat along the Thames where Charles Dodgson first told the story to the original Alice.

Playful anamorphic floor illusions were created for the psychedelic reinterpretation of the story. We designed a 3D lenticular title wall with ‘Alice’ coming in and out of focus as you enter the space. Its divisions flow down the wall to integrate with a hand drawn psychedelic floor that appears to undulate and bend as you walk through the space.

Our role: Graphic design / Photography / Illustration / Artwork

Exhibition Design: RFK Architects and Tom Piper

Contractor: Factory Settings

Graphic Contractor: Omni

Lighting Design: ZNA