New York City never looks better than it does from Top of the Rock, the observation deck at the summit of the landmark 70-story skyscraper 30 Rockefeller Center in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. The spectacular unobstructed views from Top of the Rock stretch from New York harbor to the south, to Central Park to the north, from the Hudson River to the outer boroughs and beyond.
Pentagram has designed a bold and elegant new advertising campaign and graphic program for Top of the Rock that highlights the amazing one-of-a-kind vistas seen from the deck. The campaign appears in print advertisements, promotions and websites, and on posters, digital kiosks, banners and buses throughout New York. The campaign is especially visible at Rockefeller Center itself, where the colorful graphics build awareness for the millions of visitors who pass through the center.
The designers worked closely on the campaign with Tishman Speyer, who own and manage Rockefeller Center. Top of the Rock reopened in 2005 following a $75 million renovation and has since become one of the city’s most visited tourist attractions. 30 Rockefeller Center is the heart of the bustling complex of offices, shops, theaters and public plaza at Rockefeller Center, and is also known as the GE Building, home of NBC Studios and its signature programs “The Today Show” and “Saturday Night Live,” (as well as "30 Rock," actually filmed in Queens). Built in 1933, the building is an Art Deco masterpiece, and the three-tiered observation deck at Top of the Rock was originally built to resemble the deck of an ocean liner. The views are ranked by many as the best in the city, surpassing the observatory at the Empire State Building, 15 blocks to the south.
To capture the unique Top of the Rock experience, the designers have developed an unusual treatment of the skyline that transcends familiar images of the city. The views at Top of the Rock change continuously throughout the days and seasons, and the campaign pieces together a panoramic assemblage of images taken from the observation deck from day to night. Specific views—looking north, looking south, and so on—are assembled from multiple images, showcasing the spectacular all-around vista from deck, as well as suggesting the many points of view available to visitors.
The iconic photographic treatment has been paired with a memorable tagline, “Any Point of View,” also developed by Pentagram. An integral element of the campaign, the tagline highlights the unobstructed views and has an embedded double meaning. The “NY” in “Any” has been set in bold to provide another read—“A NY Point of View”—that emphasizes Top of the Rock as a one-of-a-kind New York experience.
