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Framing Wes Anderson at the Design Museum

How Pop-up Frames helped bring one of cinema’s most distinctive visual worlds into people’s homes.

It started with an email

We started Pop-up Frames because, as graphic designers, we were frustrated that so much art was never making it onto the wall. So when the Design Museum got in touch to ask if we could help them buildout the final part of their Wes Anderson exhibit, we were ecstatic. 

Wes Anderson's films are known for showcasing worlds that are meticulously built — through colour, composition, and detail he creates an instantly recognisable aesthetic. Contributing — even in a small way — to how one of our generation's most iconic visual world-builders was incredibly exciting; and a little daunting.

The brief

After you journey through the 'Wes Anderson: The Archives' exhibition, you end up in the exhibition shop. Here you can find a wide range of memorabilia — including iconic film posters, art prints, postcards, and gift-cards. Because Wes Anderson's work is eclectic and prolific, we had a number of different dimensions and orientations to frame:

  • 35+ different printed products
  • Eight sizes, from A5 postcards to 50 × 70 cm posters
  • Portrait and landscape formats
  • A layout that was still evolving as the shop came together

Everything needed to sit together as a cohesive whole, rather than feeling like a collection of individual items. And all of it had to work within the constraints of a Grade II listed building, where traditional fixing methods simply weren’t an option.

Framing different dimensions in a Grade II listed building

Final dimensions weren't locked. Layouts had to shift. We couldn't drill into any of the walls. Put another way, we needed a flexible framing solution that wasn't pre-planned and could adapt in real time. 

We arrived with a small selection of Small, Medium and Poster Pop-up Frames (cut-to-size picture frames with adhesive wall mounts), not knowing exactly what would be framed where. Over the course of a single afternoon, frames were cut to size, artworks swapped in and out, and the display reshaped as the shop took form around us.

  • Our box of Pop-up Frames ready to be assembled

  • Empty walls — our specialty

  • Cutting frames to size as we go

  • Sticking the first frame on the wall

  • Tweaking the bigger posters

  • Finding the layout with empty frames

Living up to Wes Anderson's colour palette

With Wes Anderson, colour is never incidental. His films are defined by carefully tuned palettes that shape mood and character as much as story does.

That meant framing couldn’t be neutral or generic. Each poster and print was paired with a complementary Pop-up Frame colour, chosen to echo the artwork without competing with it. Our new palette from Italian papermakers — soft pastels and muted tones — helped the wall read as one considered visual composition, rather than a set of individual products.

The finished Wes Anderson gallery wall

A small part of something bigger

Since opening, Wes Anderson: The Archives has been widely praised for its attention to detail and celebration of the craft behind Anderson’s films — from sets and graphics to objects and design thinking. That same care carries through into the exhibition shop, where the posters and prints feel less like merchandise and more like extensions of the show itself.

For us, it was a reminder of why picture frames matter. When they’re done well, they don’t shout. They quietly support the work, letting great design speak for itself.

If you visit Wes Anderson: The Archives, we'd love to know what you think!

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