A professional walks into an office and thinks, “This is somewhere I want to work”, instead of “oh well, this is somewhere I have to work”.

They got the job and after a couple of months they’re really enjoying everyday in their new found office; becoming increasingly aware of the history, values and vision for the company. Great so far…

They find out there’s a good possibility a transfer is in order, so they talk to their HR contact and tells them they love where they live, really enjoy where they’re working and don’t want to move anywhere. Fortunately the HR contact is aware of the CEO’s vision – to create a stable working environment with happier (more profitable) employees,

so agrees that they can spend 4 days working from their current office and only one day interstate. Still looking good…

The employee is overwhelmed with everything going their way and starts to make plans to have a family and settle down. Knowing that starting a family is rather expensive and in order to do so he or she needs to earn more money, they ask their HR contact how they can move up the corporate ladder quickly. A learning and mentoring program is put in place and they excel expectations. Within 5 years they achieve everything they set out to do. Could life get better they think?

BUT then…Actually there is no ‘but then’, this isn’t the joke with the inevitable crippling punch line anymore, it’s the security and culture most corporations offer their employees. Brand cultures that actually ‘walk the talk’ and live by their brand values, appreciate their heritage and are driven by the CEOs vision…

So a customer walks into an office and is greeted by an enthusiastic, positive, well informed employee of that company and thinks “thank goodness I walked into this place.”

It makes all the difference when you interact with people who love what they do. Building a brand culture within your organisation has to start somewhere, be the person who starts the ball rolling, talk to your HR contact, ask your boss, take the initiative and make a real difference in not only your life but that of everyone around you.

Think about your values, think how you can make a difference both personally, socially and in the working environment, then give us a call.

Recently we posted a link on our Facebook page referencing a great piece of collaborative design between German company ASB Systembau and longtime glass manufacturer Kinon Porz. Called the ASB GlassFloor, this interchangeable court serves as a multi-disciplinary sports environment. The advanced flooring comprises of multiple, highly treated and hardened ceramic glass panels, below these sit carefully placed LED lighting strips. The LED strips form the basis of the courts boundaries and markers. The glass is treated specially to offer the same desired effect as hardened wood or other sports flooring so the playing ball doesn’t decide to bounce in obscure ways and the reflection is not a hinderance. The LED lighting can be toggled remotely via the flick of a switch, adapting to sports such as badminton, basketball, indoor soccer or hockey, and handball or volleyball.

This

idea is so simple it begs the question why hasn’t it been done before? Like many ideas perhaps it has been conceptualised and thought of, worked and re-worked, funded and not, either way it’s a great piece of design. It opens many doors for environmental design and wayfinding and we are sure that more of this technology will find it’s way into experience design in public spaces. The more we intergrate technology and embrace these opportunities with considered design, the more we will find ourselves being inspired by the world around us!

Are You Going to San Francisco?

When our MD, Stephen Minning returned from his recent Society of Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD) Board of Directors meeting in San Francisco, he felt a sense of pride being part of such an inspirational group of people at the forefront of this innovative and cutting edge medium. We are already planning the next trip to San Francisco for the “Above the Fog” conference June 6-8 for an exceptional three-day event to celebrate environmental graphic design (EGD).

With its theme inspired by the famous fog that descends on the San Francisco Bay, the 2013 SEGD Conference will provoke participants to look above and beyond, be inspired, and connect with designers, artists, planners, makers, and global thinkers from around the world. Through diverse conversations and innovative perspectives on culture, art, and design, the focus will be on the design strategies, visions, and new ideas that take you Above the Fog and into the blue sky. 

The event will include a great line up of experiential tours, knowledge sharing, inspirational speakers (see list below) so if you want to know what the future holds and be part of this trend in the built environment then go talk to your boss or HR manager and get inspired in an amazingly creative city! 

Here is a teaser as to what to expect….

Thursday 6 June
- Practice & Purpose Leadership Summit
& Project Tours
- SEGD Academic Summit
 Workshops: Technology, Accessibility, and Documentation

- Design Improv
- President’s Reception


Friday 7 June
- Breakfast + Registration + NEXPO
Urban Metadata: Culture: Context, and Constructs
- Lunch + NEXPO
Urban Experience: Ephemera, Exploration, Empathy
- Cocktail Reception + SEGD Auction for Education

Saturday 8 June
- Breakfast
- Global Impact: Into the Blue Sky: Global Design Visions
- Lunch + SEGD Fellow and Excellence Awards
Trending the Future: Above and Beyond- Reception + SEGD Global Design Awards

To find out more about joining this wonderful experience‘Above the fog’

please click here…

LIST OF EVENT SPEAKERS

John Bielenberg - Future
Claudia Boggio – Infinito
Anne Burdick – Art Center College of Design
Alfredo Burga – InfinitoBen Davis – Words Pictures Ideas
Chris Downey – Architecture for the Blind
Vince Frost – Frost* Design
Nik Hafermaas – Art Center College of Design/UEBERSEE
Natasha Jen – Pentagram
Tim Kobe – Eight Inc.
Sascha Lobe – L2M3 Kommunikationsdesign GmbH
Christian Moeller – Christian Moeller Studio
Tom Rockwell – Exploratorium
Tim Smith -Tim Smith Design

It’s such a great feeling when you receive a publication of such calibre as InDesign Magazine, you open it to find your work beautifully displayed over numerous pages with the words “Still Leading Edge”

As described by Paul McGillick, Editorial Director of InDesign ” The MLC & NAB Wealth Campus at North Sydney brings together a number of stories like the tributaries of river coming together. The commercial story, the architectural story and the history as a working environment” What a great project to be involved in!

The MLC Campus is an icon in its own right; once the largest commercial building in Australia and start of the new Central Business District that is now North Sydney. This defining building was designed by Bates Smart Architects and opened in 1957 by

Prime Minister Menzies to great fanfare….Read more

A message to all; Architects, Graphic, Interior & Retail Designers, Industrial & Digital Designers, Branding & Experience Consultants, Fabrication & Production Specialists and Design Educators…

SEGD – THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE, WORKING AT THE INTERSECTION OF COMMUNICATION DESIGN & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT…  ARE TURNING 40!

YOU MAY ASK – WHO ARE SEGD?

SEGD (The Society of Environmental Graphic Design) has helped foster the discipline of Environmental Graphic Design globally and as a defining educator delivers public awareness, design excellence, standards of practice, research, collaboration & community.

This forward thinking organisation has more than 1,600 members in 33 countries who work in the planning, design, fabrication, and implementation of communications in the built environment. BrandCulture is a proud member and our work has been recognised through their awards program for the last 3 years consecutively. These include Sydney Water, UTS and Multiplex projects.

We are proud to announce our MD, Stephen Minning has been appointed to the Board of Directors,

along with other elite industry professionals to name a few; Moira Gemmill (V&A Museum), Graham Hanson (Graham Hanson Design) Alex Wood (Holmes Wood), Gary Stemler (Archetype). Stephen is looking forward to embracing this opportunity and collaborating with SEGD’s new CEO Clive Roux.

We’ve been exceptionally busy of late, alongside our commitments to our clients we’ve overhauled our brand, values and vision to deliver a comprehensive, professional and inspiring offer… we hope you

will b inspired.

Most importantly, we have strived to align our online presence with who we are as an organisation and the services we provide.

We are now in an even better position to add considerable value to your next project and we’d love the opportunity to show you how.

BrandCulture is a multi-award winning design firm with a passion for branding, environmental graphics and wayfinding so take a look at the 7 things you should know about BrandCulture…

BrandCulture actively participates in social media, you can find our thoughts and news, project updates and industry conversations on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest. We would like to take you on a wonderful journey, so join us on the BrandCulture ride…

MLC Heritage Stairwell

BrandCulture has had great pleasure in developing heritage works for some of Australia’s leading brands, either as a stand-alone commission or as part of an integrated environmental graphic design project. We have been uniquely positioned (with our deep experience in branding, environments and wayfinding) to uncover, create and deliver both sensitive and inspiring results.

We collaborate with architects, interior designers and other stakeholders to create a surface skin that enhances and educates within the environment and with this have developed working methodologies that enable us to uncover insights that

todays employees and their visitors connect with. We deliver them graphically in ways that recognises the past and brings the environment to life, on time, on brand and importantly on budget.

In the latest edition of EG magazine (NO.2), the international journal of the Society for Environmental Graphic Design, Editor in Chief Pat Matson Knapp has an interesting take on the 2012 SEGD Global Design Award entrants. Like Goldilocks, the jurors were in search of designs that were not too big and not too small, not too hot and not too cold! In other words they were looking for designs that didn’t overpower or didn’t fall short of the impact it could have in its respective environment. Designs that weren’t too trendy, or,

of-the-moment and lacking in an essential vitality. In other words they were after environmental graphics, wayfinding systems and designs that were “just right”.

So with that said, BrandCulture were lucky enough to be recognised as one of these “just right” designs. The environmental graphics and wayfinding work we were commissioned to do for Sydney Water in Potts Hill, By the sweat of their brows, received a coveted Merit Award. The comprehensive EGD program we implemented for Sydney Water  celebrates their rich heritage and we’re honoured to know that industry professionals see our work as “just right”!

Just begs the question, would’ve Goldilocks got lost in the forest if there was a “just right” way finding and EGD system…?

Artwork by Kristen C.Stewart.

The BrandCulture team were lucky enough to check out the Visual Impact Image Expo at the Sydney Convention Centre in September. Among the exhibitionists were large format printers, commercial shop fitters, numerous retail display units and a host of material distributors.

Of all the visually inspiring products that caught our attention, here are a couple of our favourites…

Multicam Systems supply CNC flat bed routers, routing machines and tables for woodworking, aluminium, point of sale, aerospace, metal, engraving and solid surface machining. One of the machines they had on display was the Multicam M-1 CNC Router, see below. This multi-purpose router offers precision cutting on varied surfaces and materials. The example shown is a series of different sized punctured holes on a large aluminium sheet that when viewed at a distance creates a visible portrait. 

Another product we always find interesting, and have used in the past on The Barangaroo Delivery Authority project, was Re-board. A durable, lightweight, water resistant and eco-smart material that

can lend itself to a number of forms and shapes, in the example below a Red Bull sports bike!

BrandCulture creates unique and effective branded environments, wayfinding solutions and brand identity systems that inspire people. In a field that thrives on innovation and creativity, it is nice to know there is constant progress in technology, materiality and processes to help aid ours and your vision. 

BrandCulture’s Managing Director, Stephen Minning was selected to be on the judging panel for this years Wayfinding category in the Sydney Design Awards 2012. Stephen will join a panel of influential and highly recognised elite industry experts, to apraise the designs which will show diversity and culture of the Sydney design industry. Following the success

of the Melbourne Design Awards over the past 3 years, Sydney can now join in with it’s first round and we look forward to being part of the wonderful, high level of design and celebrating those who produce excellent design works.

Key Dates
15 October – Extended date -Entries close

19 October – Judging panel session
30 October – Finalists announced
12 November – Public voting closes

21 November – Awards Night & Design Christmas Party