Consumers are increasingly favouring items that go beyond ownership and extend to meaningful experience.

Keen to harness this trend and drive increased sales, retailers are coming up with innovative ways to create a new kind of shopping experience where online and offline fuse: they’re no longer discernible spaces or experiences, but in fact a necessary duality.

Savvy retailers should be looking towards technology that optimises digital integration, like smart change rooms that anticipate a users’ needs before they know what they want themselves, like the ‘Oak Mirror’.

The Oak Mirror uses RFID product recognition to identify items brought into the change room. It allows users to instantly request sizes, view recommendations and check out all within the one application.

Added bonuses include language selections – a bonus for brands situated in tourism hot spots – and mood lighting modes.

Many retailers are also deploying beacon technology, which enables micro location contextual targeting .

One of the most interesting things about this is how companies are adapting this technology to create engaging ways to interact with customers. Examples include Macy’s beacon-triggered mobile app game that engages shoppers through push notifications. These notifications encourage the user to participate in the digital experience with a chance to win gift codes and other prizes.

Beyond creating a unique experience, digital retail integration offers pioneering adapters better insights into typically hard-to-capture customer behaviour data.

This data lives a second life as it then goes on to feed how you effectively run your business from logistics to product range. Perhaps the war between online and offline has met its match – the harmonised synergy of both.

– Siobhan Creal

BrandCulture is looking for a passionate Senior Branded Environmental Designer with a range of outstanding projects within their portfolio. Specialising in strong graphics with a great understanding of brand identities, placemaking, signage and wayfinding within a variety of sectors – corporate interiors, education, hospitality, retail and public spaces.

This role will extend across initial spatial planning, design development and documentation, as well as liaising with major stakeholders, attending client presentations and site meetings.

ESSENTIALS

Must have a minimum of 5 years experience and confidently take a project from design through to finished art, completing with detailed construction documentation, along with supervising the production and installation. The successful candidate will have an ingrained sense of attention to detail, and ‘ownership’ of their projects from start to finish. Must have a good understanding of the customer journey, creation of touch points and thorough knowledge of specifying materials for production.

We would like you to be adaptable, proactive and proficient, with skill sets in InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator.

KEY ATTRIBUTES

• Conceptually creative and strong graphic design skill with an excellent eye for detail
• A thorough understanding of wayfinding principles and planning
• A good understanding of signage specification and construction details
• Maintain consistent graphic standards guidelines
• Good communication skills when working with both internal and external stakeholders
• Liaise with signage vendors for materials and specifications
• Proactive in identifying potential issues
• The ability to work efficiently and effectively without guidance
• Lead projects and brief junior staff autonomously
• Ability to work across multiple projects
• Works well in a busy studio environment
• Above all holds a true passion for design

ABOUT US

BrandCulture is an award-winning design consultancy that works with clients across the three key disciplines (branding, environments and wayfinding) to ensure their brands live in the hearts and minds of their employees, stakeholders and customers. We are passionate about our work, positive, friendly in nature and believe open communication is essential.

APPLICATION

This is a full time position (however contractors are welcome to apply) and is based at our offices in Rushcutters Bay. Salary will be based upon applicant’s experience.

If this sounds like you please email your portfolio, resume and salary expectations. We would love to hear from you!

Email directly to: leigh@brandculture.com.au

In a few weeks’ time, a few of us from BrandCulture will be taking part in Off-Grid events in Sydney and Wellington, and we’re excited to see how the line-up of speakers is taking shape.

Off-Grid is hosted by the Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD), which describes its keynote speakers as “provocateurs”. There are three in particular we’re curious to meet because their work will challenge the way we think about experiential design in Australia.

Andrew Balster, Archeworks (Chicago)

Andrew is an architect but his practice stretches into areas of experience design, urban planning, sustainability, and social research.

Archeworks is much more interested in repurposing existing spaces than building new ones, and Andrew’s experiments are breathing life into dead districts, and making new out of old, which is a philosophy that appeals to us at BrandCulture.

It’s also interesting that Arcehworks is part studio, part design school. Students use design to address complex social issues, like shifting perceptions of public housing (below) or finding ways to re-use construction debris.

Uwe Brückner, Atelier Brückner (Stuttgart)

Uwe is an architect at Atelier Brückner, which is famous for creating exhibitions, architectural and spatial experiences that distil complicated subjects into entertaining experiences.

We’re especially interested in Uwe’s brand collaborations (like its futuristic designs for BMW Museum, below) given that BrandCulture often designs spaces and experiences in partnership with leading Australian brands like Atlassian, Westfield and Telstra.

Morag Myerscough, Studio Myerscough (London)

Morag is founder of Studio Myerscough, a group that reimagines hospital wards, trains, blank walls and empty spaces into bold, colourful places that captivate visitors and tell a story, like The Temple of Agape (below), which was designed by Myerscough and Morgan for a cultural event at London’s Southbank Centre.

We’re curious to learn about Morag’s approach to designing experiences that spark connections and a feeling of belonging, which is something we set out achieve whenever we’re designing branded environments and wayfinding systems here at BrandCulture.

Andrew, Uwe and Morag are all speaking at talks, tours and explorations in Wellington on 20-21^st February. Other Off-Grid events will be hosted by dotdash in Brisbane, Frost* Collective in Sydney, DINZ & Alt Group in Auckland and Te Putahi in Christchurch.

Purchase tickets to Off Grid 17 events here

There’s something very appealing about travelling off-grid – disconnecting from daily life and experiencing something new.

Which is why we’re looking forward to participating in Off Grid 17 next February.

Off Grid 17 isn’t another conference; it’s an “unconference” created just for designers by the Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD).

As an unconference, Off Grid 17 is basically far less structured than a traditional conference – think less Powerpoint sessions, and more informal chats in unexpected places.

Off Grid 17 is being dubbed as ‘a unique design driven way to experience Australia & New Zealand’ for ‘designers seeking experiential adventure’.

We love this idea of travelling with other designers as an intellectual exercise. The journey begins in four different cities: Sydney and Brisbane on February 16, and Christchurch and Auckland on February 17.

Participants then need to make their way to the main event in Wellington on February 21–22, and getting there is all part of the experience.

As for the main event, there won’t be speakers so much as four “provocateurs” – well-known designers from around the world, who’ll stoke thoughtful conversations in cinemas, bars, and galleries around Wellington.

Off Grid 17 is co-organised by designer Nick Kapica, SEGD’s Wellington Chapter Chair.

He says: “It only makes sense to explore the content in the most appropriate setting. If we are talking about museums, we’ll be in a museum.”

“Participants will be challenged to explore and define what experience design is and to imagine the future of experience design in contexts like city infrastructure, educational curriculum, and design practices.”

Sounds like our kind of conference.

Find out more or buy tickets here

I shot the sheriff but I didn’t shoot no deputy.

Try getting that out of your head after a whole Show & Tell session dedicated to sheriffs… I mean serifs. Last week the topic was “Show us your serif”, where the BrandCulture team each selected a serif font we admired and discussed it over Pinot, Pure Blonde and Pringles. We at BrandCulture take our typography seriously, so much that we once had a quiz entitled “Arial or Helvetica”.

First up was Nick, who gave the team an ancient history lesson with an image of Trajan’s column. Completed in AD113, the freestanding column is famous for its spiral bas relief, which depicts the epic wars between the Romans and Dacians. A beautiful piece of art, the serif inscription translates to “The Senate and people of Rome [give or dedicate this] to the emperor Caesar, son of the divine Nerva, Nerva Traianus Augustus Germanicus Dacicus, pontifex maximus, in his 17th year in the office of tribune, having been acclaimed 6 times as imperator, 6 times consul, pater patriae, to demonstrate of what great height the hill [was] and place [that] was removed for such great works”.

A debate was spawned when Tash’s image of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens poster posed the question of whether or not a serif was present. Being a 150 by 150 pixel image, the team (especially the designers) was certain that “The Force Awakens” was made up of san serif lettering, however a quick google search indicated that the words were embellished with subtle serifs. Show & Tell has certainly taught us that Tash needs a lesson or two on image resolution, but that’s another story.

Show & Tells never cease to be educational as we once again received a typography lesson from Tom, informing us that serif faces are regarded as more legible than its amputated counterpart, as they are almost always used in print for large passages of text. The serif faces allow the eye to flow more easily over the text, improving reading speed and reducing eye fatigue. An image of the bottom half removed from a string of serif words showed us that lowercase lettering, as opposed to uppercase allowed for greater legibility.

Honourable mentions include Jules who had no image, but raised his fist in defence. The underside of his forearm, etched in Nirvana lyrics, revealed the typeface Onyx that the band used for their album covers. The heartfelt ode was followed by Rachel, who revealed in an image the slight variations in the influential typefaces Didot and Bodoni. Overlaid, the disparities become obvious. For example the uppercase ‘J’ descends beyond the baseline and overall the Didot typeface has more of an air of elegance, effeminacy and refinement, aligning with its use on Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar covers for decades.

If a picture paints a thousand words, then a map illustrates far more. The London Underground map has progressed from a simple geographically accurate portrayal of lines in 1908 to a constantly reinterpreted piece of iconic modernist art. Even in its most basic form, the evolution of the Tube map is a fascinating glimpse through London’s history, cataloguing the growth of the city over 100 years.

The Tube map was perpetually changing before the development of the iconic map in 1931. The first map designed in 1908 shows eight hand drawn lines concentrated around Central London, north of the River Thames. Interchanges weren’t clearly rendered, yet in an attempt to be geographically accurate, the above ground streets and sinuous rail lines were superimposed onto the map. As train lines extended, retaining a geographically correct map would have meant that the centre, being the most important area, would become increasingly dwarfed and illegible. For a bird with x-ray vision, it would have been an authentic depiction; for commuters, it proved to be utterly baffling.

That would change in 1931, when Harry Beck, an engineering draftsman for the London Underground Signals Office began work on his prototype design for the map. Beck began by replacing the existing meandering curves with straight lines. He distorted its scale by spacing stations equidistantly and discarded the above ground street grid. The outcome was a visually clean design, inspired by a circuit board diagram and eschewing geographic precision for legibility and order. Graphic designer and Beck biographer Ken Garland declares that the map’s most innovative feature is its “convex lens” that disproportionately enlarges the area around central London. Beck redefined the very essence of the map and design history was made.

Underground authorities were not convinced by the radical idea. Public officials first greeted the map with apprehension, fearing it would be too radical a departure from the original, but eventually agreed to print it in pocket form in January 1933. It was published in poster format by March of that year, and before long, became the new standard across all of London. It also quickly influenced designs internationally, notably in Sydney, which we believe was the first to develop its own similar transit map in 1939.

Today it’s the most recognisable and influential transit map in the world, continuing to be reinterpreted around the globe. The current Tube map shows a sprawling network of undergrounds, overgrounds and even cable cars. It may have foregone the rough charm of the original but the modern London Underground map is possibly the most practical and most used piece of art in the world.

Every fortnight on a Friday the BrandCulture team have a tradition of Show and Tell. When the clock strikes 5pm, we drop our Wacom tablet pens and gather around the table, nominating a team member to present a flight of fancy such as a recent holiday or challenging each other about design related topics. We’ve essentially adopted the nostalgic primary school exercise, except now we’re permitted to indulge in pale ales, a glass (or three) of shiraz and the Department of Health’s recommended monthly intake of saturated fats. And so we’ve decided to create a blog series, sharing some of our Show and Tell sessions.

Last week, the topic of discussion was ‘Posters from the 60s and 70s’. We perused a portfolio of pictures on the projector and guessed which one belonged to which team member, followed by an explanation as to why we admired it.

We expected Todd, our Senior Designer and zealous devotee to 60s and 70s music to produce a vintage psychedelic poster of Jimi Hendrix. But he surprised us with a far more abstract Jan Lenica lithograph titled Wozzeck, which we thought bore comparison with the Pale Man, the child-devouring albino demon from the film Pan’s Labyrinth. The humble character accompanied the poster with an anecdote from his days as an art school student, whereby his recreation of the lithograph couldn’t be distinguished from the original, earning him Honours status.

A pair of team members coincidentally had a similar palette for posters as Tash revealed the iconic Jaws movie poster and Jules set forth an image of a slightly less menacing aesthetic, with an appropriation of the film poster labelled Paws. It has become clear that his recent adoption of cats has mellowed him.

Honourable mentions include Nick’s nod to his Russian roots with a propaganda poster that activates the expression “the pen is mightier than the sword” and the two-tone advertisement for the Ueno Zoo by Japanese graphic designer Kazumasa Nagai, which could easily be mistaken for something that was composed today.

Consider a typical day through the eyes of a blind person. If in an instant you were to lose your sense of sight, something as simple as the daily commute or even making your morning coffee becomes an arduous task. When a person becomes or is born visually-impaired, they must learn the skills and techniques to allow for a more accessible lifestyle. A person with a disability has a right to equal access and opportunity, and has the right to be able to navigate their way throughout life as well as their sighted counterpart.

Standards Australia (SA) is a not-for-profit organisation that consults with government, industry and community to develop Australian Standards to help ensure the safety, reliability and performance of products, services and systems. The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) was established in 1992 by federal Parliament, making it unlawful to disadvantage someone because of their disability, and together with established Standards it seeks to improve the quality of life for people deemed legally blind.

SA is at present developing a new draft ‘Wayfinding’ Standard (AS1428.4.2). The draft Standard defines the method by which information systems communicate about the identity of a building, its occupants, facilities and location, ensuring it is done in an accessible manner.

As wayfinding designers, the detail and precision that goes into the design of Braille and tactile signage is something that is often overlooked. For example, in accordance with the proposed new Standard, a single signage family must utilise an approved san serif font; demonstrate an acceptable luminance contrast (the disparity of light reflection between two elements); and comply to standards pertaining to height and orientation, to the millimetre. It’s a specialised area of design that requires a meticulous eye.

The BrandCulture team have undertaken a seminar with a leading DDA consultant in preparation for these revisions, expected to be effective by 2018. We’ve acknowledged that these changes will tremendously impact the future of wayfinding design and are planning for this newly acquired information across all our projects as we speak.

The rapid development of assistive technology in recent years has generated a sea change for people with disabilities. Digital technology specialist Fingermark have evolved an interactive system specifically for people with disabilities in the health care sector. With patient features such as self check-in, navigation and the ability for people to keep track of their appointment status remotely.

To further advance accessibility, BrandCulture has developed the Physical Asset Manager system (PAM) with text-to-speech capabilities. Recently we’ve implemented NFC technology into the University of Technology Sydney’s (UTS) new wayfinding system, whereby a user has the capacity to produce the wayfinding system on their phone by scanning QR codes and NFC chips built into directories and totems. With the information in the palm of their hands, a visually-impaired user is able to use text-to-speech guidance to ease navigation throughout the prodigious campus.

The team is proud to be able to make a positive contribution towards accessibility within the environment as assistive technologies advance everyday.

Appearing unannounced, the pop-up is a trend that captivates attendees by constructing a feeling of relevance, interactivity and urgency. Often a pop-up will appear in unconventional environments such as abandoned warehouses, city laneways and empty lots, all adding to the shroud of ‘cool’ that a pop-up exudes.

This temporal trend takes advantage of modern society’s thirst for instant gratification, dubbed ‘nowism’, whereby we crave instant products and experiences. By posting images and reviews, tweeting and ‘checking-in’, we contribute to the real-time identity of a product. As society strives to ‘live in the now’, we seek to collect as many experiences as possible, in turn feeding the pop-up business model. It is informal, of-the-moment and satisfies our appetite for obtaining exclusivity.

Big brands have adopted and transformed this model into an intelligent marketing strategy. A great example of this is a Copenhagen pop-up store created by Danish chocolatier, Anthon Berg. Bringing their slogan of “You can never be too generous” to life, the store established an ingenious marketing campaign by which participants could pay for their product, not with cash or credit cards, but with the promise of a good deed for a loved one such as “breakfast in bed” or “don’t comment on your girlfriend’s driving for a week”. Bridging the gap between the digital and the physical world, customers had to pledge their deeds on Facebook using iPads in store, further advertising the premium chocolate brand.

Coffee giant Illy took the term ‘pop-up’ rather literally with aptly named ‘The Push Button House’. At the push of a button, it transforms from a regular coffee stand into a cargo container building, revealing a fully furnished living area.

The collaboration between Urbantainer and Adidas fused environmental design, light installations and enhanced experience touch points in their pop-up to create a unified brand experience for the launch of the Boost running shoe. The ‘Boost Energy Lab’ comprised of the ‘Display Zone’ which accented the functionality and design of the Boost, and the ‘Experience Zone’, in which visitors were able to test the footwear.

The pop-up model proves that the brand experience is just as important as the product itself. As consumers expect brands to offer experiences outside the ordinary, our role as environmental designers is to enrich the physical landscape. We must establish a brand’s values and immerse the public within a space, keeping in mind that it will be taken down as swiftly as it took to construct. Although only temporary, the experience should leave a lasting impression in the minds of the audience.

Recently “Google Maps” adopted the iconography from Transport for NSW (TfNSW) for the City of Sydney’s ferry, train and light rail services. Already in use in other global cities such as Paris (with the use of the official Metro icon) and London (London Underground and National Rail icons), Google’s design approach is consistent with the company’s belief in helping people “easily explore the world’s information.”

Consistent iconography has become increasingly relevant with the development of multi-platform technologies and the transition into digital wayfinding. How often have you used “Google Maps” to get from A to B? Icons are powerful symbols, which effectively and efficiently communicate information without overwhelming or distracting the user. If it looks good – even better!

Google’s change of graphics reflects an important aspect of design thinking and wayfinding: smoothing the transition from two-dimensional map viewing to the three-dimensional physical experience. Consistent use of symbols helps to simplify this transition and the user’s navigation through unfamiliar environments.

On a more subconscious, subtle level, the use of the new icons helps to extend Transport for NSW’s established brand colours into the digital wayfinding realm. This, in turn, helps to strengthen the Brand’s identity and recognition in a visually saturated world.

The adoption of this iconographic system heralds an even more connected and digital future, which BrandCulture is proud to be involved in.

All over the world strategic urban planners are imagining projects aimed at offsetting urban decay. As cities struggle to find available land for new development projects, there is a counter-movement that is rejuvenating existing urban infrastructure that are outdated and have been neglected – a legacy of the master plan age. This repurposing can reinvigorate cities and unite communities.

An example of this trend is Tempelhof Airport. During the Cold War, the airport was used by West Berliners isolated from the world during the Berlin Blockade. Its two runways accommodated a constant stream of Western cargo planes. In 2008, the airport was transformed into a park called Tempelhofer Feld; a recreational space where people could cycle, kite and grow vegetables. Tempelhof has since been used to host a plethora of fairs and events including The Berlin Marathon, fashion tradeshows, the Lollapalooza Festival and now the airport will offer refuge to thousands of asylum seekers.

Another repurposed industrial space standing in the Old Vic Tunnels in London is the House of Vans. Situated beneath Waterloo station, the footwear brand has converted five tunnels into an art gallery, a 166-seat theatre, skate bowl, street-skate course and restaurant. Intended to be a space of fellowship and fostering the London skate community, the subterranean tunnels have done much since its inception in 2014 to cultivate collaboration in the creative community.

The re-imagination or ‘derelict revival’ of stagnant urban environments enhances structures and makes them suitable for the public, while retaining notes pointing to the original character of the past. This movement allows for new commercial opportunities, but more importantly can serve as a medium for cultural exchange and community.

Once again it’s difficult to believe that we’ve come to the inevitable end of another great year. This year has been a whirlwind experience and I’m glad to have spent it with the team at BrandCulture. As a 2014 graphic design graduate from Design Centre Enmore, I joined BrandCulture in January of this year after our Creative Director spotted my work at my end of year exhibition. Wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, I had no idea of what to expect as a novice in the Environmental Design industry.

I regularly participate in our fortnightly “Lunch and Learns” where we learn about materials, paper and finishes currently on the market, contribute to internal marketing and craft customised brand collateral. Throughout the year, I’ve had the opportunity to contribute to a multitude of projects. For me, a stand out is Transport’s NSW Temporary Wayfinding project. BrandCulture were engaged to prepare a temporary wayfinding system in preparation for the biggest change to Sydney’s bus network, whereby bus services were removed from George Street and repositioned around the city. It was a shock to the system as my eyes were opened to the fast-paced nature of the studio as we planned, designed, specified, prototyped, located, set-out and artworked almost 400 signs in under a month.

To see our collaborative efforts come to life for the first time gave me an inconceivable sense of gratification. Seeing a project begin as a spark; an incomprehensible idea, through to a process of connecting dots, overcoming challenges and discovering solutions has been thoroughly rewarding for me.

At the very heart of these projects is the team. Without sounding banal, having the opportunity to collaborate with such talented designers and thinkers, and learning from truly inspiring people has been the highlight of my year. I’ve grown immensely as a person and designer in the last 12 months and am incredibly grateful for it. With that being said, I’d like to bid my farewells to 2015 and say hello to another year full of leading, living, loving and laughing with the team at BrandCulture.

As part of the jury for the 2016 Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD) Global Design Awards, we’re very proud to announce that our Managing Director Stephen Minning has been selected to serve as Chairman. Stephen will be championing a jury from a plethora of design backgrounds, including digital experience design, architecture and graphic design, design education, environmental graphic design and brand strategy.

The SEGD Global Design Awards, incepted in 1987 is the most esteemed international design competition for experiential design in the built environment. Through the amalgamation of digital technologies, placemaking and knowledge of intuitive thought, experiential design allows for effective user experiences and solid interactions between people and place.

The awards consist of seven categories: Digital Experience Content, Interactive Experiences, Placemaking and Identity, Strategy/Research/Planning, Wayfinding, Public Installations and Exhibition.

Stephen states that “Experiential graphic design continues to be enriched by digital technology and that won’t change. But beyond that, it should always be guided by Design Thinking and solid principles of design for user experiences. We’ve gathered a jury that, through its exposure to many disciplines of design, will ensure these principles are represented in the winning work.”

The 2016 SEGD Global Design Awards entries close on January 31 2016. Winners will be commended during the 2016 SEGD Conference in Seattle on June 9-11 2016.

A huge congratulations to Stephen and good luck to all entrants!

In 2005, as part of Council’s Major Projects program, it was identified that the current building and facilities housing the local State Emergency Services (SES) headquarters – built in the 1920s at 209 Livingstone Road, Marrickville – were no longer suitable. Council needed to find a new suitable location for the operation.

BrandCulture were approached by Marrickville Council to assist in the interpretive signage for the new SES facility at 3–17 Railway Road, Sydenham. The site has a poignant history and was only available due to the demolition of a large residential area when Sydney Airport’s third runway was built in 1995.

The design team had already created a silhouette of one of the original terrace houses on the west façade of the building, and referenced the property boundaries with different plantings through the landscape. BrandCulture took up this theme and tracked down the heritage architects responsible for photographing the streets prior to their demolition.

The result was a subtle façade graphic that remembers the now disappeared houses that once stood here. The ghost façades are supported by the original street numbers set within the garden beds, designed to be discovered by pedestrians on this busy thoroughfare. Finally a series of interpretive panels set behind the heritage listed remnants of the fences tells the story of the community’s bygone era.

BRIEF

Marrickville Council required interpretive and external signage along with environmental graphics for the new SES centre at Sydenham. The project was to have strong ties to the physical location of the new building and help elevate the SES brand.

INNOVATION

The reinstatement of the street numbers provides a historic context for the site that is easily accessible to the public. The numbers also provide context for both the interpretive graphic on the building facade, and the landscaping scheme. The numbers are negative cut from aluminium plates, which are embedded, in the garden bed. Plantings are encouraged to grow through the numbers symbolising new life and change whilst always remembering the past.

CHALLENGE

Due to the low resolution of the original terrace house photograph, BrandCulture had to meticulously re-create the image using vector illustration. Once the desired image was created, a vertical ‘screen’ was devised to help soften the edges and add dimension to the heritage graphic.

To help elevate the brand experience BrandCulture decided to stick to a singular colour for the façade graphic, the SES orange. This bold statement of colour helps create and enforce brand recognition whilst complimenting the architectural finishes of the building.

SUSTAINABILITY

Each interpretive plaque was finished in an anti-graffiti film, which helps maintain the longevity of the signage and eliminates the need to constantly re-print the graphic panels should they be vandalised.

The seclusion graphics on all glazing surfaces is a sustainable polyester based material that is optically clear and has a ‘hard’ surface. Blue inks were printed/backed on using Ultra Violet (UV) heat lamps. This process of transferring images to film does not use solvents and the biodegradable polyester film is more environmentally friendly over using PVC-based vinyls.

We track sustainability three ways: working efficiently whilst being conscious of our carbon footprint at every opportunity, specifying sustainable materials in addition to maintaining ethical work practices in the production of our branded environments and, finally, creating designs that can last for years; ideally the duration of the interior fit out.

The AGDA Design Awards have been Australia’s hub for creative excellence, since 1992. The awards have grown vastly across the event’s 20 year history, much like the organisation itself.

Bringing a bunch of talented, international and local creatives to judge and discuss, each of the work submitted find those deserving of a Finalist, Distinction or Pinnacle.

This year the Design Awards was held in the Crystal Ballroom at the iconic Luna Park with spectacular views of the harbour, flowing champagne and our favourite for the evening – pinnacle ice sculpture table settings. The address was by Paul Van Barneveld (President & QLD Region Director) and Liz Grant (President Elect & ACT Region Director) and hosted by Christopher Doyle and Ian Haig, who definitely kept the room alive. It was announced that our very own Stephen Minning is joining the AGDA Board of Directors, as NSW Region Director for next year.

The AGDA Design Awards are about recognising the best work happening in Australia and New Zealand at any given time. It gives us the chance to all get together for a yearly ‘catch up’ and ‘celebrate’ everything that is ‘innovative’ in the creative world.

This year BrandCulture was nominated under the Wayfinding/Signage & Envrionmental category for the UTS Smart Wayfinding, a collaboration with Frost*Collective. Although we didn’t receive the awards, we did have a wonderful night.

Importantly, the prestigious Pinnacle Award classification has been retained to acknowledge truly outstanding work and therefore, we would like to congratulate all of this year’s winners.

In tandem with their re-branding in 2012, Telstra embarked on a journey of Workplace Transformation, redefining their Workplace Strategy and Guiding Principles. Telstra’s Future Ways of Working is a program that creates environments to promote new and effective ways for Telstra employees, consultants and clients to collaborate whilst showcasing the benefits of the technology we sell. BrandCulture were brought on-board to help incorporate Telstra’s brand into the new workspaces. Spanning across 16 levels of their 400 George Street, Sydney HQ, a landmark building at the intersection of Sydney’s two busiest streets, BrandCulture successfully implemented holistic branding elements and wayfinding in the environment that compliments Telstra’s current and ongoing vision.

BRIEF

Telstra’s Workplace Strategy and Guiding Principles provided the framework and foundation for brand inclusion in the new environment. Telstra’s purpose is ‘To Create a Brilliant Connected Future for everyone”, our purpose was to create branding in the environment to bring the purpose to life. Telstra wanted to identify ways for the brand culture to be visually expressed through these new dynamic environments. Along with project partners Davenport Campbell, BrandCulture were to ensure the work place expressed 3 vital qualities at specific touch points – colour, energy and angularity. It was imperative that the environment distilled the timeless and critical elements of the brand, remained simple and open but executed with courage. The strength of the Telstra brand comes from cumulative impact – at every point of connection, BrandCulture had to ensure this was true in their new workplace environment.

INNOVATION

To accompany the core brand elements within the space, we developed the ‘Site Story’ signature pieces. After exploring an extensive archive of images from Telstra Museums and brand assets from marketing departments we selected a ‘gallery’ of images that represented the local context of 400 George St, an A grade landmark building located at the commercial centre of the CBD; including past, present and future technologies. The digitally printed canvases were depicted within standing phone booths, tucked away from the main workplace for privacy and treated visually as a contemporary ‘art gallery experience’ throughout the building. Their purpose is to make people feel connected, while visually enriching the working environment.

CHALLENGE

Telstra and Davenport Campbell developed, tested and enhanced a methodology for the FWoW floor plans including a variety of spaces flowing from active, energetic areas and connected areas through to more private, focused work spaces . Part of our challenge was to ensure our graphics mirrored and complimented this methodology.

We also needed a way to have Telstra’s distinct colour ‘spectrum’ traverse all 16 levels of the building, without overwhelming the space, and ensure our design could seamlessly integrate into any future FWoW floors. To help infuse the Telstra ‘spectrum’ within the space BrandCulture used a 3M di-chroic, colour shifting film, a material perfectly suited to support the 3 vital brand drivers – colour, energy & angularity. The infusion of strategically placed di-chroic film at specific touch points helped enhance the visitor experience and harbour their brand culture.

SUSTAINABILITY

What might look like a random cut of shapes placed in irregular areas is actually a carefully devised installation strategy to help minimise cost, maximise effect and ultimately reduce wastage. We track sustainability three ways: working efficiently whilst being conscious of our carbon footprint at every opportunity, specifying sustainable materials in addition to maintaining ethical work practices in the production of our projects and, finally, creating designs that can last for years; ideally the duration of the interior fit out.

In January 2014 the Telstra brand bought to life their new brand strategy, ‘Creating a Brilliant Connected Future for Everyone’. To coincide with the launch, the redevelopment of the corporate space was formed at 400 George Street, Sydney. This lead to a great opportunity to infuse the brand within the physical space and represent a uniquely ‘Telstra’ experience.

We were engaged to bring the brand to life, injecting personality and creating spaces people would enjoy coming back to. The new world of colour was an opportunity – to better represent the diversity within employees, customers, products and services and by incorporating principles from the brand strategy development phase, creating environments that feel like they are brilliant and connected.

To accompany the brand elements, we developed the ‘Site Story’ signature pieces. Images were selected that represented local context including past, present and future technology at 400 George Street, long known as a technology hub. The digital canvases were depicted within phone booths tucked away from the main workplace for privacy and treated visually as a contemporary ‘art gallery experience’ throughout the building. Their purpose is to make people feel and be connected on both an emotional and physical level, while also visually enriching people lives and supports the vision for Telstra. It’s HOW we connect.

In 2012 Telstra underwent a major brand relaunch, moving to a world of colour – to better represent the diversity of people, customers, products and services. BrandCulture were engaged to implement the brand refresh into the headquarters at 400 George Street, Sydney. The special materials reflect brand personality within energetic dichroic films and brand infused anodised aluminium wayfinding, connecting the audience to the brand and creating a more dynamic workplace.

The over-arching strategy was to distil the critical brand elements in a timeless manner that will form the basis of the accommodation standards for next 20 years. This new working environment offers more customised spaces than you would expect in a corporate headquarters – full-focus zones through to energised, collaborative and social spaces.

BrandCulture defined a beginning to end user experience, incorporating signage & wayfinding, brand signature environmental graphics to support the brand narrative and injected personality by creating spaces for people to explore and enjoy. The integration of the ‘Story of the Site’, depicted within phone-booths on every floor were visually treated as a gallery experience. Implementing colours, materials, content and technology to elevate the brand mission and value.

Chatswood Chase experiential brand activation.

BrandCulture was very excited to be given the opportunity to design an installation for the West End of Chatswood Chase Shopping Centre. The installation would activate the area by creating a new experience for shoppers. Two giant light-boxes, displaying messages, beautiful visions and motion videos of seasonal graphics with ‘Life is’ 3D oversized letters, sitting on top of a bridge, connecting the two illuminated pods. If you are in the area, go check it out…..!

Chatswood Chase experiential brand activation.

Chatswood Chase experiential brand activation.

Life Is Beautiful by BrandCulture for Chatswood Chase on Vimeo.

A branded environment for energy company QGC reveals the length and breadth of one of Australia’s largest capital infrastructure projects. Owned by the global BG Group, QGC is a leading Australian natural gas explorer and producer. It is developing Queensland Curtis LNG (QCLNG).

QGC is leading the way sourcing this new cleaner energy resource and reducing the global dependence on coal powered stations, this environment tells that story.

THE PROJECT
QCLNG is due to begin pumping gas in 2014. To celebrate this milestone, Queensland Gas Company asked BrandCulture to bring the brand to life in the interior of the new QCLNG Control Centre aka ‘The QGC Hub’.

The control centre is a highly functional space. But it’s also where QGC brings VIP clients when they want to show off their “factory floor”. Our brief was to tell the story of the QCLNG and demonstrate QGC’s pride in its achievements, commitment to safety and the financial benefits it brings to Queensland, through an innovative and engaging branded environment reflecting of their organisation’s values.

The brand story starts the moment you walk out of the lift. The lobby is framed by a 3D ribbon which represents the gas pipeline from the Surat Basin drilling sites to the Curtis Island production plant where the liquefied natural gas (LNG) is exported from to other countries.

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In the breakout space the magnitude of the project becomes apparent with a map of QLD Queensland on the wall identifying drill sites and pipelines across the state. A massive mirrored wall is overlayed with a map of the project’s infrastructure.

As you enter the main work environment … the LNG export market is explained in recessed orange “gas bubbles” and chromed pins pierce the high gloss white walls to form the word “export”. More bubbles explain the benefits of gas over dirtier fuels such as oil and coal.

The story continues throughout the floor, with images of ships, helicopters, trucks, gas pipelines, water treatment ponds, and gas liquefaction plants featuring on the glass walls dividing the integrated collaborative environments and the corridors. Along the central corridor the entire LNG process is captured in an environmental graphic depicting the journey from the drilling well to the ships.

PROJECT INNOVATION
The 3D pipeline ribbon was formed from a continuous 23 metre piece of Marblo reconstituted stone.

Black domed resin dots were used to create tactile words for each of the control rooms, named after key components of the infrastructure and operational workforce.

The breakout map was created by laminating the map graphic into the layers of the mirrored glass panels. T, this achieved the desired mirror colour, but also allowed the infrastructure footprint to easily be updated by removing or adding orange film to the face of the mirror’s surface as stages of the infrastructure project came online.

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. 

MLC has always embodied a culture of cutting-edge innovation, derived from James P Garvan, the founding father of the organisation in 1887. Garvan’s vision brought life insurance to the masses, it was no longer limited to society’s elite, this sense of frontier-style thinking continues to this day and is very much aligned to Australian popular culture. MLC not only took on the English financial institutions back in the day, but was a foundation block of Martin Place in Sydney’s CBD and key to establishing North Sydney’s CBD. MLC is inherently a patron of modernist architecture, a leader of innovative financial investment products and a champion of modern work place culture. 

In 2000, Bligh Voller Neild Architects introduced glass stairwells through the centre of the building to facilitate vertical pedestrian traffic between floors. The architects also introduced the integration of completely ‘themed’ floors, an innovation of work place environments. Each floor is an extremely different experience, which is refreshing when in such a large building (25,000SqM over 12 floors). Many have attempted to copy this formula with varying degrees of success compared to MLC.

BRIEF

2012 marked the 125th Anniversary of MLC and this coincided with the refurbishment of the building by Woods Bagot Architects. To celebrate this momentous occasion, CEO Steve Tucker chose to acknowledge the importance of the organisation’s heritage. Several individuals were empowered with the challenge and undertook a study tour of other leading workplaces to determine the best practice approach to creating a strong brand culture. 

Woods Bagot recommended BrandCulture to the MLC study tour team for our environmental graphics heritage work for Sydney Water, Westfield and George Weston Foods. We were immediately engaged and underway on one of our most impressive projects to date.

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INNOVATION

The basement of the MLC campus headquarters housed the archives since the company’s inception and before… It was hard to fathom just how much information was stored there. Our team consisting of a content producer, photographer, designer and writer spent three continuous weeks establishing the MLC ‘blood line’ story. 

The two stairwells traverse the height of the building; one is essentially a glass box and the other is open with glass floors. With both stairwells you can look up or down through the building with uninterrupted views but for the stairs. These became the canvas for us to tell the MLC story with a continuous glass wall, 30 metres high by 7 metres wide (approximately  210 Square metres of surface area).

CHALLENGE

At MLC, there are many key people who believe in creating a better brand culture. We collaborated closely with them to define the MLC story. During the project, the 125th Anniversary book (Bounce Books) was underway and a short movie (Solid state) was also produced, for the yearly financial advisers’ meeting in November 2012.

Each floor was re-themed using modern vernacular and the interiors were modernised. There was no need to reinvent the floor themes, just to evolve these very well liked and lived in concepts. Wood Bagot created another world leading environment and Built was engaged to realise the overall vision for the MLC campus. BrandCulture consulted with Woods Bagot and MLC on the best way to interpret the MLC Heritage story using environmental graphics.

A gallery-style design treatment, for the environmental graphics, was decided on for its ability to flow through the diverse visual language of each floor and remain a ‘piece’ on its own. The main visual narrative applies to one side of the 30 metre high glass wall with information to add context while navigating the stairs, but not to hinder traffic flow. On the office side, the stories are elaborated on and relate to the many images. The history has three main story lines: MLC, Australia’s financial industry and defining moments in world history that changed the way we live.

SUSTAINABILITY

The glass stairwell was built 12 years earlier, so consideration to the application of graphics to the existing structure required innovative and safe thinking. The film itself is a sustainable polyester based material that is optically clear and has a ‘hard’ surface. Black and white inks were printed/backed on using Ultra Violet (UV) heat lamps. This process of transferring images to film does not use solvents and the biodegradable polyester film is more environmentally friendly over using PVC-based vinyls.

We track sustainability three ways: working efficiently whilst being conscious of our carbon footprint at every opportunity, specifying sustainable materials in addition to maintaining ethical work practices in the production of our branded environments and, finally, creating designs that can last for years; ideally the duration of the interior fitout.

With the move to a new office in the Sydney CBD, the Australian Human Rights Commission wanted the opportunity to express what they stood for and if you are going to stand for anything what better cause could there be than Human Rights. BrandCulture were inspired by the opportunity to undertake this project in collaboration with Woodhead International Interiors team, Jones Lang Lasalle Property and Property Advisory Australia.

After the two World Wars and the atrocities that were suffered globally The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was written. Quote ‘Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people’.

This essential text resonates for all employees at this Australian Government department in one way or another. BrandCulture undertook a typographic exploration throughout the new office environment on Pitt Street, Sydney. There was a need for wayfinding and environmental graphics which came together in a successful branded environment.

As you enter the office on Level three you are welcomed by offset hanging black boxes inlaid into a wall of timber beams connecting the floor to the ceiling. Excerpts taken from the declaration, run sporadically from floor to ceiling on the timber beams, full articles are annotated on the black boxes and ‘key messaging’ is pulled out through typographic treatments to identify the importance of certain articles. This same architectural feature links the fourth and fifth floors via an open void stairwell between breakout areas within the office, signifying the need for interconnectivity throughout this organisation.

Meeting room and personnel offices are covered in typography referencing the declaration where two layers combine; a transparent coloured film with a key word or message is accentuated and overlays the full article text. The Executive offices are treated with a white print and ‘key wording’ is pulled out with orange highlights. The AHRC brand identity was realised on an up-dateable star fire glass sign in reception, the brand colour is light blue and so this became the colour used on the public floor, a deeper purple/blue was used for the administration areas and orange for the executive floor.

The Wayfinding concept on the main public floor that houses the two large hearing rooms references famous Australian Human Rights activists. For the rest of the environment room numbers were integrated into the typographic designs on the entry doors for each room. Utility rooms were identified using typography applied to the end sections of door entries so they could be seen from down the corridor.

Our Vision

Human rights: everyone, everywhere, everyday
Our Mission: Leading the promotion and protection of human rights in Australia by:

– Making human rights values part of everyday life and language;
– Empowering all people to understand and exercise their human rights;
– Working with individuals, community, business and government to inspire action;
– Keeping government accountable to national and international human rights standards;
– Securing an Australian charter of rights.

We do this by:

– Listening, learning, communicating and educating;
– Being open, expert, committed and impartial;
– Fostering a collaborative, diverse, flexible, respectful and innovative workplace.

Read more…

The tone of the CBA brand is friendly and the retail experience is all about the customer and how they can be helped to make quick, confident, informed decisions and transactions. The new branch in Darling Walk near the Sydney Convention centre makes you immediately feel ‘welcome’ by the environmental graphics featuring backlit letters protruding through the wall. Obviously inline with the Commonwealth Bank CAN campaign.

With the latest Apple iPads for banking at your fingertips, you are led though the branch via an array of inviting spaces. The tellers are at the back of the store and as you turn around to leave, the feature wall displays the very recognizable CBA logo in perspective on a clean black background. The CBA logo is amongst the most recognised symbols in Australia and a comfort to the customers and many staff who use this particular branch.

Commonwealth Bank Place (CBP) at Darling Walk is the latest development to the City of Sydney upgrade of Darling Harbour, and it looks great so if you haven’t been there then go take a look. The new offices have been designed by Francis – Jones Morehen Thorp (FJMT) to incorporate marketing in one building and the retail and investment divisions in the other, 5500 staff in all.

At street level facing the impressive new park-scape are a parade of shops and one is the new flagship branch for Sydney. Davenport Campbell detailed the interiors under the direction of CBA’s lead Architect. The Executive Manager of Retail design was familiar with BrandCulture’s work and engaged us to develop concepts for a feature wall in the branch that would show CBA’s commitment to innovative branded environments for the bank and a benchmark for future stores nationwide.

During the concept development process BrandCulture designed the new Foreign Exchange style being used on the ATM at the entry, which will now become part of the CBA brand collateral moving forward.

Featured in AGDA Online (Australian Graphic Designers Association) – view the article here…

Featured in Desktop Online – view the article here…

BrandCulture’s Creative Director, Stephen Minning talks to InDesign about Corporate identity and branded environments and as said by Ola Bednarczuk (Editor) – “Digging in and finding that magic” is one of the ways Stephen Minning describes the work of his company. Read the full article here.

Here is update as to what has been happening with BrandCulture over the past few months.

Braun Publishers (Switzerland) are publishing ‘Signage Design’ this November and are including 4 of BrandCulture’s to University of Technology, World square car park, Sydney Water and George Weston foods projects to be included.

UTS new collaborative space in the main tower is about to get a fresh new look after Hames Sharley have created 2 new lab spaces and a collaborative central atrium space below the glowing neon balls in tower 4.

CBAs new offices (Financial review article) at darling harbor incorporates a flagship branch at street level, BrandCulture have designed the feature installation in collaboration with Davenport Campbell and the CBA team to be installed for the opening in early September. BrandCulture have also been awarded the St James branch to create a separate feature installation later in the year.

Australian Human Right Commission moves into a new headquarters designed by Woodhead

on Pitt Street in Sydney’s CBD and we are branding the environment with the universal declaration of human rights across 3 floors. Office of the Australian Information Commissioner have a new office as a sub tenant if the AHRC and have decided on a design that reflects their interwoven culture and integrated approach to communications and information.

MLC Campus in North Sydney, in the 50s it was a defining piece of architecture, in 2002 the interiors were a benchmark of office environments, now Woods Bagot and BrandCulture are collaborating once again on the new latest and greatest development to the building.

More to come, so keep checking……

BrandCulture’s environmental branding project devised for The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry covers more than 38,000 square metres across two buildings in Canberra. The site required a complete brand experience that would represent the department appropriately to all staff, suppliers, visitors and clients.

Working with Reid Campbell, BrandCulture created a branded environment to reflect the Department’s varied role across Australia, with the geographically diverse landscape of Australia forming the basis of the wayfinding system and theming of the Marcus Clarke and London Circuit buildings.

Glass and stainless steel structures featuring monochromatic super-graphics form the centre-piece of each theme in the main Marcus Clarke building. Interconnected floors throughout the building alternate the themes. The top three levels house a 10-metre super-graphic feature adjacent to the staircase void.

Front-of-house areas display floor-to-ceiling iconic Australian images that span entire walls, emphasising the themes and values of the Department to all stakeholders. Consistent theme images were applied to the glass beside each meeting room and office entry, allowing visibility and transparency from the outside in. This also cleverly provides an effective level of privacy for meeting room occupants while adding visual impact and embellishment of the theme.

Staffs working areas display time-lapse graphics showing the everyday experience of individuals in industries represented by the Department: agriculture, fisheries and forestry. The rising and setting sun in the background creates a strong visual link between each floor and reflects the rhythm of the working day tied endlessly to the natural environment.

Large wayfinding panels feature in each lift lobby. Expressed through different colour schemes throughout the building, they communicate the themes that underlie the Department’s focus. Three sections can be updated individually – floor theme, map and business units. They are easily altered as the groups expand, contract and change, to cater to the Department’s commitment to the public benefit. Bespoke iconography was created for easy readability and to aid navigation, orientated in line with the geography of the building. From services such as IT, basic facilities and meeting room locations, these panels are key for guiding those who are unfamiliar with the floor layouts in both buildings.

Click here to see the projects in our portfolio section.

Mirvac WAs new office is an inspired, engaging and hospitable environment to do business. Mirvac-Fini only recently released its namesake connection with the heritage of Fini Group when this new office was built. Fini was a brand well known for a tradition of producing high-quality construction, making it a perfect fit with the Mirvac brand, BrandCulture took this as the cue to creating the branded environment.

The brief was to differentiate the environment to reflect the local culture and independence that Perth has within Australia and consider a new way to reflect the ‘living line’ and brand values. The office required an independent identity whilst remaining true to the Corporate Brand, geyer created the interior and worked with BrandCulture to bring the brand into context through the environment. This was important for the employees at Mirvac after being rebranded and relocated within a short period of time, keeping the culture strong was paramount to the company.

The ‘living line’ concept had been used in the Sydney office to great effect and again formed the backbone to this branded environment albeit in an edgier, more graphic form. In the lift lobby two stainless steel logos on 2-pac polyurethane and raw timber walls lead you into the reception where you find a wall of awards.  The ‘living line’ starts in the reception and leads you through the office across tiled and carpeted floors traversing walls, wooden beams and glass meeting rooms to ceiling tiles and down pin boards creating a sense of connectivity. The line connects all of the meeting rooms and spaces, each named after a landmark project.

Throughout the environment the brand values are infused in the use of finishes and materials. The names of meeting rooms are cut into the carpet as you enter. The meeting tables located within the main working spaces are denounced by graphics on the ceiling moulded into the ceiling tiles. The large floor to ceiling pin boards and timber ceiling beams in the breakout incorporate laser cut anodised aluminium inlays and wraps that reveal the raw materials.

BrandCulture collaborated with Davenport Campbell (Interiors) to create a fresh branded environment for Barclays Global Investors, spanning two floors of the Grosvenor Place building in the heart of Sydney’s CBD. BrandCulture’s holistic design solution focuses on positioning Barclays Global Investors as one of the largest asset managers in the global financial markets, and exploring this concept through an expressive global motif.

The design leads the user into the Barclays environment through a global graphic and journeys through representations of the global then concentrating the focus to national, and eventually to the local.

Lift lobbies feature the globe motif, emphasising Barclays’ strong brand values and position within the international market. Employing the latest printing technologies, the Lift Lobby door seclusion graphics are printed as white on ultra-clear film, which then reflects across the tiled lobby to create a classic, engaging point of entry.

The wayfinding system segments the overall floor plan into coloured sections, uniform across the two floors in order to assist cognitive mapping and ease orientation.

The Front-of-house narrows its focus to reflect aspects from each major Barclays hub across the world, giving clients a broad impression of the company’s scope and influence. The powerblades and meeting rooms reflect aspects from Barclays locations in Tokyo, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Toronto, London, New York, and Sydney.

The meeting rooms are named after each city, with seclusion graphics echoing the colour-scheme and globe motif that spans the environmental graphics on both the powerblades and offices. They portray significant landmarks from the international cities named on corresponding meeting rooms, creating an engaging environment and an effective wayfinding system.

This approach is then extended through the back-of-house offices and meeting rooms, however the focus of the graphics is narrowed once more to reflect local, Australian locations and landmarks.

BrandCulture’s holistic design explores each level of operation within Barclays Global, to finally create a strong reflection of its identity, influence and values that reach across the whole organisation.

AAPT’s branded office environments are vibrant, innovative workplaces. BrandCulture worked with HBO+EMTB to create the branding, wayfinding and graphics that convey the AAPT brand. The overall impact and clarity underlines AAPT’s values of smart, energetic, irreverent and genuine.

BrandCulture saw the opportunity to convey AAPT’s status as a beacon of technological innovation. The Sydney head office is in a prominent and visible location in the heart of the CBD, and information flows naturally within and external to the environment.

The graphic element of digital binary code ‘1’ & ‘0’ is strategically positioned across all six levels and throughout all four corners of the environment, creating a deep, illuminated visual vortex at night, drawing the eye in and elevating AAPT to iconic status from vantage points around the city.

On Level 23 Reception, a 100-ft entry brandwall featuring AAPT’s core values positions them as a people-centric organisation. BrandCulture recognised the opportunity to capture AAPT’s vision and people focus, drawing on iconic elements of digitised technology to give a strong visual and tangible feel to the business of telecommunication. The electronic ‘pulse’ emerged as a visual symbol of AAPT’s human heart and technological savvy.

Wherever stakeholders visit, they are met with the personality of each department, articulated through the unique colour palette, value statements and images that help deliver AAPT’s promise in context throughout the organisation.

Originally an OHS requirement, translucent discs at line-of-sight on glass walls were used. Customised metallic discs applied to the front and back of the glass create a 3D-effect, adding the illusion of dimensional shadow and subtle movement to passers-by. The discs spread out and merge with digital pulse graphics, continuing the texture and flow of visual technology elements though all six levels.

To maintain a transparent working environment while still providing privacy, seclusion graphics printed on optically clear film and applied in certain areas, delivers a range of visual shielding from zero to 100%, enhancing the colour theming of the floor. These elements provide seclusion for breakouts, storage areas and executive offices, allowing staff and clients to manage privacy requirements yet seamlessly blending the need to know with the desire to see beyond.