Brand Patterning and Unexpected Messaging

When you work in a place, perhaps there’s a way to offer an uplifting message?
A place could be a statement of mission—
“I’m here, this is a reminder of why. I’m here.”

Having been in probably 100s of offices in my history as a designer, I’ve explored a variety of ways in which leadership look towards way of deploying messaging that relates a corporate proposition—it could be a promise, a mission, characters of value—messages intended to inspire, encircle employees and guests with notes of commitment, creativity and visioning.

In our history, we’ve examined ways of storytelling mission and visioning as intertwined objects—one, a way of committing employees to a engagement—and two, effecting journey and message in a manner that passage, anywhere on campus, deploys ideals of enterprise culture.

Like a doorway—which reaches to guests who are donors,
and to employees in the vital nature of their scientific
efforts in global wellness solutions.
Here are some exemplars.

“You’re here, here’s what we do.”
Inspiring action:

And everyday action—
“welcome, you are here to
make change in global wellbeing.”

The foundation of the working commitment.
“Your work is about this—remember
the deeper intentionality of scientific investigation.”

H E L L O
Exhibition design and messaging narrative.

Or, towards exhibitory expressions, mixing installations in messaging as a brand storytelling
in movement through the campus—mostly as
a reminder to staff, and a “welcome” to visitors.

Reasons for being stated in the journey.
These voicing could be signage-related installations that fully express the poetry as to “why you are here.”

These messaging expressions were designed, below under the founder leadership of microbiologist Ken Stuart, of SeattleBioMed—which, after its transition to Alan Aderem’s new leadership evolved to import a new strategy of systems biology. It was another scientific enterprise we worked on as brand strategists, at the request of its founder, Dr. Leroy Hood, innovator of systems biology and widely credited with its holistic strategy of integrative research.

That principle of messaging and environmental installations—the integration of messaging and art—can find their expression in any kind of brand site deployment.

For example, our corporate installations in
the Transamerica building for Diamond Foods, Kettle and Emerald Nuts brands.
These are intentionally focused on the uplift of happy snacking and healthful foods.

At the corporate offices in San Francisco, we utilized visual messaging for wall installations in large environmental graphic deployment in using ingredients as brand statements, as fundamentally as “SNACK”—
“that’s what we’re asking our customers to do, and what’s what we make.”

We created these programs under the direction of CMO Miguel Leal, COO David Colo, and CEO Brian Driscoll as a team-related uplift, as well as guest experience processions and brand statements of experientiality.

We designed these for hallways, experiencer navigation,
and conference rooms.

Kettle’s Snack stairway panel as an experiencer pathway.

A wall graphical system of Kettle ingredients in a conference room.

Hallway messaging.

Dimensional office working station for the Emerald Nuts team—
founded on the principles of the packaging

—the dimensional crystal metaphor.

For Ace Hotels—directed by Alex Calderwood’s team—there are a string of messages that capture brand character, as a kind of grin to playing on signs that are speaking to the spirit of the brand storytelling and guest experience detailing—
in this brand’s particular voice.

Do not enter becomes:

An art installation—out of…order?

Your closet confidant.

Your public working etiquette?

And entering, well—the obvious…an entry footpad.

In any case, you could think of messaging as a kind of art expression and philosophical query.

At Kind Brands, there is a statement in the name,
and perhaps this is a statement of action in graphical wall messaging.

You could be, and are…

All messaging comes down to letters, which forms words,
which lustrate the principle and the message, and read on…but the stylistic framing of those characters distinctly voice
what the import of that statement could be—and how it is read.

However, a single mark could be a larger storytelling—I gave a talk to a group of designers on this principle; this was a client discussion and presentation about the “meaning of graphics, the layering and tiering of content.”

Could this be encapsulated in a single mark?
As a signage element this would be expressed in this sign-plate, a talisman—
which I also installed in the entry of our working environment at the brand team’s headquarters.

Everyone on that team remembers that talk, as well as the mark, since many on the team collected this device for their use at home. It is the Icelandic stave mark vegivisir—the “way finder” runic compass, it symbolizes a way out, a pathway forward,
an adventure to be discovered.

The gesture of statement could be as simple as a staff, guest and donor expression,
like this installation we created and installed for the then
CEO Andrea Caupain Sanderson, at Byrd Barr Place.

In our experience, [Disney] people say that the smaller details are oftentimes the most memorable—and, perhaps, it could be more powerful—to consider a whisper over a shout. Big spectacle, has its place,
as well as the counterbalance of delicacy and restraint.

In my mind, and the team at GIRVIN, for us, it’s all about unforgettability—
in legendary experiences, what matters most?

Tim
Come. Co-create. Collaborate. Connect.
GIRVIN | Strategic Brands
Design for Hollywood | GIRVIN Digital | Dining Brands
Destination Brands | Placemaking
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Always remember: a sign is a sign—a message has staying power
as a mnemonic of employee, guest and customer’s recognition.
Like this bin I found in front of a store.
With an unfortunate message.

It was, literally, a sign.