Branding an Office
Research / Stakeholder Interviews / Focus Groups / Creative Direction / Concept Development / Iteration / Writing / Presentation
A Place of Enlightenment
With a new office space secured, building in the works, Lumina Foundation knew they wanted the space to embody their brand—beyond just a logo on the wall. Their previous office never felt like much beyond a office, but they wanted the new spot to be a place that could support their mission.
They turned to my team for help. With five unused walls, how could we advance their brand? How could we help them make this space meaningful beyond some art on the walls?
But this wasn’t a simple exercise in experiential design. Our client needed us to work with their committee, interview stakeholders, build consensus internally, lay out a plan for future maintenance, and present the plan to the whole staff in a way that would get people excited about the move.
In the end, the project was as much about stakeholder engagement and internal communication as it was about concepting and branding.
Building Consensus
We met with the committee in charge of the new office and heard their goals for the project: to ensure everyone had a say in what was featured, educate guests on who the foundation is and why its work is important, and showcase their close ties Indianapolis.
To meet these goals, we held a series of focus groups with staff members to hear their perspective, learn what these overarching goals meant to them, and what they wanted to see at the office on a daily basis.
What we heard was: they feel that students are at the heart of their work, they see diversity as an asset, they want to ensure the office feels inclusive, they want ways to keep the walls updated and fresh, and, finally, they wanted a cohesive storyline for the displays—it should all feel like it’s meant to be there.
We created three concepts that would accomplish these goals, and with a few rounds of feedback and iteration, landed on a plan.
An Educational Space
We called our final concept “Bringing into Focus: Perspectives on Lumina,” and it worked to tell the ongoing story of Lumina on a few levels.
Each wall had a separate function: to collect and display the notes and stories from partner organizations, to share why staff are passionate about being a part of Lumina, to situate people in the larger history and place of Indianapolis. These displays were custom built and designed to work together, to grow, and to be updated when needed.
Throughout the process, we worked with staff members to get their feedback, consult on areas within their expertise, and lay out plans for the maintenance of the exhibits. It allowed us to create spaces with ongoing functions, rather than static designs.
We created a multimedia gallery wall that will display a rotating collection of images, videos, and art. We put a plan in place for departments to take turns curating the space so they can show their unique perspective on the impact the organization has made. A QR code leads viewers to a website with curation notes to learn more about each featured piece.
The frames were custom built to be able to change out each image and to work seamlessly with the TVs that display images, notices, slideshows, and videos in support of the surrounding gallery.
We designed the walls of the main hallway to hold the history of Lumina and the people who made it happen with a custom timeline featuring accomplishments on one side and a staff feature wall on the other.
Each staff member’s portrait includes a profile about drew them to Lumina’s mission, how long they’ve been with the organization, and where they’re located—making it easy to better understand how the team is connected to one another. The wall also makes it easy to rearrange the staff according to whatever connections they’d like to draw out at the moment, whether that’s by department, years on staff, or location.
A separate area features a board displaying rotating messages—it’s a place to celebrate what’s happening right now. The team is working to integrate it’s kudos system into it with the next update to their intranet.
In order to connect the space to Indianapolis, captions on the windows of the office function as a walking tour of the city. Local historian Sampson Levingston worked with us to create this tour and led it in person for the opening of the office.
An Office that Continues to Evolve
The branding of the office, like the organization itself, has change and growth built into the design. A gallery wall that with a plan for new art, a logo that changes color, a staff wall with room to grow. It was all part of the plan for Lumina.
A year in, the office continues to serve as a place where staff learn and reflect on what impact they can leave on the education space. It’s also been a place for partners, grantees, and other nonprofit leaders to learn about Lumina’s central cause. And that has been a large part of our success in this project.
This branded space will continue to reflect a team pushing for a more evolved understanding of education, one that values diversity, understands that we are all connected, and celebrates success for our whole community. That their office reflects this means we accomplished our goals.