D+A Studio’s brand facelift was a textbook project for DK. Start with a blank page, talk about what the goals are, sketch, refine, and finalize a logotype. Then build on that work to make more.
DK made a logo, business cards, a website and postcard to tie in with the opening of D+A Studio’s Seattle office. We completed the rebrand in 2006.
The design references D+A Studio’s belief that human and building scales are equally important. “It’s as important to connect people with a building’s surrounding environs as it is to design the space within.”
UPDATE: July 2009
As a Friday Harbor architecture studio opened its new Seattle office, the company decided to update its logo design, too. Design Kompany created a logo, business cards, a postcard announcement, and a web site for D+A Studio’s Capitol Hill office. So pleased was our client that D+A invited us to co-lease office space, which we did prior to setting up Kornerhaus. D+A still uses the branding guidelines we set out for them on building site signage and marketing themselves.
Here are some pictures we recently had taken of our portfolio pieces for D+A.
Original post
The story of a brand
Sometimes people look for a rebrand when they’re getting set to expand.
A year after urban designer Anna Howden opened an building/residential design studio on San Juan Island, she hired Design Kompany to create a new identity. At the time, the Friday Harbor-based firm was getting set to open a Seattle office.
The logo needed to appeal to people who would appreciate the designers’ straightforward, yet bold aesthetic. “Straightforward” and “bold” were some of the keywords from our interview sessions that we wanted to zoom in on and emphasize in the brand message.
Through our informal conversations about the “look and feel” D+A wanted their customers to get through branding, we also learned this:
D+A Studio values connecting people to what surrounds a building site is just as important as forming the space within. So we wanted the logo to express this idea: balancing projects of varying scales within site constraints. Hence the varying letter forms and play with boundaries.
Design Kompany also made these red business cards and designed this web site.
For more information about D+A Studio, see Dandastudio.com
UPDATE: April 2008
One of my favorite things to see is when our past clients’ new companies flourish and prosper. And It’s nice to see that things are going really well for D+A Studio.
D+A’s been getting some great press! More specifically a glowing writeup in The Journal of the San Juan Islands called ‘D+A Studio contributes to Friday Harbor Renaissance’. Well done, D+A Studio!
A short history of collaborations
This is especially nice to read because Design Kompany wrote some of the very first press releases for D+A Studio. These announced the young company’s design expertise to Seattle and Friday Harbor-area newspapers and magazines. Some people have inquired about our copywriting services since then. Our answer is: we only offer services beyond brand messaging and brand identity design to clients who’ve already commissioned us for branding. It makes sense as the next natural step, once we’ve gotten to know your company’s core identity.
After DK had created a new identity and web site, the opportunity came up for DK to move in with D+A Studio into their new Seattle office on Olive Way. Propinquity can lead to a lot of great collaborations. Together, D+A Studio and DK hosted a summer barbecue open house and later, a photography show, ‘Dazzle’.
In February 2008, Design Kompany launched our new office space with a champagne-and-popcorn party, POP. DK moved further up Capitol Hill into a larger accommodation so we could host more low-key daytime and evening events.
More news on what’s been happening at D+A Studio on D+A Studio news site.
Also see:
Case Design + Project Management | Designing Case’s Website
C’ODA
Group3 Architects LLC | Designing Group3 Architects’ website
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