FAQs
- What types of customers have you worked with?
We work for a variety of clients, and have developed unique skills specializing in mid-to-large professional services firms, which are typically partner-led organizations such as architects, engineers and related industries. Check out our various case studies to see recent client work for a better idea of our capabilities on our website.
- Describe a recent project you are fond of. How long did it take?
GEC Architecture decided the time was right to address two important pieces of their firm: their logo, and how they talk about themselves. To us, these things go hand-in-hand. Without due consideration to the underlying strategies and business objectives, its difficult, if not impossible, to evolve or create a new identity that is effective and has any real meaning. Without strategy, any chance that the new brand will last is also just left to chance. In digging deeply with our process, and involving the partners and key staff at GEC from the start, we were able to bring order and consensus to the project. In our experience, this is often what firms with multiple partners find the most frustrating part of creating new outward expressions of themselvesagreement. GEC Architecture is an established, Calgary, Alberta-based firm with a rich history. The work they do represents a depth of knowledge and inherent philosophy that has tangible implications for their studio and their clients. The problem was, oftentimes even those that knew them well would have trouble expressing what it is that makes GEC unique, and the right choice for a given project. Also on the table was the possibility of a name change. Professional service firms have much to consider here as the trend has been moving away from a collection of partner names to acronyms and more abstract / corporate names. Theres always the equity and familiarity issues to consider, especially the more closely involved still those partners with their names on the door are. However, unless the firm is committed to a name change every five to ten years as partners change, succession planning is an important consideration, and having a name that can transcend individuals is a very viable option. In this case, we established that the name would remain as is. Following this, our first task was to help GEC find a way to deliver their message clearly, concisely and compellingly. We did this with words, not design, finding the stories within their verbal and written expressions of the company. From this, we had the basis for an internal-facing way to communicate their uniqueness and brand attributes, and a solid platform for the visual design. The new GEC logo is based on what we call, The GEC Way: context, leadership and innovation. Together these guiding principles of the practice give them a unique perspective and drive them to advance (the firm, their people, the work and architecture as a whole). This is symbolized using overlapping letterforms in the wordmark. The rounded shapes are meant to lend a familiar and approachable quality alongside the playfulness of the colours. Offsetting the colour is the word architecture in grey, a more traditional colour that conjures solidity and professionalism. Online, this playfulness and the overlapping colour elements come together with large, full-screen images of the firms work. In the footer, the blue, orange and green elements serve as content areas for expressing the GEC Way on the homepage, and particularly in the Porfolio section where they are used to discretely showcase project descriptions, lists and gallery pagination. Thus, the rationale for the logo and the intersecting components have been given a dynamic treatment as part of the user interface. Built on a Drupal platform, the site now gives the firm complete control of their own content for the first time, empowering them to keep things fresh. A blog will also help with internal culture and communications about whats going on in the studio, and give potential and current clients and employees a deep look into the firm. Weve said it before, we love working with architects. Turns out, the reason we do is the same reason so many others do not: they speak our language, they have opinions and often solid rationale to back them up. This project was no different, and its supremely satisfying to navigate a group of architect partners through a process such as this to a place where not only are they all extremely happy with the result, but also have successfully launched the new brand into their culture, with full staff buy-in. And, if the staff embrace the work, its a very good sign that clients and prospects will too. In fact, they have. Launch website: gecarchitecture.com
- What advice would you give a customer looking to hire a provider in your area of work?
There are better ways to identify and select a creative vendor as described in an article on our website.