Without diving into the history and roots of the symbiosis of architecture and graphic design i.e. branding, which has penetrated deeply into the creation of modern spaces, especially in the commercial and corporate segment, one thing is certain:
These two areas are becoming inextricably linked.
Brand books of large systems serve as a basis and project task for architects who must understand deep values and market analysis when creating a space for something called “SALE”.
The first item that awaits every interior designer, when we talk about the commercial segment, starts from corporate values, colors, brand values and messages which every person should absorb while staying in such a space.
Detailed analyzes of the market bring additional items that need to be incorporated into the environment, as well as modern habits and everything that has been proven to work in practice.
Almost everyone is playing it safe because it is imperative that the profit graph climbs up.
Spaces thus become unified, project are done from large headquarters, the possibility of multiplication therefore becomes much simpler while the recognition is global, if we talk about houses which dictate trends and future directions.
LED displays enter spaces as dominant elements which bring in a sea of messages, graphics, video materials, replacing architectural solutions.
Illuminated advertisements dominate the facades, putting the values of the building in the background.
The corporate office world also subconsciously and directly embeds the company’s identity in every employee, and a highly designed workspace becomes a magnet that attracts all structures, with signs visible everywhere.
Through evolution, the connection between graphic design, or in much broader terms – the identity of the company and the architecture is becoming less and less visible, so we have a case of sophistication of the message being carried through the materials as well.
Hence all those internal epithets when determining the materialization that should be “edible”, “friendly”, “serious”, “young”, “business”, “stylish”, “funny”, “cozy”, etc.
Very often, the graphic itself primarily influences the choice of material.
Typography ie. the brand’s font can even determine the direction in which the interior design will evolve.
The Helvetica font stole the limelight from the extremely demanding engineering endeavors like the “New York City Subway” and became the most recognizable element and synonym.
The message being sent becomes more important than the ambience as the architects struggle to jump to the forefront with all their might.
In public spaces, the graphic way of marking also becomes an integral part of the project, and quite often designers decide to emphasize such segments and turn them into an architectural expression.
It seems that in large corporations, the creativity and freedom of the architect is being reduced to a minimum because all market parameters and analytics do not allow space for bold and innovative solutions. Freshness and ideas have no refuge in such projects, then again we all want to add one of the names from the global network to our CV as a top reference.
In all of this there are also companies that are primarily creatively oriented such as fashion houses which scramble to bring in some of the most eminent artists and designers as their art directors to push the boundaries and dictate the directions in which design has generally moved.
Branding in segregation with ambience has become something implied.
The new wave of small brands trying to jump out of the sea of monotony and playing it safe with bold projects may be a good opportunity to conceptually push the boundaries and allow greater possibilities and freedom of creation.
Such projects and bold solutions seem to have an extremely large impact on the professional audience, architects and designers and become references that are proudly published.
Although everyone is aware that such concepts cannot defeat the big fish, in a creative sense they restore hope that the possibility of freedom is real.
