Thoughts on: From brand identity to spatial design
By nature, graphic design and branding are two-dimensional. But with remote and hybrid work becoming the norm, making the brand come to live in the office is key to making employees experience and identify with the company culture. We talked with our creative director Livius Dietzel and product designer David Loehr who collaborated on the Solaris office design on how to take brands to the third dimension.
How did this collaboration come about?
Livius Dietzel: In 2019, the new Solaris brand was launched. We were responsible for holistically transforming the brand – from strategy to implementation. With the company’s move into their new office space in Kreuzberg, the brand needed to be taken into the three dimensional space, so to speak. We were asked to support Solaris by branding selected spaces within the new office and designing its guidance system. Teaming up with interior design studio Loehr, we were able to complement our branding expertise with architectural know-how.
David Loehr: Livius and I already knew each other from our studies and had always been wanting to collaborate. Most brand designs are rather graphical and lack the third dimension. The question then is: How do we translate it into the third dimension? Given our similar background, we come together in our understanding of what good branding is all about.
What’s important when applying a brand design to the three dimensional space?
David: First of all, it is important to understand the space as a whole, the role of each element in it and what information a visitor needs. Is orientation key here or can we be a little bit freer and more creative? For Solaris, for example, we designed the guidance system which is very much focused on sophisticated simplicity, as well as the entrance areas which feature more artistic installations around the brand’s heritage, vision and values.
Livius: I think it is also important to interpret the brand as a feeling. Because while some things like color and shapes can be easily applied to the third dimension, others like materials and textures can’t. In this case, the starting point should always be that one emotion the brand should be associated with.
David: Exactly. And Solaris being a very approachable and warm brand, we used a lot of wood and opted for a beige linoleum work surface. It just feels more in line with the brand to sit at a soft surface than something rather cold and clean.
In addition to the guidance system and entrance areas, you also designed an entire room: The Silent Room.
Livius: Yes, the Silent Room embodies the brand’s innovation aspiration and re-interprets the work environment in the context of new work. We wanted to create a room that allows for different work modes and pays tribute to the fact that different tasks require different environments.
David: That’s why we split up the room into different areas: From silent focus work in a library-like setting to a more social way of working at small islands or in a relaxed lounge space. We accentuated the different areas’ foci with light which also plays a huge role in the Solaris branding.
Any tips for other creatives wanting to collaborate?
Livius: Do it like us? Haha, no, I guess keeping an open dialogue is key.
David: Yes, I would say, people should always try to think about what the other person can add to their design. Not look at it like their ideas steal from their own.
Livius: Exactly. It is about the sum becoming more than its parts. Sure, exchanging ideas with another opinionated expert can be tiresome. But if you truly appreciate one another, I promise, it will make the results so much better.
Thoughts on: From brand identity to spatial design
By nature, graphic design and branding are two-dimensional. But with remote and hybrid work becoming the norm, making the brand come to live in the office is key to making employees experience and identify with the company culture. We talked with our creative director Livius Dietzel and product designer David Loehr who collaborated on the Solaris office design on how to take brands to the third dimension.
How did this collaboration come about?
Livius Dietzel: In 2019, the new Solaris brand was launched. We were responsible for holistically transforming the brand – from strategy to implementation. With the company’s move into their new office space in Kreuzberg, the brand needed to be taken into the three dimensional space, so to speak. We were asked to support Solaris by branding selected spaces within the new office and designing its guidance system. Teaming up with interior design studio Loehr, we were able to complement our branding expertise with architectural know-how.
David Loehr: Livius and I already knew each other from our studies and had always been wanting to collaborate. Most brand designs are rather graphical and lack the third dimension. The question then is: How do we translate it into the third dimension? Given our similar background, we come together in our understanding of what good branding is all about.
What’s important when applying a brand design to the three dimensional space?
David: First of all, it is important to understand the space as a whole, the role of each element in it and what information a visitor needs. Is orientation key here or can we be a little bit freer and more creative? For Solaris, for example, we designed the guidance system which is very much focused on sophisticated simplicity, as well as the entrance areas which feature more artistic installations around the brand’s heritage, vision and values.
Livius: I think it is also important to interpret the brand as a feeling. Because while some things like color and shapes can be easily applied to the third dimension, others like materials and textures can’t. In this case, the starting point should always be that one emotion the brand should be associated with.
David: Exactly. And Solaris being a very approachable and warm brand, we used a lot of wood and opted for a beige linoleum work surface. It just feels more in line with the brand to sit at a soft surface than something rather cold and clean.
In addition to the guidance system and entrance areas, you also designed an entire room: The Silent Room.
Livius: Yes, the Silent Room embodies the brand’s innovation aspiration and re-interprets the work environment in the context of new work. We wanted to create a room that allows for different work modes and pays tribute to the fact that different tasks require different environments.
David: That’s why we split up the room into different areas: From silent focus work in a library-like setting to a more social way of working at small islands or in a relaxed lounge space. We accentuated the different areas’ foci with light which also plays a huge role in the Solaris branding.
Any tips for other creatives wanting to collaborate?
Livius: Do it like us? Haha, no, I guess keeping an open dialogue is key.
David: Yes, I would say, people should always try to think about what the other person can add to their design. Not look at it like their ideas steal from their own.
Livius: Exactly. It is about the sum becoming more than its parts. Sure, exchanging ideas with another opinionated expert can be tiresome. But if you truly appreciate one another, I promise, it will make the results so much better.
