Creative Brief

Architecture and design practice Olson Kundig is globally recognized for high-quality work, thoughtful detailing, and careful consideration of context, yet lacked a clear identity and cohesive visual representation in its graphic materials. In a two-year, multi-phased effort, the firm’s in-house graphic design team led the research, development, production, and implementation of a Visual Identity to reflect the firm’s design standards in its graphic representation. Each visual component references the firm’s ethos, culture, and history—palettes inspired by the firm’s Pacific Northwest origins and layout systems reflecting the structural elements and kinetics central to Olson Kundig’s architectural practice.

The end goal was to create a suite of templates, tools, and trainings aligned with new visual standards. Ultimately, this Visual Identity proved to be a necessary step to unify processes in every department and create efficiencies in developing new materials.

“Overhauling the Visual Identity for our firm refocused our attention on design, allowing technical and administrative teams to focus on content development rather than layout,” says Chief Operating Officer Marlene Chen. “It streamlined our workflows, gave our teams a common set of tools eliminating repetitive re-inventing of the wheel, and made our shared visual materials look polished and consistent.”

Just as the firm’s architectural work is deliberately quiet to its surroundings, the new Visual Identity Guidelines outline a legible, accessible standard that underscores a detail-oriented approach to clients and external partners. Successful rollout is evidenced by widespread internal adoption, as well as improvement across external brand engagement metrics.