In 2015, architectural giants and competitors, Callison and RTKL announced they would combine as one firm under new parent company, Netherlands-based Arcadis. With the corporate marriage came the unification of three practice groups, 17 offices, more than 1700 employees, and two legacy brands.
As representative brand designer from legacy Callison's side of the aisle, I virtually joined a small team of designers from around the global companies, to explore, strategize, and design a new name and logo for the newly joined firms.
After naming and logo were confirmed, the new identity was passed from the focus group to CallisonRTKL's Firmwide Communication team for exploration and translation into a huge suite of branded corporate collateral. The only designer selected to continue on from the first focus group, I worked closely with the Firmwide Communication team throughout the duration of the rebranding process from naming to logo design to rollout of the first generation of printed collateral and beyond.
Context
Concept
The strength of Callison and RTKL's association with each other and with global design, engineering, and management consulting company, Arcadis, led to a strategic overhaul of all branded collateral with a new focus on familial association.
By merging both names we doubled down on the equity in both pre-existing brands. The new logo is a strong, balanced composition bringing both names together as typographic metaphor for the joining of houses.
New brand colors were selected as homage to Arcadis, while the modern, dynamic styling of all branded elements focus on two priorities: first, to elevate and unify all architectural assets from both legacy brands, and second, to speak to CallisonRTKL's leading position as the "design arm" of the Arcadis family.
Contribution
Naming
Branding
Logo Design
Corporate Collateral
Brand Guidelines
Visual Design
CallisonRTKL's corporate identity suite earned GDUSA's 2016 American Inhouse Design Award, and HOW's 2016 In-House Design Award.
