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Office Expansion EGD, Taft Stettinius & Hollister
Chicago, IL
Visual Impact.
Connecting clients and services.
Celebrating heritage; advancing legacy
Finding themselves out of space, the venerable law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister, LLP (Taft) teamed with HED to plan and design an expansion and reimaging of their space within the iconic Mies Van der Rohe building in Chicago, IL. HED’s design solution incorporates Taft’s goals to create a workplace that reflects their unique legacy and brand, their client-first culture, and connects their global leadership and talent teams through a flexible and amenity-rich space.

The environmental graphic design (EGD) strategy sought to introduce Taft’s core branding elements like logos, typography, and key color subtly - nodding to the overall brand without overpowering the sophisticated look and feel of the interior architecture and design elements.

The EGD approach reflects the materiality of the interiors and utilizes the geometry of the Taft logo with various materials, textures, and opacities to keep this office both unique but also a part of a global brand. In some instances, the slash was used as a recurring pattern without the statement red, allowing the repetitive geometry to be applied more flexibly, such as in textural wood, or with lights. In just a few key locations the full brand mark is used to signify entry or arrival as a means of wayfinding. The Taft red is utilized sparingly, allowing the logo to have appropriate visual impact when present while still feeling woven into the space.
Results
The EGD team worked hand in hand with the architecture team to reflect the materiality of the space so that the signage, wayfinding, and branded marks felt integral to the overall design of the office.
Pairing the brass and wood material on wayfinding elements and signs with the modern Taft typeface was the key to evoking the feel of a ‘Modern Law Firm.’
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Connecting clients and services.
Office Expansion EGD, Taft Stettinius & Hollister
Chicago, IL
PROJECT DATA
Visual Impact.