Building the Brand - Branding the Building: Extending Your Brand Into Your Work Environment
MAAC Sports
Phoenix Design Works is proud to announce the completion of the new branding project for the MAAC office complex. Over the course of the assignment, Phoenix worked with the MAAC to modernize the visual aesthetic of the conference’s internal office space and create a new way to extend the MAAC brand into the daily lives of the conference staff, MAAC constituent members, and visitors to the MAAC offices.
The new design for the MAAC offices focuses on bringing the visual icons of the MAAC brand into the offices and celebrating the achievements of the student athletes who compete in the conference’s twenty three men’s and women’s sports.“The MAAC in renovating its office complex was looking to modernize the facility with a broadcast studio and other technological improvements and reposition its brand with the addition of new member schools Monmouth University and Quinnipiac University,” noted MAAC Commissioner Richard J. Ensor. “Phoenix Design Works developed a clean and modernized look for the office and used design elements that communicate the MAAC’s mission to strive for excellence in sports and academics.”
“We really wanted to convey the excitement and energy of all the teams and sports that symbolize what the MAAC is all about,” commented Phoenix Design Works Creative Director James M. Skiles. “The MAAC has such a rich history, and such a dynamic and diverse modern schedule today, that it really is the best of both worlds when it comes to showcasing the MAAC conference’s best attributes.”
One of the central components of the new office complex branding program is the photo montage mural that runs the length of the two longest walls in the new conference room. The mural was created by combining thirty three photo images of dynamic student athlete competition representing the eleven MAAC constituent schools including new members Monmouth University and Quinnipiac University, across all twenty three sports played in the MAAC. Each figure was silhouetted and featured in the composition in such a way as to allow a blending of facility images in the mural background, and the mounting of the corresponding school logos jutting away from the wall in front of the mural.
“We worked closely with all of our schools to make certain that the whole conference is represented,” said Whitney Swab, the MAAC’s Assistant Commissioner for New Media, “And that all the sports the MAAC offers are represented as well.”Other major components of the MAAC office branding include a die cut super graphic of the MAAC primary logo printed on silver metallic die bond board and mounted to the wall by the reception area, and a frosted glass treatment of the floor to ceiling glass door entry way to the conference room.
“We put a lot of planning into bringing to life our vision for branding the MAAC offices while keeping the project within budget,” remarked Amy Skiles, Phoenix Design Works SVP, Business Development & Client Service. “I really got to make use of my print and display manufacturing background.”
“The MAAC office branding program is designed to celebrate the excitement of the conference today, but also to function on a modular basis and make it easy to update and add to as the conference grows,” noted Skiles. “We designed the new program components to expand easily, knowing that there’s always something new happening at the MAAC.”