Brand Development and Launch for Studio TK | Tolleson
A Brand Designed for Designers
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Research says a workplace that’s good for people is good for business too. In 2014, Teknion launched Teknion Studios, a new brand focused on this idea—but their challenge was to build on the reputation of the parent company while reaching a new, influential audience: architects and designers.
To start, we helped position their business, craft their identity, and launch their brand as it’s known today: Studio TK. The key to establishing Studio TK’s credibility as a peer and eventual thought leader was helping them articulate a point of view on social spaces—where culture and countless productive conversations actually happen. This manifested in their unique take on “social”—how products and people interact when they come together—with human-centered stories about design, the evolution of work, and of creativity itself, while featuring some of the industry’s leading designers and thinkers.
Building on their perspective on social spaces, we cultivated a playful and thoughtful editorial voice, expressed through conceptual content that elevated humanity in the workplace with a clear passion for design.
Equipped with a new narrative, Studio TK was able to help this influential community connect more deeply with their own work, and ultimately become a distinct, sought-after brand.
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Project Information
Project
Brand Development and Launch
Services
Positioning
Naming
Verbal Identity
Visual Identity
Editorial
Web & Digital
Photo & Video
Go-To-Market
Positioning
Naming
Verbal Identity
Visual Identity
Editorial
Web & Digital
Photo & Video
Go-To-Market
Deliverables
Company Narrative
Company Purpose
Brand Principles
Brand Architecture
Product Architecture
Product Narrative
Messaging Framework
Company Name
Company Descriptor
Voice Attributes
Logo
Brand Architecture
Visual Language
Custom Typography
Illustration
Iconography
3D & Motion
Brand Toolkit
Brand Guidelines
Tagline
Content Strategy
Copywriting
UI/UX
Art Direction
Planning & Scouting
Casting & Styling
Shooting & Filming
Production & Editing
Launch Planning
Collateral
Templates
Presentations
Company Narrative
Company Purpose
Brand Principles
Brand Architecture
Product Architecture
Product Narrative
Messaging Framework
Company Name
Company Descriptor
Voice Attributes
Logo
Brand Architecture
Visual Language
Custom Typography
Illustration
Iconography
3D & Motion
Brand Toolkit
Brand Guidelines
Tagline
Content Strategy
Copywriting
UI/UX
Art Direction
Planning & Scouting
Casting & Styling
Shooting & Filming
Production & Editing
Launch Planning
Collateral
Templates
Presentations
Industry
Design & Architecture
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Work is
Naturally
Social
Brand Campaign
Video
To convey the sense of connection inherent to Studio TK’s brand, we made every element of their work feel dynamic and interesting, including animating their slash pattern.
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Four Elements
Say something. Make it good.
As we developed the brand system, we found a variety of ways to activate the emerging brand voice. Combined with carefully considered type and color to reinforce its approachability, each expression brings life to an industry that often feels static.
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Becoming a leading voice
We helped Studio TK gain a foothold with architects and designers by producing interesting editorial work centered on annual themes that evolved. Each “magazine” offered perspective on the importance of social spaces and highlighted research that supports the value of connection and community at work.
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“Like a playground to a kid or a pantry to a chef, social spaces are whatever we choose to make of them.”
Studio TK Social Spaces, Vol. 2 — Human Nature
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To reach the architecture and design community in a crowded field, we treated the Studio TK showroom as a dynamic gallery space that completely changed year to year.
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Incredibly
Useful
Inspiration
Brand System
Photography
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Visions of real places
The architecture and design community relies on photography for their own work. Understanding this, we built a product photography library with Studio TK that captured the emotional experience of a social space, featuring real-world applications.
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Vignette
Even product photography serves as brand expression, using unconventional angles and interesting formations to engage the viewer.
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“Design is just a by-product of a bigger story rooted in our common humanity.”
Studio TK
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Four Elements
Designer stories, told by Studio TK
With so many designer stories out there, our challenge was to find a way to tell it that felt unique to Studio TK’s brand and voice. Using a time-based, unique approach, we interviewed designers Christophe Pillet and Patrick Norguet about their process with the playfulness and warmth of the human experience.
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Hand Made
Brand Campaign
Santé Video
Working with furniture designer Patrick Norguet, we scripted and meticulously shot this award-winning short detailing his artistic process and perspective.
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Launch Pad
How We
Think
02—23
2024
On capturing the creative process
for Studio TK
With the launch of the Santé chair, Studio TK wanted to create a video that celebrated its designer, Patrick Norguet, and his ethos, vision, and process. The brief: introduce the product, highlight the craft, explain why it matters to the A&D community, and make it all feel real, human, and very very special—in no more than 2 minutes.
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To promote the Vondom product series, we used the same stop-frame visual language from the designer videos, which drew the attention of the architecture and design community.
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Easy from
Start to Finish
Brand System
Photography
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For architects and designers, their initial exploration is about expressing a vision, the last phase is for finalizing details and spec-ing products. Being designers ourselves we understood this and created tools that showed the full range of color, material, and finish options in collateral that’s both easy to understand and enjoyable to use.
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Made for people to enjoy
We designed the brand kit of parts to be simple and flexible, playful yet structured, and easy to absorb. The graphic language is an expansion of the core identity that values connection, community, and choice at work. In the end, it’s people who are the heart of every workplace—and people are social.
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Four Elements
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Related
Armstrong Brand Refresh
Studio TK Brand Activation
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