Building With a Brand: Corporate signage and history wall at new headquarters inspired by Carson Group’s brand.
How do you connect a building to a brand?
When you look at the new corporate headquarters for Carson Group in Omaha, Nebraska, you can see how architecture and design elements throughout the building speak to the company’s brand identity.
Inspired by the angular lines of the Carson Group logo, the roofline of the contemporary six-story building features diagonal lines. “Our new headquarters symbolizes so much more than a physical structure to support our next chapter of growth,” said Ron Carson, Founder/CEO.
Photo credit: Leo A Daly
How do you use signage to connect a brand with the building?
Collaborating with the Carson Group and Tetrad Property Group, our sign team created an enormous illuminated exterior sign that welcomes employees and clients to the new headquarters. Reception signage includes a dimensional logo installed on a textured wall in the lobby for a sleek modern look. Throughout the building, the angular shape of the logo is interpreted in a number of ways.
Frosted vinyl window coverings with linear cutouts add style and enhance the privacy of meeting rooms, offices, and shared spaces. ADA room signage has space for a nameplate on the bottom and a layered chevron pattern that matches with the brand colors of each area within the Carson Group: Carson Wealth, Carson Coaching, and Carson Partners.
The history wall is a great reminder for the team of where we started and the evolution of where we want to go. Many of the newer team members don’t know our story and this is a great way to share with everyone that comes in the building
How do you make a history wall come to life?
For Carson Group, they wanted a dynamic way to share their legacy with everyone who walked into their headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. The solution, a vibrant multi-layered history wall that blurs the line between art and informative signage.
“For the overall look, I was inspired by the Carson Group logo and the bold and dramatic look of their new building,” says Andrej Steinbergs, EGD/Production Designer. “I wanted to create a dimensional presence for impact so I deconstructed their logo and used its shape as the building blocks that protruded from the wall. Five pods were created, each highlighting a decade or major milestone. The angular shapes were also used to crop the photographic content on each pod. Translucent panels were used to carry verbiage and more photos.”
Beyond the colors and storytelling style, it’s the details that count. The addition of the LED lighting details made a big impact. “There was just basic overhead lighting in this area,” says Erin Carey, Business Development Manager, Omaha, NE. “The LED lighting draws people into the display, enhances the dimensionality of the wall panels, and really gives the space a wow factor.”
“Originally this area wasn’t wired for an illuminated sign,” says Katie Gunia, Account Manager for Latitude. “We worked with the property management team to update electrical in order to support this distinctive history sign.”
How do you keep signage on schedule?
Collaboration was key to this project. “We met regularly with individuals from Tetrad, the developer, and Carson Group. Communicating regularly helped us review designs and material samples to make decisions quickly so we could get the signage into production and installed on time,” says Gunia. “Finalizing signage always takes longer than one might think. With so many moving parts, meeting regularly helped the project stay on track with the deadline and allowed Carson Group to be part of each step of the sign design process.”
Latitude does a great job making the signage work seamlessly with the overall package. Their team is great to work with and very timely. They were detailed and organized, which kept all of the different sign types in order based on when we needed things completed
Carson Group prides itself on offering clients a holistic approach to financial planning. Now everyone who steps foot in their building can feel the brand and learn the history of their unique approach that started nearly 40 years ago with Ron Carson, and where the company is poised to go in the future.
Where do you find a storyteller for your next signage project?
We were thrilled to play a role in telling the Carson Group’s story through their history wall and the partnership on the entire signage package. The synergy with their brand was key to the success.
If communicating your corporate story in an impactful way while keeping brand synergy is part of your building goal, then reach out to Erin Carey, or any of our sign experts, to learn more about turn-key building signage packages like this one.
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