Convene
Developers Killian Pacific began placebranding for their bare 22-acre property in Vancouver with a lofty challenge to FINE: “rethink the traditional office park to serve both tomorrow’s workforce and today’s community.” Thus began an extensive placemaking and branding effort, examining the changing nature of workplace behavior, public space, commercial property, and local sensibilities to develop a new kind of vibrant, working and gathering place.
Location Informs Position
A robust collaboration between Killian, FINE, and Scott Edwards Architects helped connect and evolve site and brand plans. Close proximity to Portland and a rich, train-centric past links the place both to convenience for today’s ambitious millennials, and a proudly industrial legacy. This historical sense was crucial in a brand position, name, and visual identity that rings true locally today, while igniting excitement for where the place may go.
A Story Comes Together
The brand platform took shape around a subtle story about the collision of workstyle with lifestyle, past and present, and (most of all) people of all kinds activated by removed boundaries between work, play, and life. The story drove experience and place character principles, along with a place brand name that says it all in an unexpected way: Convene.
Informed by train track switches, the logotype is a graphic nod to the place’s history, and the new intent to create connected community. Visual identity informed all touchpoints and channels, especially the built space honed in tandem with Scott Edwards Architects. Color palettes echo freight container colors, and wayfinding and pathway systems take inspiration from the logotype.
Comprehensive playbooks document the strategy, messaging, and visual and collateral elements that form core brand and placemaking assets. And all project stakeholders received a packaged, branded, vintage model train car and presentation to ensure the new brand leaves an indelible mark.
For Convene, the digital space is a critical complement to the physical space. More than just sharing a depth of content that invites users to act on the opportunity, the digital destination is designed to immediately demonstrate the innovative, dynamic feel of the lifestyle meets workstyle concept itself.
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