Featured Project: WORKSBUREAU

Every now and then we truly get to live up to our name and include everything but the kitchen sink in a project. And those projects are often the most rewarding.

We had a chance to do just that with WORKSBUREAU, a Phoenix-based architectural firm. WORKSBUREAU is the successor to the renowned will bruder+PARTNERS after Bruder and the other partners in the firm — Ben Nesbitt, Richard Jensen and Rob Gaspard — agreed to an amicable split.

Nesbitt, Jensen and Gaspard retained most of the staff and clients of the firm, and wanted to create a new brand identity that would stand out in an extraordinarily creative industry while reintroducing it to prospective clients around the world. So they called on Kitchen Sink Studios to help them start from scratch — including a new name, brand identity, business system and web site, complimented by professional photography that would capture the character of the firm and its team.

Step 1, of course, was the name. And there were literally dozens of options on the table. The partners gravitated toward WORKSBUREAU in the end because it had a unique sound rolling off the tongue and provided an interesting way to tell the firm's story. This initial phase included professional photography, securing and developing a SPLASH page to be utilized while the rest of the project was being developed. Here's how that was translated online:

Eventually, the front page of their web site would simply feature the dictionary definitions of the two merged words, leaving the reader to make the connection while viewing the work:

works noun \ˈwərks\

1. things produced or accomplished by effort, exertion, or exercise of skill

2. things produced by the exercise of creative talent or expenditure of creative effort : artistic production

bu·reau noun \ˈbyu̇r-(ˌ)ō, ˈbyər-\

1. writing desk; especially : one having drawers and a slant top

2. commercial agency that serves as an intermediary especially for exchanging information or coordinating activities

Next came the brand identity, which actually was developed relatively quickly and easily out of the naming process. The WORKSBUREAU team liked the look of the word in a sans serif font in all caps, combined with clean design that would later allow for a focus on their projects rather than the brand identity itself. And, the Kitchen Sink team developed a bright, cheerful and energetic color palette to accentuate the new brand.

"We wanted to do something that would give them a lot of flexibility, and be distinguished without taking away from where the real focus should be," said Doug Bell, Creative Director for Kitchen Sink Studios. "But we also wanted it to have a friendly feel, to reflect on what it's like to work with their team, so we went with some really bright spot colors to make the business system professional but fun."

With the new brand in place, the Kitchen Sink team then began work on developing the kind of web presence that would showcase the company's work in a truly interactive and compelling way. The site would be all about the work itself, with the story told through professional photography of both the WORKSBUREAU team and its exceptional projects.

The Kitchen Sink team developed a site that brings the company's work to life in front of the viewer's eyes and allows the viewer to explore the wide variety of projects WORKSBUREAU has completed around the world.

"Because of the complexity of the design, WORKSBUREAU.com is one of our most ambitious sites to date,"said Dan Freeman, Kitchen Sink Studios' Lead Web Developer. "We had to create a fully responsive site that was extremely image heavy. It also had to have a CMS backend that could easily be updated by the WORKSBUREAU team after launch. All of these elements together can bring load times to a crawl.

The site even allows the user to choose which of the accent colors they prefer for viewing the site — which is designed to be indicative of the level of detail and the quality of the experience of interacting with the company's works. And, it contains content-management features in several sections that allow the WORKSBUREAU team to make additions and changes to the site from any standard web browser.

"We developed a site architecture that would only feed the appropriate sized images for the user's screen size to keep the site fast even on slow mobile networks. This combination of CSS media queries and jQuery responsive images were all built on WordPress, which is something that is one-of-a-kind on the web today."

The Kitchen Sink Studios team is very proud of the work completed for WORKSBUREAU in helping to create their new brand and web presence, and enjoyed the process of working with this exceptional group of professionals. We look forward to seeing what kind of innovative, imaginative architecture they will continue to produce!

Featured Project: W Hotel Video/Animation for DAVIS Architects

This week's Featured Project is an innovative marriage of video and animation created by the Kitchen Sink Studios, Inc. team for DAVIS Architects.

The animation depicts DAVIS' concept for a W Hotel in downtown Phoenix next to US Airways Center. While the project has been put on hold, the design was so bold and innovative that DAVIS wanted to show what kind of dramatic effect it might have on the Phoenix skyline should construction resume at some point in the future. 

Kitchen Sink's creative team wanted to show a glimpse inside of the minds of the DAVIS team, so we actually filmed them as they "designed" the building from the ground up on tablet computers, making it literally rise into the air with each stroke of their fingertips. 

The video then shows the dramatic design elements, including some striking balcony features and an exterior design with sharp and dramatic edges that make it a true visual attraction in the context of the existing Phoenix skyline. The video also uses time-lapse photography, combined with the animation, to show the kind of energy, foot traffic and life it would bring to the downtown area.

One of the goals was to show that DAVIS can design anywhere and everywhere. So, although the video and design is actually set in downtown Phoenix, our team wanted to create something that translates to any large, cosmopolitan urban setting. 

You can view the video above or on our YouTube page. 

The creative minds at DAVIS developed a truly exceptional concept for the W Hotel, and the Kitchen Sink Studios team greatly enjoyed bringing it to life with a combination of video, animation and time-lapse photography. 

Kitchen Sink Studios' Work Featured on Cover of AZRE Magazine

Kitchen Sink Studios, Inc.'s visual depiction of the Rockefeller Group Chandler 101 was used in the cover story on the project in the January/February issue of AZRE Magazine.

Rockefeller Group Chandler 101 is a 24-acre mixed use development that will include three office buildings, a 300-room hotel, a conference center and significant retail space. Kitchen Sink Studios provided Rockefeller Group with a stunning interactive web site that provides shows the project's look and feel, provides key project demographic information, and serves as an important tool for the leasing team as they identify potential tenants for the project.

The profile of the mixed-use project, located near the intersections of the 202 and 101 Freeways in Chandler, featured several renderings and animations the studio developed to bring the project's vision to life. Part of the team's work on the interactive web site included the creation of renderings and animation that visually depict the overall look and feel of the project, including its superior architecture and attention to the creation of a mixed-use environment.

Congratulations to Rockefeller Group on the great profile in AZRE Magazine! We are proud to have helped bring the project to life through the use of our animation and web development expertise.

Featured Project: Artesana

This week's Featured Project is Artesana, an exceptional hospitality resort and residential development project in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico being developed by Artesana Rosewood Residences and marketed by DMB Realty.

Artesana is a stunning project located in a beautiful part of historic Mexico. San Miguel de Allende is a colonial artist's village in the shadows of the natural spires of La Parroquia, with a historic and quaint downtown where the project is being constructed. Rosewood's vision for the project is to create luxurious homes and a resort that capture the character of the historic village while providing all the amenities that could be desired.

Kitchen Sink Studios was tasked with creating marketing and sales materials that would capture this ambitious vision and bring the project to life. The studio developed an interactive DVD presentation branding the project through music, video and animation.

The studio's work shows potential buyers how old-world Mexico and its picturesque natural environment can combine with modern-day luxury and incredible design to create a truly unique and exceptional living environment.

The project was a perfect example of how the Kitchen Sink team combines its capabilities in renderings and animation with its creativity in developing superior marketing materials for some great results for our clients.

Web Site Re-Branding 101: The Devenney Group

The Devenney Group, a Phoenix-based architectural firm that specializes in health care design, approached Kitchen Sink Studios to redesign their web site. The original, as you can see above, was a little...pedestrian. The Kitchen Sink team dug into it with a process that involved numerous meetings, concepts, sketches and photography in order to tell their story in a fresh new way. Not too flashy, clean, sophisticated and 100% custom...check it out for yourself! 

www.devenneygroup.com