Foundations of Creating a Branded Experience, Part II

Our most recent article on the Foundations of Creating a Branded Experience dealt with more of the emotional undertones that undergird a Branded Experience. Today's article gets into a bit more practical matters...

Branding is the means that the business entity uses in order to manage the dynamic range of expectations that the potential customer has in order to both make the sell as well as to service the product should it prove to be deficient. It is a representation of quality in order to sell the product, and a promise of future support. Servicing the product after the sell is necessary in order to maintain the reputation, and the reputation is necessary in order to keep existing clients as well as a means of spreading the news in order to insure that new clients are added, thus increasing the profits of the business.

The creation of a Branded Experience concerns the quality, from entry to exit, of a person entering a space, experiencing the space, and leaving the space. Although the space is a three-dimensional construct, the experience that a person has of it is linear. The 'linearity' of the person's experience thereby takes the architect's mission merely from being the design of a building to the design of an experience, from beginning to ending. If you would like, we could compare designing Branded Experiences to designing levels in a Role Playing Immersive Video Game.


In a Video Game, a synthetic world has been created that defines a branded experience. In it, there are certain functions that the player must accomplish in order to progress. The overall story has a multitude of key points that are moving toward an ultimate conclusion, but those key points may or may not be experienced in a sequential order. However, in order to solve the game, each of the component parts must be solved according to a pre-determined plan, many times created as a story or script. We liken these individual parts as interchangeable modules in the experience of the player, and are similar in the way that a person encounters a space.


The narrative of the experience of the space is based on the story that the brand is seeking to communicate, from start to finish, with all of its highs, lows and eventual denouement. Each aspect of the 'story' should be agreed upon by the client in the process of working with the space designer... moving from emotions, to smells and colors, light and phenomenology, textures, and eventually forms and displays of the object or objects being sold. The product being sold is not, "the thing" - as much as the experience that one should have in the process of encountering "the thing".

So as far as branding goes, there is the design of the object that is the focus of the transaction. But, there is also an additional set of contextual factors that are involved which facilitate the transaction. These factors include but are not limited to the friendliness and knowledge ability of the staff of the products and services. The factors include the place or environment wherein the transaction is occurring. The place has an impact of the workers at the business, in that if it is orderly, clean upscale attractive, then the business worker is going to be able to be more focused in his or her job.

Likewise, if the environment is a fun, interesting, dynamic, or otherwise appropriate place for customers to conduct business, then there is a certain amount of oil or lubricant that is added to the inherent ‘resistance’ that may come from the customer in purchasing the product. This is where the architect or experience designer comes in.


We are seeking an accumulation of associative meanings that, due to sequence and intensity, combine to form a unique experience. More on how this happens in our next post.

Foundations of Creating a Branded Experience, Part I

One of the more exciting trends evocative of the growing regard for quality in the experience of people within environments is that seen in the design of the Apple stores. Upon approaching, entering and participating in the experience of the store, one 'gets it'. But how can we bring the same regard for innovation and quality into every day practice and the design of places and things on a daily basis? We are glad to have you along with us for this next series - the Foundations of Creating a Branded Experience.
As an architect, generally, one is applying a constant core of skills and processes to issues that vary from project to project. Although there are many types of projects that can be designed, there are typically two general types that most architects will be involved in during the course of their careers: they are residential and commercial designs. Residential architecture concerns the design of places where people live, such as houses, apartments, condominiums, townhouses and the like. Commercial architecture has to do with buildings and interiors of buildings that people occupy for specific uses related to buying and selling.

Commercial Architectural design exists in order to connect those who buy with those who sell, and includes sellers of merchandise in a retail environment with the customers who want to purchase the goods. It may also include the selling of an experience such as in a Theme Park Environment where those attending have the opportunity to experience fun things. Regardless of the cash transaction that is occurring, both buyers and sellers are connecting.

Most people could agree that, from an extremely narrow and minimal focus, the overall goal of any business entity is to make as much profit as is possible in the shortest amount of time within all legal means available. The overall goal of the customer is to get as much value as possible by the purchase of the item or items with as little money as possible. For both the business entity as well as the customer, the easier that the process is, the greater the value to each. The customer, as an example, wants to have a consistent expectation met regarding the things that he or she wants to purchase. The business, on the other hand, wants to provide the goods or services in as efficient and cost effective manner as is possible.

But, creating a branded experience considers more than the 'minimal' approach to business. The focus of creating a branded experience involves communicating the highest and best ideals that can be communicated about the company by way of materials... an awesome task, indeed. In the example of Apple, one may see innovation of the use of materials and the etherial nature of light communicating the experience.
If one examines any given transaction between the two, there is much communication that is happening in order to facilitate the transaction. This communication is a negotiation of sorts that either is building expectation of value and thereby increasing cost to the customer or is taking away from the perception of value and thereby decreasing the perceived value. This perception of value is more than the cost of goods sold or even the first cost of the construction of the space. The transaction is one of the heart and the mind of the user of the space with the Architect's imagination.

We must keep in mind that with the perception of value, there is the customer’s anticipated use of the object, service or activity and thereby the actual perception of value that the object or service has. There is also the perceived value that the customer communicates during the transaction. Many times, the object is communicated as being less valued by the customer in order to be able to negotiate to a lower price, if a lower price is possible. If not, then the value has to be overwhelmingly communicated to the user of the space. 

On the flip side, from the Business Entity’s viewpoint, there is not only the value of the object being sold, but also the establishing of a reputation so that others will be likely to come back and pay for more goods and services, or tell one’s friends so that they will be coming to the entity. The business entity also has a concern for its employees and meeting the needs that exist there, as well as positively responding to all applicable legal regulations. If the business is cutting short any of these, the perception of value by the workers and the customer begins to diminish. Bad design will result in a viscious downward spiral that will remove value.

But, the overall branded design experience addresses the creation of value by maintaining a rock solid focus on the emotions and experiences that the Architect wants to create in the mind of the user, as well as the use of all of the tools at his disposal to reach that goal.

How does Building Information Modeling Work? BIM Foundations

Every profession and occupation has a language that is its own… physicians have anatomical, drug and procedural language; lawyers have legalese. Architects speak the language of aesthetics, building materials and budgets. How then, as an Architect, does a person interface with a computer -especially when you get down to it – the computer only ultimately understands 1’s and 0’s.

BIM Software, such as Revit, speaks the construction oriented language of architects… that of doors, windows, walls and assemblies, and then does something really incredible. It keeps track of each of those entities in what is called a ‘database’ – essentially, a way for computer programs to categorize and organize information. Keeping watch over these various pieces like an unseen referee, the software insures that each element is in the place that it is put relative to the others. And, when asked to do so, can find conflicts based on the rules of reality.

How does all of this happen?

BIM works through the creation of a database which is IFC compatible. IFC refers to Industry Foundation Class, and is a non-proprietary system of referencing building and construction industry information. Since this system is neutral and not controlled by any vendor or set of vendors, latitude and flexibility enable a platform that is based on IFC to be consistent throughout a range of software and various companies. IFC is important because it helps maintain similarity between building models and software programs. Since the author has had experience primarily with REVIT from Autodesk, he will be explaining the capabilities of that software as the articles continue.

The Building Information Model used in Revit is managed by XML, which is also known as Extensible Markup Language… a computer scripting language that can be understood by both people and computers. It is appropriate due to its use and application in a wide variety of representative data structures, as would be seen in internet applications.

Due to a User Interface designed specifically for Architects and those who design buildings, the building model is created ‘behind the scenes’ while the designer is using and defining standard elements of construction, such as walls, windows and doors.

Since a database element is created each time a building element is used, lists of the building elements are very rapidly created… as easily as or even more easily than the drawings are created. A variety of attributes of the objects are also stored, and there is even the possibility of defining a number of attributes for each object.

The designer enters the location and type and quantity of pieces in the proper places and the software shows the relationship between these pieces from various views and a variety of points of emphasis. This 3D information is able to then be ‘transcribed’ into 2D information so that drawings may be printed for approval and construction.

For the client, this is important because it means that his or her drawings will be more accurate. For the Architect, his realistic liability is decreased and his confidence is increased because his drawings are more accurate. For both, if the Architect is directed to make a change by the client, and there are problems, the problems will become immediately evident to him. For the consultants, since they are working with a 3D model, they are immediately able to understand the implications of the variety of design decisions that they will need to make and readily assess their work to see if there are conflicts with the architecture.

(Charles and Stacey Matthews are the owners of 'Grizzly Bear Architecture and Design')