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Creating Art: Custom Installations
In addition to the traditional graphic design services we provide clients, we have also created a number of custom art installations over the years. From furniture to murals to wallcovering to decorative panels, we embrace the opportunity to develop one-of-a-kind pieces that bring the spaces we design to life. The process for each of these projects is always different; sometimes…
Studying Swiss Graphic Design
[Ben Keel is a graphic design student at the University of Cincinnati (UC). Last summer, he won a poster design contest through Northeastern University and Swissnex while interning at Arrowstreet, and was sent to visit four design schools in Switzerland as part of his prize. He has just returned to Arrowstreet for his second co-op internship.] This fall I was…
“Tree-Lined” Courtyard at 210 Broadway
I’m happy to share these new photos of the courtyard at 210 Broadway in Cambridge. Our client, BioMed Realty, asked us to update the courtyard and lobby of this building, recently acquired as part of their Kendall Square biotech portfolio. With the courtyard, we wanted to create a space that transitioned between “outside” and “inside”, making the building feel more open and adding dimension to the streetscape. After looking at a number of different options with the client, we settled on the concept adding glass panels that feature trees, calling to mind the shady, tree-lined streets of the surrounding Cambridge neighborhood…
Sea Glass Mural Again in the Globe
Our work was profiled again recently in the Boston Globe (link to article). As mentioned previously, it’s great to look back on a successful project and see that it has become iconic to the local area… at least when discussing the weather. Hand-pieced together a few years back from over 900 pounds of sea glass, the mural continues to enliven the windows at 255 State Street.
Dwiggins Marionettes at the BPL
Earlier this year, our graphic design studio was awarded the comprehensive wayfinding project for the Copley Square branch of the Boston Public Library. It’s a terrific project and really an amazing place to wander and explore. In our orientation to the two historic buildings and our subsequent site visits (for programming and analysis), we discovered quite a few unusual spaces. One of these spaces is home to the Dwiggins Collection…
Re-Imagining Urban Retail
For about six years now, we’ve been working with real estate brokers and building owners as an integral member of their successful leasing and sales campaigns. Most often, our clients want to show prospective tenants how their brand could be envisioned within the space they are leasing. The concepts and photo-illustrations we create explore the potential in retail locations and help everyone involved see how dynamic a space can really be.
It is a process that we fell into when our friends at Cushman & Wakefield in New York asked us for retail advice. The photo-illustrations combine our knowledge and experience in architecture, retail, illustration and graphic design and are just fun to produce…
Sea Glass Mural in the Globe
It was great to see our work profiled in yesterday’s Boston Globe. We completed this mural for our client, Pembroke Real Estate, a few years ago to invigorate their headquarters’ storefront windows along Atlantic Avenue. It’s nice to be reminded how it enlivens this stretch along the Greenway, even on the bleakest of days.
NSTAR Substation Graphics: Five Years Later
It’s always nice to revisit a project after some time has passed, and recently I took some time to go back to a project we worked on in the heart of Cambridge Research Park near Kendall Square. Back in April of 2005, NSTAR commissioned Arrowstreet to design a new electrical substation there. The City of Cambridge had a strong desire that the building facade offer something to the street environment, other than bricks. In order to give the building a strong streetscape identity and create some interest for pedestrians, we designed a series of permanent and durable graphic panels…
Battery Wharf Wind Chimes
One of the best kept secrets at the Battery Wharf Residences and Fairmont Hotel is the wind chimes inside the site directories. Arrowstreet was hired to provide a comprehensive wayfinding / signage program for the complex and these directories were always intended to play an important role. The idea for wind chimes came to us as we rushed to meet a client deadline for another City of Boston review presentation. We designed the directories with a nautical feel to complement the great design of the landscape environment provided by Halvorson Design Partnership of Boston…