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Vol. 11, No. 3, Summer 2000
Tim Girvin, Principal, Girvin Design; Ann Bradford, Director of Strategic Branding and Marketing, Girvin Design; Jeff Haack, Senior Design Director, Girvin Design
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In 1999, design and brand consultants Girvin Inc. were chosen by Microsoft Corporation to provide an overall architecture and interior design for its corporate museum. The original design brief required the creation of a thoroughly "Microsoft branded" environment that could be used by its employees, prospective employees, and corporate visitors as a means of "storytelling" about the history of the organization, culture, and its product offerings. With Microsoft's development and continued growth, messages and content would continue to evolve, so it was important that the design process include a constructive way in which information could be easily updated and revised without affecting museum infrastructure. The work to be done by Girvin would include information architecture, interface design, and content definition and development, as well as exhibit and graphic design services.
It was a great opportunity for Tim Girvin and his colleagues to put into practice the sort of "kinetic brand strategy" that Girvin is known for: telling a brand story through every touchpoint-Web site, collateral, display, advertising, scent, sound, and texture. The design team met with Microsoft's executive teams to begin the work of developing visual strategies that would speak to the company's personality and characteristics. From these beginnings, the team established a tactile and visual lexicon with which to address materials, finishes, color palette, textures, and typography. The workshops with the Microsoft executives also helped create a "visualization" of the museum's contents that could help identify key components that made up Microsoft business and culture. The next step was to develop an assembly of images and space-planning recommendations to create a visual pathway for the museum.
The team decided that the new space would be broken into four "information zones" depicting a different facet of Microsoft's business and culture. Each of the zones was planned using a special combination of colors derived from the corporate identity palette. These colors ultimately became a pattern designed for the "skin" (surface treatments) of the exhibits and established a starting point for the creation of visual standards to be revealed in all exhibits. Aside from the structural componentry, the skin became a way to visually differentiate each area.
Microsoft and Girvin dealt with the problem of space and planning for the future by designing a series of freestanding exhibits, almost like a hanging tapestry, which could be viewed from all sides and thereby maximize limited wall space. Another brainstorm was the creation of a transecting tower that emerges from the museum floor up through the second-story concrete slab and "flowers" in the company store atop these spaces. The tower became an array with varying video portals-a key device to transmit brand messages throughout the space on each floor.
Girvin's brief also included the design of an interface for interactive kiosks with product and related information and the design and production of Microsoft brand videos and the theater interfaces with which they can be selected. These were tied in with the four different information zones through color and content.
Visitors could even send a virtual postcard (with their pictures) via email from the museum.
In the end, say the authors of this article, it's useful to look at a brand as "a central illumination that finds its light expressed from many different perspectives." That's why the Girvin team worked so hard to engage all five senses, from sight (the total visual representation of the museum experience) to taste (as in the bowl of Microsoft-labeled candies offered to each guest), and bring them to bear on this ultimate expression of a corporate brand.
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