New brand identity and design ecosystem created by Elmwood New York for flexible workspace provider, Knotel.
Elmwood New York, one of the world’s leading brand design consultancies, was commissioned to develop a new brand identity for flexible workspace provider, Knotel. Founded in 2016, Knotel is specializing in custom workspaces dedicated to enterprise clients across over 200 international locations.
Elmwood New York was tasked to produce a unique, uniform, and highly inspiring brand ecosystem—something that reflects the dynamic, ambitious, and tailored approach of the flexible workspace provider. Please read more below the following image.
Elmwood New York’s work included a new environmental design as well as custom typography, collateral for print and web, some logo animations, social media visuals, and numerous launch materials.
“Knotel is disrupting the real estate industry, but it’s a disruption grounded in intelligence and strategy. We wanted to design a brand that leans into all the thinking, creativity and customization that goes into a Knotel workspace. We were energized by the fast-moving, always-inspiring Knotel team. They really kept us on our toes.” — Meg Beckum, Executive Creative Director, Elmwood New York
Allison Stoloff, Head of Marketing, Knotel added: “Knotel is grounded in the freedom to flex, and the brand redesign perfectly embodies this ethos. The Elmwood team took a static brand and made it dynamic and fluid, which is reflected in the way they updated shapes, colors, and images. As Knotel’s product flexes, our brand will now be able to flex, too.”
Elmwood New York came up with an idea based on the notion of “adaptive intelligence.” The concept aims to give visual life and flexibility to Knotel’s workspace strategy. The visual language is based on a constantly evolving and modulating graphic pattern that adapts to different audiences and environments. Elmwood New York’s designers came up with a color palette full of energy and movement as well as custom typography to accommodate spaces and imagery.
Knotel’s new brand design system is highly flexible, while the geometric shapes can be scaled and moved on a grid with discipline and intention. The brand identity reflects how the startup transforms real estate from a static asset into an adaptable service.
“We asked Elmwood to mine every part of our past and the current world—from visual to verbal, competitive to colloquial—in search of brand artifacts that could serve as strategic underpinnings for the future redesign. Through a process of breaking apart, reconstructing and expanding pieces of our wordmark, Elmwood developed a bold and, more importantly, adaptable design world that mirrors Knotel’s pioneering spirit and strategic approach.” — Lesley Stordahl, Creative Director, Knotel
Edward Shenderovich, Co-founder and Executive Chairman, Knotel, also explained: “Elmwood helped us to establish a visual system that was simultaneously brand new and completely familiar. We adapt and tailor our services to fit the needs of our customers. Now we have a design ecosystem that adapts and tailors to our needs, telling a seamless brand story along the way.”
The campaign launched globally on October 17, 2019. It will be supported by out-of-home elements running concurrently, which playfully address the chief executives of major brands with personalized invitations to check out Knotel’s tailored workspaces.
- Executive Creative Director: Meg Beckum
- Senior Account Director: Melissa Braun
- Photographer: Jonathan Jones
- Account Manager: Alex Keefe
- Typographer: Eddie Lee, Tien-Min Liao
- Senior Designers: Tyler Bengtsen, Claudia Sandoval
- Designers: Dee Dalencour, Eddie Lee
- Motion Design: Chase Massingill, Sar Ruddenklau
About Elmwood
With offices in New York, Leeds, London, Singapore, and Melbourne, Elmwood is an award-winning brand design consultancy The New York City-based office combines global expertise with local insight. For more information, please visit www.elmwood.com.
About Knotel
Knotel delivers tailored workspaces to enterprise clients. The startup gives companies the flexibility to scale on their own terms. All Knotel spaces are tailored to the needs of each individual company by an in-house team of architects, interior designers, and workplace strategists. To learn more, just visit www.knotel.com.
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