Related Argent & Google
How to keep London open to interesting
As Google prepares to invite new, interesting and different retail tenants into its major King’s Cross development, the question is how its globally familiar digital brand should translate into a campaign for the built environment. How can the personality people recognise on screen be expressed at an architectural scale – in a way that feels credible, welcoming, and appropriate?
Our idea began with flexible messaging built around the phrase 'Open to interesting', that enabled developer, Related Argent to speak directly to the three business types they wanted to attract to the retail space – larger brands, smaller start ups and a 'market hall curator' for a large central unit.
Our identity took it's cues directly from the architecture, using flexible graphic portals that stretch, reform and redraw themselves to hold colour, messaging, photography and animation. It captured Google’s natural playfulness while feeling at home in the physical space. That flexibility meant the system worked just as well digitally as it did in the building, spanning brochures, event materials and merchandise under a single, coherent design language.
Our bespoke digital platform brought everything together – brand film, copy, motion and new photography – in one place. It acted as both a showcase for the identity and a practical tool, allowing the developer to connect with, and gather data from, organisations interested in taking space and offering something genuinely different.