“Our firm is made up of architects, interior designers, industrial designers, and graphic designers,” Lorenc said. Over the last 32 years we’ve been no larger than 15 people. We’ve decided to pursue a different model than most firms by forming partnerships with firms in places from Seoul to Dubai to Philadelphia. Instead of growing our firm to be bigger, we’ve decided to form loose associations that allow us to have opportunities in new markets.”

Lorenc+Yoo Design’s partnerships include Journey Communications in Philadelphia, 607, Inc and CDR in Seoul, and HQ Creative in Dubai.

“When I first came to Dubai I looked at the architecture that was built 100 years ago,” Lorenc said. “But that really isn’t the culture of the place. One of our collaborators was tasked with designing a fountain, and he traveled around the Emirates, and he took samples of sand. He found beige sand, green sand, yellow sand: 17 different colors of sand. When he presented his design for the fountain using glass made from those different colors, the client really felt it was part of his heart and soul. If you operate in different areas, you’re going to have to find something to pull at your client’s heart.”

Lorenc showed the example of the entrance to a mixed-use development in Abu Dhabi called Mohammed bin Zayed City. “We designed the entrance into the town, lined with light totems in the landscape. This is a section of Abu Dhabi where there are going to be 320,000 people living and working. In an urban design context, we try to simplify the number of pieces in the landscape. Here, we combined light standards with signage so we minimized the footprint these elements take up in the urban landscape.”

LYD completed most of its work in the Middle East during the recent boom, the period prior to the current recession during which the desert populated almost overnight with skyscrapers and destination resorts. Now, like in the United States, development in Dubai and the region has slowed and new projects are relatively sparse. While there is no doubt business will pick up again, Lorenc says such situations can tempt design firms to compromise good business sense in exchange for short term gains.

“When we first had the opportunity to work on projects in Korea, many clients asked us to do free design to get into the marketplace,” said Lorenc. “This is something I’ve made a conscious decision not to do. We’ve decided to do all our work for a fee. The reason being, with a fee, you’re valued as a valuable player in the project. If I give myself away, on the other hand, I’m giving away the best of what we’re capable of doing for no cost. The client doesn’t have any risk, and we take all the risk. What happens is these projects don’t go anywhere, and it’s disappointing.”

Lorenc says this kind of mentality can eventually run good firms out of business, and creates a competitive situation that drives not only prices down, but also, unfortunately, the quality of the design.

One way for firms to weather economic downturns is to be able to call on well-developed business relationships with past clients. LYD’s method to building solid business relationships relies on including top decision-makers in the design process.

“The client connections we’ve had as a firm have always been with top executives,” Lorenc said. “When we get involved in a meeting in the United States, we may have two other people involved. We make a decision and move forward. On the other hand, I have meetings in Korea where there are 30 people. It takes two days to discuss the project and no decisions are made.”

“It’s valuable to have the connection with the executives as opposed to having a discussion with others lower in the hierarchy. Having that relationship at the upper level has been instrumental in our building a portfolio I’m proud of.”

Marketing, Lorenc says, is different for creative firms than for those in any other industry. “When I travel to places like China I can call on the people I know to connect me with others. No media or advertising firm is going to work for us. It’s all about relationships. It’s people believing you’re going to be of value to them in the end, and not about comparing you to someone else only in terms of price.”

“We’ve taken risks over the past 32 years, risk that has been stabilized by a solid financial foundation,” Lorenc says. “We take risks when we visit clients across the world, and maybe nothing will come of it for a number of years. But we take that risk because we believe we can work this way and we can work this way.”

International

With TVS, LYD has designed the signage for the Country Mall in Punjab, India. This is the firm’s first project in India, and includes the comprehensive signage for the mall campus. Additionally, LYD is proud to have become engaged by KEO to design the signage for the research campus for RAS Gas in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

United States

LYD was retained by Hnedak Bobo Group to design the signage and create the experiential vision for the Discovery Museum in Obion County Tennessee, which includes the wayfinding and site signage for a science museum, historical heritage park, and associated gardens.

LYD is working on the signage and wayfinding for the Hyatt Regency- Atlanta with TVS Design. This includes a comprehensive wayfinding study, assessment, and redesign of the overall signage.

We are part of the team to design a new headquarters for Devon Energy in Oklahoma City. Led by Hines, the team includes Pickard Chilton (design architects), Kendall Heaton (project architects), Gensler (interior architects) among other prestigious team members.

LYD has been awarded the signage commission for the First Baptist Church of Orlando campus in Orlando, Florida. It is a 140 acre campus for a church and its associated school. The firm has also been retained by Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina to design a signage system and exhibits for the church campus.

LYD has been hired by Craig Davis Properties to rebrand the Wakefield project in Raleigh, North Carolina. The team includes long-term collaborators LS3p Architects.

• Tongji University in Shanghai, China
• Hong Ik University, Seoul, Korea
• Sunmoon University, Asan, Korea
• Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
• SADI – Samsung Art and Design Institute, Seoul, Korea
• EWHA Women’s University, in Seoul Korea
• KODFA – Korean Design Firms Association, Seoul, Korea

Video of Lorenc’s talk at the KODFA in Seoul is available online from DesignTV.

While off of the lecture circuit, Lorenc had the chance to see the sights, and has written about many of his favorites on his blog Jan On Design. Among his posts is one on Dominique Perrault’s new design for the EWHA Women’s University in Seoul.

“EWHA Women’s University in Seoul invited me to speak to their design students last month,” Lorenc wrote. “This treat was made doubly sweet because their new student center building by Domenique Perrault was recently completed. It’s a joy to see such beautifully designed modern buildings and how they are integrated into site. This building goes away as it is more about the landscape and its processional power.”

Visit Jan On Design for pictures and other dispatches from around the world.

Lorenc recently spoke about the origin for the design before design students in Seoul, Korea.

“A couple of years ago we were asked to take part in a paid competition with automotive designer named Giorgetto Giugiaro out of Milan and Karim Rashid out of New York,” Lorenc explained. “Samsung asked us to design an icon for an international airport to promote their handsets. They previously had a campaign where they took the chairman’s hand, and they scaled it up 1,000 times, put it in the ground, painted it silver, and that was it. The problem was it looked like a dead giant that was buried because it didn’t really have any energy. We wanted our design to take the energy from the earth, but have the same personal touch of a communication device. We won the competition, and our sculpture was installed at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, and subsequently in Kiev, Ukraine and Toronto, Canada.”

The new signage system encompasses three main parts: exterior wayfinding, exterior signage, and interior wayfinding pieces. The goal of the project was to unify each element of the system to provide mall-goers with a consistent branding presence from the time they drive into the parking lot.

The exterior wayfinding pieces include pieces that combine the traditional with the contemporary. Seated on a sandstone base, burgundy pillars support large text, bookended on one side by the distinct red logo of the mall. Guidance to the mall’s anchor stores sit beneath on horizontal pieces of steel that instinctively point the way.

The approach into the actual mall is even more dramatic. Where before the mall’s entrances were unmarked and generic, one entrance now frames a cutout of the Christiana Mall logo, lit red from the inside. Another entrance has the logo placed in the 2 o’clock position, providing a more modern stylized variation.

Inside, red dominates again, both on banners and directional pieces hanging from the ceiling. After a study of traffic patterns in the mall, Lorenc+Yoo’s team placed pieces at specific points where they would be most useful to guests. Acrylic and painted metal comprise the main elements of these signs, and provide a sense of quality to shoppers.

Lorenc and Yoo last December completed a semester course at the Georgia Tech School of Architecture on designing immersive spaces. Divided into two parts, the first exercise taught the students the power and possibilities of immersive spaces, that is, environments that convey messages such as branding, emotion or motivate people to take a certain action.

The second unit of the course was a practical application to redesign the Roswell History Center, located in an old mill machine shop from 1830. The class measured the space, drew it, and laid out their spatial narrative. The students handled the assignment like a real world project. The City of Roswell’s director of cultural affairs reviewed their work, and the final draft was presented to the parks board.

Lorenc and Yoo later juried the projects and evaluated them on their artistic, practical, and contextual qualities. The class was a great opportunity for students to learn how design professionals go from the discovery process, to conceptual design, and final designs to present to their clients.

Lorenc+Yoo Design worked with Hnedak Bobo Group on the wayfinding signage program for a major, 346,000 SF expansion of the Kalispel Tribe’s Northern Quest Resort & Casino.

The lobby level Liquid bar features wide, high ceilings and an open, inviting space thanks to the use of wood, bronze, glass, stone and other natural materials. Outside, the team integrated contemporary materials with traditional Native American themes such as the lantern and earth for the designs for the parking deck signage, building signage, and landmark pieces. Following the aesthetic theme, the finishing touch on the landmark sign is a vertical light rising like a beacon.

Lorenc+Yoo Design’s signage system for Christiana Mall encompasses three main parts: exterior wayfinding, exterior signage, and interior wayfinding pieces. The goal of the project was to unify each element of the system to provide mall-goers with a consistent branding presence from the time they drive into the parking lot.

The exterior wayfinding pieces include pieces that combine the traditional with the contemporary. Seated on a sandstone base, burgundy pillars support large text, bookended on one side by the distinct red logo of the mall. Guidance to the mall’s anchor stores sit beneath on horizontal pieces of steel that instinctively point the way.