SM-RDT
branding, copyrighting, website design and build for award winning international architecture firm SM-RDT
CREDITS –
Design & Build Lead: Elaine Shultz
Design: Victor Díaz
Copyrighting: Mark Fallows
Photography: Arturo Arditti
Renders: Decc
Producer: Carolina Keller
The context
SM-RDT is a joint venture between a small architecture design firm and Arditti + RDT an international award-winning design firm with more than 40 years in business. They needed to create an identity and website that could showcase their firm’s mission and effectively communicate the quality of their projects.
Their objective was to further expanse their prospects in New York, Los Angeles, and Houston.
Having studied architecture myself, I was very excited to work with this team!
The workshop
We kicked off the project with a design workshop to discuss the main objectives and prioritize requirements.
The workshop also focused on getting a better sense of their essence, values, and work culture.
Some key learnings were:
- Employees stay ten years on average at their studio; they develop a healthy family environment.
- Sustainability and accessibility are at the heart of their design.
- Most of their office buildings have terraces that promote humans to connect and as a source to shade sunny facades naturally.
- They have a strong focus on reinventing what a religious-focused space can offer as activities.
The solution
We created a full resolution feature home carousel presenting different projects that capture the broadness of their practice.
While we kept the navigation minimal, the site is easy to navigate, and content is easily accessible from all site sections.
The site showcases the breadth and variety of their international work. We carefully selected 70+ projects.
The project sections have flexible modules that can be swapped in and out, depending on the content and images. Some projects have more detail in the story, while others have a short paragraph.
Content organization and copy
We prioritized all projects depending on the client, the challenge, and popularity. Some of their buildings are iconic landmarks, so they deserved a larger story.
We worked during the pandemic; the zoom meetings were very long!
Development
I lead a team of three people.
We built the site in WordPress so the client can update and maintain the site easily. We initially developed the main structure and navigation, followed by the project templates.
Once the templates where set, we organized the other site sections.
by Elaine Keller