Impactful visual storytelling for an international competition

U.S practice Trahan Architects had been exploring ways to better represent their early-stage design ideas, when a prestigious international competition with visual storytelling at its heart, provided the perfect opportunity to try something new.

The practice commissioned us with a unique and highly collaborative brief – to be their creative partner in both the strategy and execution of all the visual communication deliverables, designing a distinct visual language that would elevate their proposals.

Storytelling was key to this project. Trahan’s proposal for the Museum of Jesus' Baptism in Jordan created a set of spaces that echoed the idea of a journey or pilgrimage. Their response was simple, elemental, inspired by time, place and geology, and paid homage to a landscape rich with cultural significance. We wanted to create a visual strategy and language that would be equally sensitive and site-specific.

As visual consultants, we worked as an extension of the project team to help shape the route that this compelling story could take. This would then inform the style for the submission, which included a film and a presentation. We developed a bespoke visual language inspired by geographical surveys, OS maps, topographical mark-making, textures and colour palettes that seamlessly integrated architecture and narrative.

We created beautiful and impactful visuals that explained complex ideas. Multiple drawings were layered to create animated, information-rich graphics which could also explore the dynamic concepts underpinning Trahan’s response to the brief, such as journey, the passage of time, permanence and geology. Functional aspects of the scheme, such as circulation routes and back-of-house areas, were illustrated via diagrams and accurately rendered floor plates, while still maintaining the integrity of the visual strategy through experiential qualities of light, shadow and texture.

The project is an example of our strategic visual storytelling, working collaboratively at the earliest stages of a project to integrate concept, story and image, and allow the design and its representation to shape each other.