Serving Grace Jones
When Tze Chun, the founder of Uprise Art gallery, decided to open a pole studio in Chinatown, her brief was about as cool as a brief can get: “we want to build a space that Grace Jones would hang out in.” Working in tandem with architects and interior designers, Office of Tangible Space, I led the brand team at Studio Rodrigo to create a worthy visual identity. We used a bright poppy red as the base color, paired with burgundy, cream, and a handful of accent colors all derived from the materiality of the space. We wanted the contrast of high energy with calming neutrals to balance.
Highest Poles in NYC
Not only was the space designed with incredible, considered materials with loads of texture, this spot had super high ceilings — perfect for super tall poles. We played with all kinds of word marks — curvy ones, chrome-like ones… but that simple feature of the height of the poles informed the extended d’s in the wordmark selected, designed by Wednesday Krus.
The full system was supported by the excellent typeface Polymath by OHno, whose curvy features and plentiful contextual alternates helped inject so much personality into the website, communications, and merch we designed.
When it came time for a photoshoot, we were inspired by the warmth and grain of 1980s workout videos. Rather than using stark backdrops, we used a heavy cream set paper and styled the dancers in fun clothes that echoed the brand colors. The resulting set of images were beautifully shot by Adele Makulova at SK Studios in Greenpoint.
Creativity + Community
These kinds of projects are rare and special: a space that was created out of a need, that has now grown into a solid community space where people can connect and learn about the immense capabilities of their minds and bodies.