O’Donnell+Tuomey

Established in 1988, O’Donnell+Tuomey is an award-winning architecture practice, led by Sheila O’Donnell and John Tuomey, and an ambitious team in Dublin, Cork and London. With the 30th anniversary of their founding inviting a review of their work and considerations around where they were going, ODT approached us with the task of consolidating all output from their practice around an identity system that would speak to their history, while connecting with their present and future.

The practice prides itself on its personal and thoughtful approach to client relationships and projects. Buildings are crafted, textured, inviting and in context. Where possible, materials are left in their raw, natural, ‘off-the-shelf’ form or state. It was essential that the visual identity solution would echo this approach and sentiment.

The graphic exercise saw us tapping into ODT’s history, studio space and projects for our inspiration. Their Dublin studio has a distinctive 20A beside its entrance, and we worked with sign painter Vanessa Power to restore this, resisting any fleeting temptation to overhaul it.

In print and online, type makes up an integral component of the identity, and we were influenced by Le Corbusier’s classic Charrette stencil typeface, using Le Jeune Text Stencil as a basis for the wordmark, contrasting with the more contemporary geometric forms of Bruno Mello’s Objektiv. The logo exists in a number of versions: a full wordmark, the abbreviated ODT and a symbol. The latter is found in physical and online manifestations, as a social media icon and stamped onto stationery. Reflecting the practice’s own approach to materials, we sought to specify colour by material rather than print where possible.

The outcome is an extensive identity framework. It allows for a consistent approach that is never monotonous, implicitly flexible and always connected to the practice.