Duckpin’s customized signage was recently featured in an Interior Design article detailing The St. James fitness and health complex’s construction and outfitting. The complex, which is located just outside of Washington, DC, spans an impressive 450,000 square feet and provides an unparalleled experience for visitors. For instance, The St. James houses multiple, state-of-the-art sports practice fields and courts, as well as a luxury spa, an eatery run by DC native Spike Mendelsohn of Top Chef fame, an indoor waterpark, and a curated “lifestyle and performance apparel” boutique.
This recent press is part of a longer client-agency story, which dates back to 2017. The St. James’ founders, Craig Dixon and Kendrick Ashton, initially brought their vision to Duckpin and tasked us with bringing its branding to life. Over the next year, our team would go on to develop a brand hierarchy that told a cohesive story, applicable from parent company (The St. James) to its sub-brands (Courted, Vim & Victor, Super, Awesome & Amazing, and Strivers). Some of these entities were presented as nearly complete in terms of branding. Others, like Vim & Victor, required us to start with naming.
As part of this exercise, each entity in the complex had its branding elements incorporated into different mediums, ranging from staff uniforms to paper goods to environmental graphics and customized signage. While all applications play an important role, it’s the latter that we feel truly embodies The St. James’ monumental dreams, as documented by Interior Design.
Through numerous in-person visits to the site and collaborating with other partners on the project, these statement pieces came to life. Each serves a multi-layered purpose. They are able to convey certain feelings, denote what a space is being used for. They are also able to incorporate movement and texture via a timeless design format of hand-drawn illustration. All of this results in the creation of an interactive graphic that encourages people to stop and go, “Wow,” which is no easy feat in the age of digital media.