Firm Faces #8

Dale Jones-Evans Pty Ltd Architecture (dje) is an Australian office established in 1984, "a studio-based design practice committed to the art of urban, architecture and interior design," with an "approach [that] is personal, pro-active and professional."

This may sound like the same interchangeable description from any other office of the same size (I often wonder if a potential client could really tell the difference between offices based on their firm descriptions), but dje does a couple things interesting in aligning these words with the firm's faces: they are situated in the work space and they are seen "working."

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This first image is the office's splash page. In a way it resembles a band photo, the majority of the "players" occupying themselves in some manner that clearly indicates who's the lead singer, or in this case the dj-e of dje. His eyes take aim at the camera and at the web surfer, as his employees talk, look at a magazine, and talk on the phone. It's humorous, yet surely unique, with their presence fading as one mouses over the image.

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Clicking on the profile page, one is confronted by a quicktime movie that takes place in the same corner as the first image. The careful (nighttime?) lighting of the first image makes the jalousie wall read as part of the space, but here that detail is washed out by sunlight. These four "stills" from the looping movie show dj-e again as the center of attention, with all eyes on his centered, at-camera location in the top left; when he takes a phone call (top right) people take the opportunity to goof off; and when he walks about eyes and heads follow.

More than the first image, this movie illustrates the studio aspect of the firm, with dj-e the head and the rest his collaborators. The consistent location of these two pieces of imagery illustrates how the various designers come together, even though both are, naturally, staged. Overall it's a unique way of presenting the office that is, in my opinion, effective, more effective than the "same 'ol" text that tries to differentiate the office but ends up doing the opposite.

Comments

  1. hi,
    I find some of your posts really interesting and I would love to put a link to your blog on my recently started blog if you would like to do the same! I just started mine in hopes of gaining readers, especially interior design students, to help inform them about the different facets of design and I think your blog could be very beneficial to my *future readers*

    juxtapositiondesign.blogspot.com

    thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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