Cushman & Wakefield

The Challenge
With the current Real Estate sector in a period of unparalleled change, sustainability must be front of mind in the sector's future. Global commercial Real Estate company Cushman & Wakefield asked Ascend Studio to create a future-facing concept, identity system and installation for an exclusive conference to discuss ‘What’s next?’ Collaborating closely with Cushman & Wakefield's London team, we helped develop the event's key themes of Disruption, Substitution, and Transformation, to unpack a narrative focused on factors including politics, environment, population increase and technology.

Strategy
We developed an expressive system pivoted around indisputable facts – using questions already answered to invoke thought and discussion for those which have not. Based on the typeface Karelia by Monokrom, distorted typography was created, forming the foundation of the visual expression.

Invitations were sent to an exclusive list of industry executives and innovators. To open the invitation, the recipient had to tear through the branding to reveal their personalised invitation, with a link to the microsite. Guests also received a welcome pack with their pass upon arrival at the hotel.

The Summit

DST 2020 took place at the Hotel Arts in Barcelona on February 6-7. There were key speeches by Andrew Neil, journalist and reporter for the BBC, and Stefan Hyttfors, an author on future trends, disruptive change and innovative leadership.

Ascend Studio were tasked with creating the displays and installations found throughout the three main rooms. This included a 150ft translucent display spanning the main hallway leading into the auditorium.

“Ascend completely understood the experience that needed to be created for DST and how to generate the excitement needed to engage and inspire a very high profile audience. It was a pleasure collaborating so closely with the team to create an event brand that truly embraced our vision of where we want to take our clients in the future, as well as projecting our reputation as a sustainability leader.”
–
Katherine Montserrat
Partner
Head of Client Development, EMEA Capital Markets