Nat Wittstruck
Senior Creative Director
George P. Johnson Austin /// February 2015
Upon joining GPJ Experience Marketing, my first task was to build a Creative Studio from scratch at the Austin branch. Historically comprised of Operations, Client Services, and Event Management teams, starting a culture of creativity in a traditional corporate environment would take not only the right team members but also an inspired, authentic environment.
My core concept in building this creative environment was two-fold: Be authentic. Be individual. Celebrating these pillars of authenticity and individuality resonates with both importance I place on team members being themselves, as well as the space feeling function fit yet intimately comfortable with an earnest aesthetic.
For the floorplan concept, I encircled the Creative Studio with ‘Nooks’, small corner spaces, beset with lounge furniture, that would be shared across disciplines to ignite collaborative conversations and work. Knowing many team members were not native to Austin, I designed these spaces to be thematically representative of Austin history and iconography and not the tourist tropes of BBQ and Longhorns.
Nook themes included:’The Moontower’, celebrating Austin being the last US city to retain and maintain these turn-of-the-century architectural oddities, alongside Matthew McConaughey’s infamous role in 1997’s ‘Dazed and Confused’, which was filmed in Austin. ‘The Lady of Ladybird Lake’ features a sprawling mural depicting the Congress bridge spanning Lady Bird Lake, as well as the largest US urban bat population living beneath the bridge. ‘The Eastside’ is an homage to the historic, yet increasingly displaced, Mexican-American community in East Austin, alongside the artistic revival and mural culture happening there.
For wall decor, I immediately pivoted from internal pressure for vinyl graphics on the walls (as we have a large format printing facility in Nashville) towards sourcing Austin-based muralists to not only create one of a kind artwork but physically put paint on the walls. This deliberate approach and respect for the medium give the office nooks stunning visual depth and a unique sense of place. As a finishing touch, I set gallery placards, highlighting the local artists as well as the ethos behind the work.
To celebrate the pervasiveness of music in Austin I not only brought in a turntable, allowing employees to share their taste and personality through vinyl records but also peppered the space with decade-spanning concert posters. I encourage, and reimburse, team members who bring in posters they find if they are either A) took place in Austin; B) feature an Austin musician; or C) was designed by an Austin artist.
For both the kitchen area and conference room, I brought in a local artisan to design bespoke furniture, constructed of materials now staples of the Austin aesthetic: Reclaimed wood. Concrete. Brushed metal. Tastefully branded with GPJ logos, these custom pieces are not only functional, but a popular talking point of office guests with both clients, vendors, and employees visiting from other offices.
Furthering the functionality, nearly every blank wall became a dry erase surface, allowing creative discussions to evolve visually in real-time, as well as provide a canvas for 2D Designers to craft dry erase artwork and typography to frame the space and take pride in their space.
Rounding out the aesthetic, I exposed and polished the concrete flooring and utilized color/print-variable carpet tiles in multiple patterns to create both unified and individualized spatial zones. In the kitchen, we installed reclaimed wood sheet metal to build custom shelves and an Austin patina to the multi-use workspace.
Outside of the Creative Studio expansion, one of my design concerns was to share the creative energy and thematic visuals with the existing office space. This was achieved by extending the same stained concrete flooring as a conduit throughout the existing office, as well as refreshing the furniture styles in communal areas. The Austin Nooks were also brought into the main space, with The Greenbelt as an homage to the lush, hiking trails and swimming holes surrounding Austin, as well as the active lifestyles shared by its residents, and our employees.
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