A couple years ago our traditional biggest client, YESCO, asked us if we had any suggestions for them about new lines of business that they might logically pursue. YESCO stands for Young Electric Sign Company and as their name suggests, their primary business is custom electric outdoor signs. After some thought, I went back and said, “Branded Environments”. All right, maybe my answer wasn’t quite as succinct or elegant, but that’s what I meant.

Branding was traditionally defined in two-dimensions, with logos, typography, symbols and advertising, but now it penetrates the way we perceive and design spaces. Although branded environments as a field of practice grew out of interior design in the 1990s, a strong case can be made that it began with the Walt Disney Company in the 1950s. When they opened Disneyland they created the prototype for a completely immersive experience in a constructed brand environment. Every ride, each store—everything supports the brand and brand stories associated with the company. The experience of the user is paramount in such an environment, rather than the style and aesthetics of the architecture. The objective is to use space as a physical embodiment of the brand, to create a “brand space”.

Wikipedia sums up the practice nicely: “The practice of designing branded environments is often a research effort led by an interior designer or an architect, and may include a multi-disciplinary team of strategic consultants, brand development experts, marketing and communication consultants, and graphic designers. Particularly effective for retail, museum and exhibit design, branded environments can support the success of many organizational types, from corporate to institutional and educational. The designed environment can reflect or express the attributes of a community or the competitive advantages of a company’s product or service.”

Some architectural firms promote branded environments as a distinct discipline and claim “increased productivity and a better understanding of firm mission, vision and values.” The application in corporate environments isn’t quite as obvious as it is to retail environments. And yet the new proposed campus for Apple, at one of the last public appearances of Steve Jobs, undeniably fits with the corporate culture and attributes of the design-centric company.

The suggestion I made to my client YESCO didn’t allege quite that much, but I remember shortly thereafter sitting at lunch inside a Jimmy John’s restaurant. I tweeted about it, saying, “Jimmy John’s is just a Subway with better branding.”  The fast food company does a good job of taking the brand experience beyond outdoor identification, and I mentioned that to my client. A freestanding Jimmy John’s location nearby has been painted entirely flat black. The design inside picks up on the slab-serif typography of their logo and projects a retro feel in the choice of materials and color. The black color is used inside on menu boards and branded packages. Vintage-looking metal signs project a little attitude with “Do’s and Don’t’s”. Sandblasted glass proclaims “Gourmet sandwiches since 1983” and neon signs promote “Free Smells.”

You can argue that phony-retro-looking signs or materials are not real and such is the case with any staged environment, whether by Disney or Jimmy, but the resulting emotion in the user is very real.