Mar 19, 2025 _ news

Celebrating EGD Milestones!

GBBN’s busy Environmental Graphic Design (EGD) team has been celebrating a few milestones lately. These include a recent Cincinnati Design Award for the MarketPointe feature wall at University of Cincinnati, the completion of a new headquarters for the Richard King Mellon Foundation, and a workplace renovation for School Outfitters.

One of the benefits of having EGD capabilities embedded in our architecture practice is the ability to incorporate an organization’s brand story early and holistically into their space. This early incorporation helps clients express their unique mission, vision, and culture in creative and cost-efficient ways that range from signage and murals to multi-dimensional donor recognition and digital experiences. Case in point: the design of the newly renovated headquarters of the Richard King Mellon Foundation included a grantee recognition wall (pictured left) to honor the foundation’s 75-year history and the nearly 2,000 past and present grantees they’ve supported over the years. The wall was designed to allow the foundation to add future grantees to the wall for up to 15 years at minimal cost.

“Environmental graphics aren’t just about aesthetics. Done right, they shape experiences, communicate values, and create a sense of belonging and culture,” says GBBN Associate Principal and Director of Environmental Graphic Design, Phil Rowland. One example of this can be found at the Trager Family Jewish Community Center (JCC). Inspired by Jerusalem’s Western Wall, donor recognition (pictured below) at the Trager Family JCC expresses the way many individuals fit together to bring the vision of this community center to life.

At School Outfitters, the EGD team designed a gallery (pictured below) to showcase not only the company’s products, but also their story, history, and values. “Because our practice is embedded with architecture, interiors, and other expertise—like computational design and fabrication— we can offer outside-the-box EGD solutions that are multi-dimensional and complement the architecture,” says GBBN Associate and Environmental Graphic Design Manager, Claire Shafer.

Focusing multiple lenses on our clients’ biggest challenges makes design solutions better. “We’ve been providing our clients with environmental graphic design services for some time now,” says GBBN CEO and Director of Architecture, Matthew Schottelkotte. “Growing this part of our business has allowed us to better incorporate EGD earlier in the design process to help clients maximize the return on their design investment and share the joy and impact of their organization.”

Learn more about how we work and how we incorporate environmental graphic design into our projects.