Responses by Design Army.

Background: Gallery 64 is a new Washington, DC, apartment building with a distinctly covetable address: set smack next to the Rubell Museum, famed for its progressive art exhibitions and contemporary collection. But, the property is also surrounded by fifteen other brand-new developments with similar amenities, features and fees, all targeting the same demographic. We tapped into our wild creativity to help Gallery 64 stand out in Washington, DC’s hyper-booming real estate market.

Design thinking: Our concept “Live Artfully” takes inspiration from the property’s unique setting: sharing a courtyard with the Rubell Museum on one side and, on the other, Culture House DC, a cool, graphic-covered church. Popping with wonderfully weird avant-grade photography and art direction, the modern art–esque graphics speak to curiosity-driven art lovers who want to live and breathe art in every form every day. We also conceived the name Gallery 64 inspired not only by the building’s address of 64 H Street SE, but also as a nod to 1964’s pivotal moments in Washington, DC’s culture, from The Beatles to civil and voting rights to the arts scene exploding with new creativity.

Challenges: Hand-drawing a huge typographic logo library and pattern series. We worked crazy hard to reimagine 64 through the arts—from gorgeous graffiti lettering to fashion, music and beyond. We even created a super-fun 30-second animation with all our interpretations.

Favorite details: Apartment advertising always looks the same, with stock photos and super-conservative art direction. Gallery 64’s campaign feels anything but traditional. The visuals are over-the-top weird, artful and pique your curiosity, yet totally make sense with the progressive museum’s proximity.

Visual influences: Spanning website design, social media, print, digital and collateral, the artfully whimsical visuals wink to the surrealism of painter René Magritte, the color-blocked portraits of painter Alex Katz and even Andy Warhol’s slightly skewed primary color palette. Be it creatively walking your pooch, prepping breakfast with a bread-and-jam painter’s palette or dining with a jello-faced gentleman, it’s all about living artfully.

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