Responses by Adrian Caddy, founder, Greenspace.
Background: The purpose of the On the Dot project is to transform a 22-acre post-industrial site in South Boston into a dynamic mixed-use urban district rooted in history, community, culture and long-term value. The project engaged a wide group of audiences from local residents to future tenants, commercial partners, investors and city stakeholders—all of whom needed to connect both emotionally and practically with the vision developed by us in partnership with property developer Core Investments. We collaborated closely with Core’s planning, architectural, engineering and landscape teams to lead the overarching place strategy, branding, experience, design, marketing and site activations.
The goal was to create a place identity that honored the site’s industrial legacy while providing a flexible, future-focused platform for growth. From the outset, we prioritized the needs of the local resident community, developing a place branding system that could support immediate, high-impact activations while embedding a long-term, legacy-led vision for the district’s evolution.
Design thinking: We grounded our approach in the principle of placemaking and legacy brand thinking, a philosophy that sits at the core of everything we do. We wanted to ensure that every brand expression—from naming and narrative to physical signage and digital tools—could grow with the project while staying deeply rooted in local character.
The name On the Dot was inspired by Dorchester Avenue, known locally as “Dot Ave” or “The Dot,” which runs the length of the site. This local reference became both a conceptual anchor and a visual device: the dot itself was used as a unifying motif across brand assets, while modular, playful systems enabled flexibility, engagement and long-term evolution. Our goal was not to treat branding as surface decoration but to embed it within the DNA of the development, creating a lasting infrastructure for meaning and connection.
The guiding narrative of “creating communities to our core” underpinned every design decision, helping to build authenticity and emotional resonance with local residents, city officials and investors alike. This thinking extended far beyond traditional branding. We led all creative output for On the Dot, from web design, filmmaking and print publications to wayfinding, digital media and physical brand architecture—including meanwhile activations like The LOT on the Dot and the award-winning Cannonball Cafe that transformed a disused site into a thriving community town square.
Challenges: Especially when working at the onset of major placemaking projects, the balancing act between long-term brand vision and the realities of an evolving, multiphase development presents the biggest challenges. Our approach to the project had to remain flexible over years of planning, including the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, while maintaining clarity and consistency across audiences and channels.
When designing meanwhile activations like The LOT, where we reimagined a disused parking site as a vibrant neighborhood venue, we wanted it to feel authentic and immediately recognizable but also align with the site’s future identity. We developed the entire three-acre space chosen for The LOT and its accompanying visual identity with a playful, modular system that would easily adapt to monthly events, weekly promotions and the different seasons. While clearly connected with the On the Dot masterbrand, we gave The LOT the freedom to establish itself as an independent destination brand.
Favorite details: We’re most proud of how every detail reflects our core belief in the power of thoughtful design, in-depth research and powerful storytelling. The identity system works seamlessly across digital and physical formats, from the bespoke icon set to the adaptable layout system and type choices to the physical applications such as The Lot newspaper, the design of Cannonball Cafe and The LOT space, and even grass-roots event flyers. The elements all share the same DNA but remain flexible and alive.
Derived from the dot geometry, the custom icons are a small but meaningful detail that unifies the brand across platforms and scales. Ultimately, these details aren’t decorative; they’re strategic tools in building long-term value and creating an experience that feels authentic, future-facing and deeply rooted in place.
Visual influences: One of the important features of the On the Dot site is that it sits over the Red Line subway that connects quickly to places like Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We liked the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s identity system for its use of Helvetica Neue by Max Miedinger, and this influenced the typographic choices we made in balancing modernity with heritage: Lausanne, a clean yet characterful sans serif served as the primary typeface, lending clarity and a refined contemporary tone. This was paired with Caslon Ionic, a 19th-century slab serif that brings warmth and historical resonance, reflecting our belief in creating legacy and craftsmanship.
The visual identity we developed for On the Dot was shaped by the conceptual and geometric simplicity of the dot. This became the core visual motif, used not only in the logotype but across a wide-ranging system that included brand guidelines, website, wayfinding, social media, films, books and newspapers. Rather than rely solely on the dot as an ornament, we developed a broader visual language of rounded shapes and pill-like containers for type, creating subtle cohesion while avoiding visual fatigue.
The color palette was grounded in cool monochromes, giving the identity a restrained, architectural feel. We chose four vibrant accent pairings to accentuate energy, particularly across digital and event-led applications. Throughout all executions, we used black or white text to ensure consistency and maturity even when color was applied boldly.
Specific project demands: The challenge of a long-term placemaking project like On the Dot is to create a vision of the future that feels real and tangible today. What made the project easier for us was the fact that all the partner architecture, design and development teams bought into the legacy idea we created for On the Dot and were able to align their own ideas to the same outcome. The ultimate benefit of this collaborative experience was that the project was supported by local community leaders, along with the city planning officers whose approval was needed to entitle the 22-acre site for development.
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