Make Space Studio
Make Space Studio is real estate development and placemaking studio creating collective housing models for artists based in Baltimore City. Make Space is restoring five blocks of once abandoned townhouses in the Mount Clare neighborhood to create a thriving live-work community owned and occupied by creative professionals in the area. In addition to the housing development, the organization creates ongoing programming for both homeowners and the surrounding community.
THE PROJECT
Brand identity, website, program materials, marketing collateral,
Over the last several years, Make Space Studio has been developing a 5-block area of once-abandoned townhouses in Mount Clare. Among the many efforts to reclaim the surplus of vacant housing in Baltimore City, Make Space is uniquely positioned in that it is specifically geared towards cultivating community around artists and creative professionals. Their primary initiative is building a collectively owned entity, which includes housing, green space, and retail space, led and occupied by artists and creatives.
The brand needed to support a multifaceted but integrated series of projects and programming with an adaptive visual system. The visual identity had to appeal primarily to the local artists and creatives who would be purchasing the properties, but be able to work within more traditional, institutional contexts.
Warmth and a homey feel were crucial to the tone of the overall initiative. Make Space wasn’t purely real-estate, and the messaging needed to steer clear of many of the conventions of that industry. Our challenge was to create a brand identity that was artful and contemporary, but inviting and earthy, and that conveyed seriousness without coldness.