Upshot

Bursting at the seams of their 30,000 sf facility, Upshot, a highly creative advertising agency, engaged DKA to design their new corporate headquarters located in a 42,000 sf space overlooking the Chicago River on the 5th floor of the Merchandise Mart Apparel Center.

Some of the challenges and priorities for this unique client and workspace included:

• Provide the client with its own creative voice in the design process
• Create a space that communicates to existing and prospective clients the Upshot story and brand
• Demonstrate Upshot’s corporate culture, which is rooted in creative and open collaboration
• Rapidly conceptualize and document the design in order to maintain an aggressive move in target

In order to successfully collaborate with the client, DKA first became thoroughly versed in the corporate culture and the manner in which individuals successfully operate within the various departments such as Account Management, Account Creative, New Business, Production, and Human Resources/Administrative. As the Upshot in-house creative team defined the personalities of each of these departments, DKA distilled the Upshot brand into a dynamic design that creates a journey into the active, creative work culture, back of house energy, and dynamic history of the firm.