HORAN has been a trusted partner and advisor in employee benefits consulting, wealth management, and life insurance since 1948. The years-long relationships they have with their clients are their top priority. They wanted their new office design to be an oasis for their clients, offering the ideal setting to continue building those trusted relationships.

Our challenge was to design a lobby experience that exuded calm confidence while expressing who HORAN is and what they do. Our method was to strip everything extraneous away. Using two graphic elements to tell their story, our design strategy establishes HORAN as an expert or guide and then shows how HORAN’s customized paths help their clients reach their unique goals.

The brand experience starts in the elevator lobby, where three colored light ribbons greet visitors. They represent the many customized paths – or solutions – HORAN designs to meet their client’s goals. The lights converge at a refreshment bar/video wall at the end of the space.

The experience is punctuated by a dynamic “aura” representing HORAN’s skills and expertise. It embodies the power of HORAN’s 27 business fundamentals that guide its employees. Subtly introduced behind a tone-on-tone logo at the reception desk, we use the aura throughout the office design to highlight HORAN’s expert touch in guiding clients to meet their goals.

Other features include a lenticular welcome wall that introduces the “guide” metaphor on one side and a brief timeline/history of HORAN’s successes on the other. In addition, a digital display greets visitors with animated “shorts.” Each demonstrates HORAN’s value for various clients using the aura and path graphic elements described above. We designed a custom set of animated graphics for each screen type.

The result is an inviting reception area and office design that delivers HORAN’s value in a way that is simple and easy to remember.

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