Spotify Global

Award winning global brand experience across 19 locations, from strategy and design to implementation

Year: 2022
Buildings: 19
total size in square foot: 1,000,000+
Number of Artworks: 300+

introduction

A global experiential design strategy that transformed places into spaces.

Spotify’s recent hypergrowth has generated some key cultural challenges as they expand across multiple global locations and recruit at pace. Collectively, we asked ourselves: How can brand expression play a role in unifying both people and place and promote the most creative and collaborative results? Put simply what makes a workplace intrinsically 'Spotify'?

This focus to unite Spotify’s offices across the globe is the result of close collaboration with several of the worlds leading architecture practices who's incredible work in the field of spacial design underpinned our conceptual thinking and helped guide the process. The projects you see below are as much about their work as ours.

Our strategy fuses emotion and function in equal measure. We first considered how each space would feel, how people would move through them and how we could best reflect both the Spotify brand and local culture. As a result of Spotify’s innovative dynamic workplace initiative, each space has its own flow decided by the people who work there and how they use it.

We studied this flow to identify hero moments where we could bring the brand to life through engaging and interactive feature artworks. Throughout each site, the world of audio is unraveled and explored, creating a seamless look and feel that’s immersive and exciting at every level.

Global strategy

Our approach was to distill the very essence of Spotify. We got to know their company and culture, discovering a love of audio in all its forms. It’s this obsession for all things audio that informs everything from one-off artworks and commissioned murals to signage and wayfinding. From music and podcasts to streaming, technology, and innovation, our pieces explore countless themes and bring Spotify’s core belief to life in the built environment: listening is everything.

"Building a global strategy alongside Acrylicize, with a layered approach - a mix of creating and curating we feel like we have a long-term solution"

Sonya Simmonds, Head of Workplace Design & Build, Spotify

Bespoke artworks

We created our collection of bespoke artworks around three key themes designed to inform the mood and function of each space: Wildcard, Chill out, and Surprise and delight. By taking this accessible and human-orientated approach to space planning, we were able to create a playground for the senses which is both purposeful and practical.

NYC: 'Ambient Chroma' | Artist: Acrylicize

Stockholm: 'Echo Spectrum' | Artist: Acrylicize

Explore Spotify Toronto

From murals to one-off pieces, swipe to see some of the curated artwork that lives throughout Spotify's Toronto office.

Mural: Patrick Thompson & Parr Josephee | Installation: Trevor Wheatley

Miami: 'Sound Canopy' | Artist: Acrylicize

NYC: 'Plant Performance' | Artist: Acrylicize

Making a masterpiece

See how our visual depiction of the opening drum break from Led Zeppelin’s iconic track, Moby Dick came to life

NYC: 'CONSTANT STREAM' | ARTIST: ACRYLICIZE

Global mural series

With our global mural series, we were able to both unite and differentiate Spotify’s many offices simultaneously. Working with the global brand team, we built layers of locality into each site. Artists in each region were invited to interpret our brief to capture the joy of audio, resulting in a diverse collection of murals that are full of new perspectives and viewpoints. Utilizing local, emerging, and graduating artists in each city Spotify calls home ensures each office honestly and authentically reflects local culture.

Bringing Spotify's global brand story to life with local artists

Muralist Spotlight: NYC

We enlisted the help of local New York-based artists via an open call to respond to our brief to ‘capture the feeling of audio through artwork’ each bringing their unique talent and perspectives to the space.

Wayfinding

When it comes to bringing the Spotify brand to life, the little details are just as important as the big moments. We worked with the brand team to create a wayfinding strategy that ensured their people could easily and intuitively navigate their spaces, wherever in the world they may be. From a suite of bespoke icons which feel friendly and human to a considered use of color, our holistic approach resulted in a unified visual language for the rapidly expanding company, whilst preserving the local flavor of each site.

Activations

The stories behind the artwork are just as interesting as the artwork itself. We worked with Spotify to create Blank Canvas, a quarterly magazine helping Spotifiers around the world feel connected to each other and their new office spaces. Our work covered branding, creative direction, and delivery of all assets to be distributed across the global Spotify network, communicating the power of art and wellbeing in the workplace.

Quarterly magazine, photography and videography

Behind the scenes

The stories behind the artwork can be just as interesting as the artwork itself. We gave Spotifiers a glimpse into our world through the conception of a physical / digital quarterly magazine and digital app. Our work covered branding, creative direction and delivery of all assets to be distributed across the global Spotify network, communicating the power of art and wellbeing in the workplace.