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Engage, empathize, empower: James Miner CEO of Sasaki (Boston, MA), an interdisciplinary architecture, planning, landscape, and design firm with offices in the U.S. and China.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
O ver the past 10 years, Miner has helped guide the strategic evolution of the firm. Key efforts have included rebranding, renewing the firm’s commitment to being active in the Boston design community, growing Sasaki’s commercial architecture and interior design practice, establishing a firm-wide research grant program, and adding new expertise around technology, fabrication, and digital design. “I think there has been a renewed focus on community, and the workplace as an important source of community and belonging,” Miner says. “If we want to attract and retain the best talent, then I think we need to stand for something, and have our employees feel like they are part of something special, not just a place that has good projects or benefits.” A CONVERSATION WITH JAMES MINER. The Zweig Letter: Sasaki recently rebranded. Tell me
what it looked like before and what it looks like now and the thought process behind it all. James Miner: At the time, I helped to oversee the effort as the chair of the executive committee. The aesthetic and most outwardly visible changes to the brand definitely express themselves through the dynamic logo, vibrant color palette, and other signature visual identity elements, but the rebrand represents more than just a facelift. We completely reexamined our positioning, our identity, our values, and our shared aspirations to derive a new way of conveying who we are to those who don’t know us as well or know us for only one facet of our business. The underlying premise of the branding effort was to reinforce our culture of collaboration and the value that brings to our projects and to our clients. The logo itself is composed of distinct elements, which can be reassembled to create different graphics, icons or other visual symbols, which is reflective of how we work. Our value proposition
THE ZWEIG LETTER JUL
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