Development Design Group Crafts Graphic Program for Indonesian Shopping Malls

Development Design Group (DDG), a Baltimore-based, environmental-graphic-design (EGD) firm, has designed sign projects abroad since the late ‘80s. Some of the more prominent ones include Akmerez Etiler, an opulent Istanbul shopping center with 180,000 sq. m. of space, and two skyscraping office towers; and Cavendish Square, a luxurious mall in Cape Town, South Africa that contains approximately 250 stores, restaurants, theaters, banks and related amenities.

Curtiss Taylor, a DDG’s senior environmental-graphic designer, said international work currently entails approximately 85% of its jobs. Although the number has fluctuated, he said that, since the 2008 recession decimated the U.S. economy, more of its focus has moved overseas. In that time, DDG has completed work in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The company enlists representatives at its jobsites worldwide to oversee project development, select fabricators and address any regulatory or production issues.

“Overseas, they have crews working around the clock, so projects tend to be completed much more quickly,” Taylor said. “Some materials we use in the U.S. might be prohibitively expensive or time-consuming to export abroad, so we make substitutions based on availability and cost, with the understanding they will perform similarly to an originally specified material.”

“We’ve deliberately positioned ourselves in geographically diverse markets and offer a wide range of design services, which enables us to be more responsive and adaptive to changing market conditions,” Kirby Long, a DDG environmental-graphic designer, said. “In addition to Indonesia, we’re currently working on architectural and signage design for properties in Ghana, Turkey and Colombia.”

Not surprisingly, given the manufacturing and technological booms on the continent, Asia represents a major portion of the firm’s growth. Grand-scale shopping malls produced across the continent symbolize the exponential growth of the middle and upper classes there. One such retail installation, The Grand Metropolitan, was completed in Bekasi, Indonesia last year. The center spans 24 acres and 646,000 sq. ft. of mall space. Built adjacent to a major highway and alongside the Kalimalang River, it’s positioned for success.

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Along the Grand Metropolitan’s perimeter, façade-mounted, LED-lit channel letters invite visitors; an expanse of brightly colored, horizontal metal ribbon provides a handsome architectural effect. Inside, a complement of environmental graphics, banners, LED message centers, LCD maps and freestanding kiosks, and ceiling-mounted wayfinding signage all play a vital role in helping shoppers navigate the behemoth, four-story property.

DDG spearheaded another Indonesian project at the Bintaro Jaya Xchange in Jakarta, a 7.6-
million-sq.-ft. colossus that was also completed this year for developer Jaya Property. Reflecting
the property’s trend towards warm earth tones, the signs incorporate a warm, subtle shade of brown throughout its wall- and ceiling-mounted directional signage, freestanding kiosks and other wayfinding amenities.