Dallas, Texas

AD EX

Celebrating the Intersection of Architecture, Design, & Community

Project type

Environmental Graphic Design Donor Recognition Signage Design

Project sector

Cultural Design Workplace Design
RSM Design exterior entry signage and environmental graphic design for the Architecture and Design Exchange in downtown Dallas, Texas, featuring window graphics and identity signage integrated into a dramatic glass curtain wall corner building with a warm wood canopy entry, red accent door panels, and a pedestrian on the sidewalk, showcasing how wayfinding and signage design, visual identity, and branded environments seamlessly merge with landmark modernist architecture to create a compelling, human-centered sense of arrival for cultural, workplace, and urban streetscape markets.

Project info

Client American Institute of Architects

Client OMNIPLAN Architects

Landscape Studio Outside

Architecture and Design Exchange

In the heart of downtown Dallas, a once-iconic mid-century modern building has been given new life as the home of the Architecture and Design Exchange (AD EX) and AIA Dallas. What was once a quiet structure is now a vibrant hub where architecture, design, and community come together. RSM Design joined the transformation, working closely with the design team to shape a thoughtful experience that feels both rooted in history and oriented toward the future. From the moment visitors arrive, bold exterior signage announces AD EX as a destination worth exploring. Inside, environmental graphics guide guests through exhibits, donor displays, and historic artifacts, with each element designed to educate, inspire, and foster connection. A cohesive visual language ties the entire space together, from the typography and materials to the storytelling woven throughout. Wayfinding elements lead visitors to key amenities, labs, and meeting rooms with clarity and purpose.

RSM Design large-scale exterior landmark identity sculpture for the Architecture and Design Exchange in downtown Dallas, featuring bold freestanding dimensional red metal ADEX letter forms positioned at the building entry alongside the wood canopy overhang and urban streetscape, demonstrating how environmental graphic design, public art, specialty graphics, and placemaking converge to create an iconic, human-centered landmark identity that commands attention, anchors a sense of place, and activates the pedestrian experience for cultural, civic, workplace, and streetscape markets.
RSM Design specialty graphics and public art installation for the Architecture and Design Exchange in downtown Dallas, featuring a close-up of a large-scale dimensional wood slat wall relief with sculpted letter forms spelling ADX emerging organically from a vertical teak batten wall, demonstrating how environmental graphic design, art programs, experiential graphics, and placemaking transform interior architectural surfaces into memorable, craft-driven branded environments for cultural, workplace, and civic markets.

The AD EX wooden lenticular wall is a statement that captures the evolving nature of design and reinforces the mission of AD EX.

Service

Environmental Graphic Design
RSM Design interior identity signage and specialty graphics for AIA Dallas at the Architecture and Design Exchange, featuring dimensional dark metal AIA Dallas lettering mounted alongside a layered red dimensional logo relief panel with an intricately routed eagle emblem casting shadow patterns on the wall, with a tonal ghost version of the logo below, demonstrating how environmental graphic design, visual identity, and branded environments bring institutional identity to life through material craft and dimensional depth for cultural, civic, and workplace markets.

Market

Cultural Design
RSM Design entry signage and environmental graphic design for the Architecture and Design Exchange in downtown Dallas, featuring a dramatic nighttime view of the ADEX identity signage and branded red door panels glowing within a soaring triangular wood-clad canopy entry portal on a landmark modernist glass curtain wall building, with visitors visible inside the illuminated interior gallery space, demonstrating how wayfinding and signage design, visual identity, experiential graphics, and placemaking create a powerful, human-centered sense of arrival for cultural, civic, and urban streetscape markets.
RSM Design entry identity signage and window graphics for the Architecture and Design Exchange in downtown Dallas, featuring a close-up of large-scale suspended dimensional dark bronze ADEX letter forms mounted beneath a wood canopy with downtown Dallas reflected in the glass facade, alongside a full tenant directory window graphic listing AIA Dallas, Architecture and Design Foundation, Downtown Dallas Inc., and Neighborhood Information Center, demonstrating how environmental graphic design, visual identity, wayfinding and signage design, and branded environments create a layered, informative, and architecturally integrated entry experience for cultural, civic, and urban streetscape markets.
RSM Design landmark identity sculpture and exterior signage for the Architecture and Design Exchange in downtown Dallas, featuring the bold red freestanding dimensional ADEX letter forms positioned at street level against the landmark modernist glass curtain wall building facade, with a mature tree-lined urban streetscape, cyclist, and downtown Dallas skyline visible in the background, demonstrating how environmental graphic design, public art, placemaking, and landmark identity signage transform a civic institution into a recognizable, human-centered destination within a cultural, civic, and urban streetscape context.

News

Design Award Winner
RSM Design art program and placemaking installation for the Architecture and Design Exchange in downtown Dallas, featuring a close-up of a salvaged ornate stone architectural capital with a longhorn skull motif mounted on a colorful distressed orange and teal painted pedestal displayed along a staircase wall, illustrating how art programs, specialty graphics, experiential graphics, and placemaking use found objects, cultural artifacts, and regional storytelling to create meaningful, memorable, human-centered branded environments for cultural, civic, and workplace markets.

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