Case Study: Adshel

Advertising group Adshel is no stranger to using design. The company has commissioned top names such as Kenneth Grange and Lorenzo Apicella to work on street furniture projects and regularly uses a number of consultancies. West London group PSD Associates was already working with Adshel when it was asked to create designs for i-plus, thought to be the first standalone Internet kiosks on the high street.

Adshel Developments director Chris O’Donnell says PSD’s role had already expanded from product skills to brochures and input on tender documents to local authorities. ‘We were really pleased with that, so we briefed PSD to work on the kiosks. We didn’t want them to look clumsy or like they’d been cobbled together because then the public won’t use them,’ he adds.

PSD worked closely with Adshel’s in-house team to create kiosks housed in a steel cabinet with a slim-line glass roof and side panels. Cityspace was also part of the team working on the digital media aspects of the project. A key requirement was that the finished design complemented Adshel’s street furniture, but was also vandal proof. ‘The trials have been brilliant so we’ll be rolling them out across London and nationally,’ says O’Donnell.

‘What’s great about PSD is we feel comfortable working with the group. Its designers are not precious about the projects. They’re also flexible and quick to understand,’ he adds.

‘Our relationship with Adshel fits in well with our model of supplying an integrated approach to clients,’ says PSD director Barry Jenkins. He says Adshel has always been receptive to PSD’s ideas and involvement in a range of projects. ‘You can either be passive in taking commissions or you can challenge your client. A successful relationship is one which isn’t complacent, where there’s interaction on both sides,’ he says.