Future Cities Lab Global:
Impact Stories
Year
2026
Sector
Research Services, Architecture & Planning
Services
Mood Board
Colour Palette
Typography
Visual Direction
Management
Social Media Captions & Designs
Future Cities Laboratory Global (FCL G) is an urban research institution between ETH Zurich, Singapore’s universities (NUS, NTU, SUTD), and the National Research Foundation, a department within the Prime Minister’s Office that sets the national direction for research, innovation and enterprise. We partnered with the institution to translate complex design insights into accessible and visually engaging content, primarily communicated through FCL Global’s LinkedIn page.
We were tasked with developing the visual identity and narrative framework for the Impact Stories series, a multi-year documentation of research milestones. This project involved translating high-level data across the institution’s 13 distinct modules into a cohesive editorial language that resonates with both the scientific community and the public.
We conceptualised a scalable graphic system to unify diverse research clusters, from [NEW] New Urban Agendas to [CFC] Circular Future Cities. We ensured each module retained a distinct colour identity while maintaining a unified design approach through consistent text placement and the Swiss design style. Typographic layouts are a central focus of the impact stories. Only the content and colour variables changed while the underlying structural grid remained the same, ensuring logical hierarchy across the series.
The Impact Stories was always envisaged as a living archive, where bold typography and data visualisations serve as the primary entry points. As the project was mainly communicated using the LinkedIn platform, it was imperative to keep figures and text to an optimal reading length. We prioritised clarity over density to ensure the main research points were accessible, allowing users to engage with and learn from the content effectively.
This project reinforced that design should always serve as a tool for translation and clarity. Seeing our work sit beside real research and guide human understanding changed our perspective on the role of a design studio. We built the framework that allowed Future Cities Lab Global to share their stories with the world.
