WPS Health Solutions

WPS approached Thysse after completing a comprehensive rebrand of their visual identity. The next step? Express that new brand identity throughout their then-under-renovation 170,000 sq ft Madison, WI headquarters.

In the discovery stage of large projects, we survey clients to understand priorities and tailor our approach accordingly. Sometimes priorities lack real prominence, but WPS was clear: “SPEED.” They wanted visible progress before January 1—in two months. 

The challenge wasn’t just developing concepts and translating them into “visible progress” in what some here may have affectionately characterized as an insane timeline. Senior Experiential Designer and project lead, Kris Marconnet, commented:

“Intentional, deeply impactful brand experiences are the result of a process that takes research, concept development, experimentation, analysis and rounds of client feedback before anything is ready to produce, let alone install.”

These projects require an understanding of the mounting surfaces, fasteners, substrates—all of that happens before a design element is manufactured.

Kris continued, “So, the time pressure was real. To make the journey even more exciting, the logo mark offered wonderful abstract patterning opportunities, which exceeded the boundaries established by the standards guide. This was something we overcame, but those conversations and decisions took precious time.”

To their credit, WPS met the moment with quick and decisive decisions that addressed questions, and several other details to keep the project moving forward.

Thysse proposed a phased approach to break the large project down and align efforts with the rest of the building/renovation schedule. The approach enabled ideas and communications to stay moment-pertinent, which helped decisions and approvals flow quickly. It set the solid foundation needed for the broader project.

Phase 1 focused on high‑traffic, high‑impact zones—front desk, elevator corridors, focus rooms, and executive areas—where brand and function meet. The goals: a confident first impression, privacy that still feels open, and a flexible visual language that could scale into Phase 2.

Designing within tight guardrails (and making them work)

Guideline amendments granted the use of narrowly defined logo crops. We translated the WPS logo mark into a faceted, geometric language that reads as WPS without repeating the mark verbatim on every surface. The result feels calm, modern, and brand‑true, which is exactly the tone of WPS, a leading health insurance provider, wants to set.

Move fast, spend smart

• Lobby/front desk, re‑imagined—not replaced. Instead of scrapping costly back‑printed glass, we applied gloss white opaque vinyl to mask the legacy mark and added dimensional letters for the new identity. It delivered more dimensionality in a fraction of the time and cost. It’s also a time capsule that some future renovation may unearth. There’s a whole tangent we could go on here, but let’s save that for another time.
  
  
• Paint where it pays. For touchdown offices, we translated WPS’s gradient language into painted color bands executed by the facilities team—clean, scalable, and economical.
  
  
• Privacy you can feel. Standard frost was too opaque in some rooms, but there are tricks our masters of experiential design possess. Tricks we’ll promptly share with the entire world: We printed optically clear film with calibrated white densities to keep content private while letting passersby sense occupancy—reducing walk‑ins without closing spaces off.
  
  
• Monitor‑friendly corridors. We kept corridors adjacent to digital screens visually neutral so slides and brand never fight—using subtle geometry to cue identity. Sometimes a space just feels right. These are the details you can’t put your finger on that make it so.

We’ll update this article as the next phase is completed, so keep an eye out for it on our social channels or connect with us to get a notification. In the meantime, here is a quick list of what to expect:

• “Workshop” door‑panel refinements to calibrate transparency to balance visibility and privacy. 
• Elevator‑zone frames with a trapezoid motif and gradient logo accents 
• Biophilic feature under study: a preserved‑moss installation in the executive cafeteria 
• Layered wood art (laminate‑faced acrylic + painted returns) for Perks Café.
• Expanded wayfinding to support a WPS’ innovative office hoteling workplace model.