Sarah Guirguis An innovative player in the design world, TDF+ has established its name in the fields of architecture, interior design, workspace design and experiential design, to name a few. More than anything, the brand is known for its culture and vision to prioritize people’s individual lifestyles over the traditional methods of design. We talked to the founder, Hala Saleh, to find out more about the recent relaunch of this brand.
How did TDF+ come about in the beginning?
TDF is short for The Design Firm. It started off as an architectural firm with a high focus on sustainable design and the intention of designing spaces that serve the lifestyle of its users. Our first project was LEED Consultancy for Designopolis – a high-end furniture strip mall. This is what put TDF on the map, opening its doors to multiple projects with developers especially when it comes to designing beach houses and second homes, one of which actually received an international design award from the UK.
What keeps you inspired in terms of design?
Seeing, touching, feeling, living and loving anything and everything new that I’m exposed to.
Which reward has meant the most to you in your career so far?
The biggest reward I have received is having three members of my team grow and develop their experience over the years to a point where they are now fit to each run their own TDF+ platform.
Why did you decide to rebrand in 2019? What has changed since then?
After receiving three awards and being recognized by the British Embassy in Cairo as one of the top 7 design firms in Egypt, we realized that it was time for growth…a new phase where we shouldn’t just stay still or plateau out. We started working on the business, identifying our areas of strength and our value proposition in the eyes of our third parties such as suppliers, vendors, contractors, clients and space users. While studying our potential, we realized that over the years we have developed the know-how for so many skills across the value stream of design, not limited to interior design. Based on that, we repositioned ourselves to migrate from TDF Architects to TDF+ giving us the modular, elastic space to diversify our platforms and start offering services that embody design as a whole through the B to B rather than just offering our services through the B to C model. TDF+ became the main platform that expands into TDF Spaces, TDF Experiences, TDF Selections and TDF Construction.
How has your experience been collaborating with Tuline El Chourbagui, Kegham Djeghalian and Amina Zaher for your launch campaign?
An outstanding experience. They are a very creative team who were able to grasp the DNA of the brand on the spot. Tuline generously understood the context of our culture, architectured the brand with its new platforms and set it in the right direction, along with Kegham and Amina, who both managed to personify our brand in a very articulate manner as if they’ve been living with us since inception.
Explain to us the slogan ‘Be Your Lifestyle’. What is the vision behind it?
We wanted to humanize the people behind the brand, so they are not just seen as designers. This campaign is surely not the typical headshots a design firm would use to promote the rebirth of a brand. We wanted to re-shift a conventional perception of design and designers and create content that makes TDF+ approachable, amusing but most of all human; creating a connection the viewers can relate to.
‘Be Your Lifestyle’ promotes a concept where each human is embodying their own lifestyle… being it, wearing it, singing it. The campaign presents three acts: me, the founder and principal designer of TDF+, Loay Sherif, VP of operations, and Nada Mourad, head of creative design.
How does this concept apply to the nature of your creative process with your clients?
When we’re designing spaces for clients, we take into consideration their lifestyle above anything else. We don’t focus on the aesthetic part of the space and then wrap the lifestyle around it like most designers do. On the contrary, we reverse engineer the process by understanding the engine behind their characters that motorizes their lifestyles and work out the aesthetics accordingly.
