Research Casting International

From Fossil Finds to Museum Displays Brand Identity and Website Design for Research Casting International.

Project Snapshot

Client
: Research Casting International
Industry
: Museums, Heritage & Storytelling
Services
: Award-Winning Identity · Promotional Materials · web design and deveopment for several websites..
Challenge
: Create an identity that would reflect the art, craft and science of RCI’s paleontological work, then translate its international museum-grade expertise into a website with the depth, scale and credibility the firm deserved.
Outcome
: A distinctive identity inspired by bone, earth and the casting process, paired with an image-rich website that showcases RCI’s specimens, major museum installations, international clients and 48,000-square-foot production facility.

Twenty-five years ago, OD senior account manager Leslie Jennings saw a short documentary about a company that created dinosaur mounts. Research Casting International founder Peter May spoke eloquently about his passion for the art, craft and science involved in taking a paleontological find from an expedition dig, to its final mount or cast in a museum display.

The work RCI was doing was amazing, and her assessment was that May was someone Overdrive’s principal James Wilson just had to meet. Cold calling potential clients is a notoriously unrewarding activity, but in this case, Wilson’s call began a business relationship spanning decades.

The RCI identity reflects the subject and environment involved in collecting and casting dinosaurs: bone and earth. Moreover, the identity can be seen in positive and reverse – a nod to the casting process.

The latest RCI website was intended to reflect the international stature of the firm. RCI works for some of the most important institutions in our back yard and around the world: The Royal Ontario Museum, The Royal Tyrrell Museum, The Natural History Museum in London and the National Science Museum in Tokyo Japan. Today, their museum-grade

48,000 square foot facility is capable of accommodating projects of any size and complexity. The RCI website showcases the breadth of the specimens that RCI has created, as well as providing case studies for some of their most famous installations.

Visit the live RCI website: rescast.com

The identity drew from the physical language of RCI’s work: bone, earth and the positive/reverse logic of casting. The website extended that story at a larger scale, using detailed imagery and case studies to show how RCI transforms paleontological discoveries into museum-grade mounts and casts for institutions around the world.