Jeffrey Ludlow

Jeffrey Ludlow
Creative Director/Principal, Point of Reference Studio, Madrid, Spain

Education:
Bachelor of Architecture, UNC Charlotte (2001)
Master of Architecture, Southern California Institute of Architecture (2003)

Hometown: Bogotá, Colombia

The UNC Charlotte School of Architecture has provided Jeffrey Ludlow with much more than a fundamental understanding of the world of architecture. His education at UNC Charlotte helped shape his career by providing the “ability to integrate all facets of creativity without constraint to a medium.”

Jeffrey Ludlow heads up Point of Reference, a Madrid-based design studio specialised in blending graphic design and architecture. For the past 15 years, he has intersected the worlds of culture, commerce and architecture where he has worked with business, culture and design leaders such as Rem Koolhaas, Kanye West, Miuccia Prada. His work has contributed to the cultural work of institutions such as Centro Botín, the Victoria & Albert Museum as well as companies including Apple, Audi, Asics, Changi Airport Group, Nike, and Prada on a range of brand strategy & design initiatives. Previously, he was the Chief Creative Officer at Bruce Mau Design, and worked at 2x4 Inc for 11 years as creative director. Jeffrey is also an instructor at the IE (Instituto de Empresa) University at Madrid and guest lecturer at several additional universities.

He remains fond of his college experience as he remembers the “ability to build within a shop, use technology, and be able to sketch and properly draw” as key technical skills he learned while at UNC Charlotte. "The hands-on approach to making whether digitally, physically or a combination is something that I still use to this day and I appreciate greatly about my design education," he reflects.

“UNC Charlotte as an academic experience it is a great foundation to prepare you for both architecture and other tangential architectural careers. I am further impressed /envious of its current integration of other disciplines within its curriculum.”


Work Samples


Centro Botín: Signage
Date Completed: 06/01/2018 | Credit: Point of Reference Studio

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Centro Botín, is a cultural institute designed by Renzo Piano in Cantabria Spain. Located on the edge of the sea, two volumes are suspended above and connected by walkways and stairs. For the signage, we created bespoke details that attached to the exterior and resisted the duress of the ocean.


Atlas de las Ruinas de Europa: Exhibition
Date Completed: 03/01/2017 | Credit: Point of Reference Studio

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The exhibition uses ruin history and amplified ruination as a tool and a language through which to read Europe’s history and memory. We were asked to design exhibition communications and the physical exhibition. Curated by Julia Morandeira Arrizabalaga and José Riello.


LA CASA ENCENDIDA: Signage
Date Completed: 07/01/2018 | Credit: Point of Reference Studio

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La Casa Encendida had less than optimal signage for accessibility and it’s ample cultural programming. We were tasked to study the building circulation and to redesign the signage to address all visiting patrons from an accessibility standpoint. The building is currently highlighted as one of the most accessible signage programs in Spain. 


ARPER MILAN: BOOTH
Date Completed: 02/02/2016 | Credit: Point of Reference Studio

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The environment was composed of angular areas that formed individual displays and clear, expressive furniture layouts allowing for direct perspectives and deep focus. The simple narratives and clean styling of the vignettes – the result of a close collaboration between Arper, Lievore Altherr Molina, Studio Baker and us – were exceptionally photogenic and generated over 4,000 shared Instagram images.