Behind the Magic: Richard Hughes

MEET THE DYNAMIC FORCE BEHIND ST. PETE’S LUXURY BRANDING AND DESIGN FIRM.

By Cindy Cockburn

among the movers and shakers in the St. Pete real estate development and design scene, few names resonate as strongly as Richard Hughes of Clear ph Design. Hughes has been a driving force in the success of many of the highest profile projects in town and plays a unique role in their creation. Though he isn't a developer, architect or builder, he and his team build whole worlds that captivate the public's imagination by creating the first glimpses of such projects as The Residences at 400 Central and Reflection St. Pete.

“Richard and the Clear ph team, with their visionary approach, are true leaders with their marketing and advertising concepts,” offers Noah Breakstone of BTI Partners. “Their innovative approach, high-design style, cutting-edge strategies and exceptional creativity set them apart.”

Clear ph Design offers an array of services in the areas of branding, identity, web development, packaging, interior and environmental design.

“We tell stories that make people fall in love,” the agency’s marketing materials state. “It is our job at Clear ph to grow your brand by creating persuasive communication.”

The transformative power of storytelling in engaging audiences and driving business success is all about forming meaningful connections. Clear ph’s role in this process is to transform concepts into fully realized brand expressions before the project’s foundation has even been poured, through renderings, campaigns and design elements that connect the projects to the public on a deep, emotional level. Those connections allow us to picture ourselves in the narrative.

Hughes and his team’s work has been showcased in the national pages of GQ, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, to name a few.

“Through our branding process, we typically look at the whole holistic vision for these projects,” Hughes explains. “We are looking to create a narrative that can flow in our storytelling. Early on in the process, we create visual mood boards that give us the photographic, cinematic and the interior design feeling we are going for. From there, we can determine which photographer or cinematographer fits this particular project. Our in-house rendering team, uses a photo-realistic style, using accurate drone shots to capture views and surroundings to give us a true reality. That realism is what we feel sets us apart.”

In fact, the agency signed an exclusive deal with One to One Hundred, an award-winning creative studio based in Auckland,

New Zealand, in order to be able to create the highest quality photo-realistic renderings.

Their pursuit of the best in the business includes the international talent they bring together to work on every aspect of these projects, which Hughes says can exceed a quarter of a million dollars in production costs.

“To produce the cinematic photoshoots and videos we pull from all over the globe,” he explains. “Troy Plota, who shot our 400 Central project, resides in Asia and Justin L'Heureux, who shot our Marina Pointe project in Tampa, is from San Diego. Some of our models, stylists and makeup artists have been local and others we may bring in. We always shoot the finished product with incredible local photographer and my good friend Seamus Payne, who is internationally known for his real estate photography.”

Hughes brings an international flavor to St. Pete as well, which is signaled by his charming Welsh accent. His background has taken him from North Wales to Nigeria, London, Dubai and Singapore. His father worked in construction with projects all over the world, so Hughes spent his childhood watching buildings spring from the ground. He attended boarding school in North Wales and then Rendcomb College in the Cotswolds. His family continued to travel the globe and his passion for design grew. When the family settled in Dubai, his advertising career began at an agency where he worked with brands like Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, British Airways and InterContinental Hotels & Resorts. When his parents relocated to St. Pete in the mid-90s, inspired by an ad they saw for the Don Cesar and St. Pete Beach, he followed.

He soon married and started a family of his own, while honing his design skills first at a cosmetic packaging design company and later at a record label, designing album covers, directing music videos and stage productions for artists like Cheap Trick and Jon Secada. When the music industry was facing difficulties in 2005, he decided to start his own agency.

“I recognized early on there was not a lot of design work locally that I would describe as International in caliber,” he recalls. “I wanted to not only put my stamp on the area but also to help elevate brands, restaurants and concepts in the Tampa Bay market.”

His first client was PVH Corp., formerly known as Phillips-Van Heusen, where he worked on brands including IZOD, Geoffrey Beene and Hanna Andersson.

The agency recently celebrated its 20th anniversary and has grown to a team of 12. They are currently working with Aureate Development and Echelon Development locally, Hotel ORA + Private Residences in Tampa and on projects in Charlotte, New York, Costa Rica and England.

“We are unusual in a sense, because we offer an interior design division. It all started with designing restaurants and has since expanded to mostly commercial design for hospitality, condominium and multi-family projects,” says Hughes. “We take on maybe three to four high end residential projects a year, but we are pretty selective.”

When it comes to his own home, Hughes settled in Historic Old Northeast and renovated his home to have a Dutch West Indies exterior aesthetic.

“I was obsessed with what was being done in Alys Beach in the panhandle,” he enthuses. “I customized the front to have a small courtyard and entryway, applied Bahama shutters and built an outdoor chimney that can be seen from my favorite hangout area, the dining table where I love to host friends and family.”

His love for the community is one of the things that connects him with his local clients.

“Part of what drives Richie and his team at Clear ph is that they have a genuine affinity for St. Pete and a belief in our future," offers Kevin King, Director of Florida Operations for Red Apple Group, developers of The Residences at 400 Central.

“This place is on fire. We have some of the most spectacular arts, food and entertainment. Although not everyone loves our growing skyline, I still love it and with each and every building the envelope of design and quality keeps elevating,” Hughes asserts. “The big players in the property development sector are now all here vying to put their stamp on the landscape of St. Pete and Tampa and that’s a complement to the progress.”

Another one of his priorities is to continue to educate those developers coming into the area to utilize local artists.

“It’s typically an afterthought, but I have so many incredible muralists, sculptors, artists and local craftspeople,” Hughes explains of the local network of talent he taps for projects. “It’s important to maintain the character of the community, have local support and buy-in to what is being created.”

To learn more, visit clearph.com