Marco West Homes

Housing Development Company

Brand Identity Design: Brand Strategy. Company Name Origination. Responsive Logo Design Suite. Brand Style Guide. Website Concepts.

The branding for Marco West Homes demonstrates how strategy plays an important role in creating a unique, stand-out SME brand identity that connects to people at a deeper, humanistic level.

From behavioural characteristics and visual elements through to the approach to marketing and advertising, a strategy-driven approach removes guesswork and creates the framework to shape design that’s truly aligned with the company.

Above: The brand strategy for Marco West articulates information about the business using a carefully mapped out process to uncover unique findings which are then defined.

It plays an essential role by providing focus, clarity, and direction for the business whilst providing a framework to shape the visual design and all other areas of communication.

Brand strategy helps the business in multiple areas. Some of these include:

How Marco West Homes goes about what it does
How Marco West defines and segments key target markets
The look of the brand identity
The approach to digital/physical spaces and experiences
How members of the company present themselves
The perception of audiences, stakeholders and employees
The approach to advertising, communications and PR

To bring this strategy work to life through visual design, I focus on how people interpret the world through the senses, how the brain processes this information using psychology and pioneering research in neuroscience.

Here I look at how mental concepts are created and ways I can shape them with design, so they align with strategic objectives to deliver effective branding.

About the Marco West logo design

A responsive logo design

The responsive logo suite shown above helps to ensure that the logo functions correctly across all touchpoints, large and small, whilst retaining a strong sense of familiarity.

From digital platforms such as websites and social media channels, through to printed media, packaging and signage in physical environments, a responsive logo is a must for today’s SME brands that want to be recognised quickly everywhere.

The typeface: Area

A warm, modern and versatile typeface, Area embodies the essence of freedom, with a timeless quality serving as a blank canvas and a welcoming space for design to flourish.

This is important because the characteristics align with words found in brand strategy including, contemporary, professional, beautifully designed and timeless.

The crown symbol

Again, referencing the strategy document, we find words that include, reputation, aesthetics, integrity, attention to detail, spacious layouts, timeless design, beautiful homes and outstanding quality.

As a visual reference, the crown is a powerful symbol that aligns with the brand strategy and is very easy to recognise. It also helps to position the company’s visual presence with authority, trust and strength.

Colours

Colour psychology influences decisions, so a strategic selection is nearly always required.

Here the use of dark blue represents knowledge, integrity, security and stability whilst the colour gold represents sophistication and elegance.

There are many crown logos in existence. The challenge is to create a crown that is unique and easy to recognise. The above graphic shows how I have achieved this whilst also creating an intrinsic connection to the typeface used for ‘Marco West’.

I have used elements from the typeface (letter ‘O’) to shape the curves at the top and bottom, and the monogram logo ‘MW’ in white constructed from the letter ‘W’ and mirrored, to shape the side angles of the crown as shown.

The Marco West Style Guide

The style guide helps to preserve consistency of the brand: From the strategy definitions to the style of the brand identity through to the approach to marketing, advertising and all other communications.

Brand strategy definitions

How the company goes about doing what it does
What makes Marco West Homes different
Who the company is here to help
The brand personality
The values that are important to the company
The core purpose of Marco West Homes

Information on the visual brand identity

An introduction to the logo suite
The logo suite and all permitted variations
Primary and secondary colour palettes
Logo exclusion zones
Avatars and apps
Primary and secondary typefaces
Correct use of the logo

The colours for Marco West comprise of two primary colours: dark blue and gold. There are also secondary colours, medium blue, light blue and light grey that provide additional layers of flexibility.

In addition to Pantone colour references, formulations are included for digital and printed applications where the use of Pantone colours may not be possible.

Four main Area typeface variations are used for the Marco West brand identity to help preserve the consistency of visual communications.

There is also a secondary typeface used called Roboto. This has been chosen as a close match to Area and is widely available to use in other apps including Canva.

With the brand identity essentials in place, we can begin to expand the branding by creating the work for different physical and digital environments. As an example, I created website concepts to demonstrate the brand in action.

From the logo style, typeface and colours, through to written tone of voice and images, strategy ensures that the brand all comes together effectively so that it stands out and is consistent everywhere. Exactly what is required.

Final thoughts

Refined, contemporary, easy to recognise and remember, the Marco West Homes brand identity aligns with the strategy work and positions the company with authority. The overall feel is of approachability, trust, prestige and quality.

The brand represents high professional standards of work, care, and attention to detail. Creatively, it has been designed with a crafted, humanistic approach and carefully refined to deliver the brand at every point of interaction.

Hi, I’m Simon - the creative mind behind the work you see here.

I’m here to help take your brand from where it is now to where you want it to be. My approach connects your brand with people on a deeper, more human level, ensuring that we reduce risk and maximise reward. If you like what you've seen and have a project in mind, let’s chat! I’d love to hear your ideas and explore how we can work together.

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