Graphic Design/HTA

We have recently completed the design and production of a sales and marketing commission that we have been involved with for a while. Below we have outlined the processes and outputs that we went through to get to the finishing line.

August 2008 – We were invited to join a list of twelve design agencies asked to tender for the contract to produce branding and marcomms materials for this new build scheme in Stockwell comprising around 280 flats. The tender response required a certain amount of early design work, including brand design ideas, concept creation and audience analysis. Our proposals were pretty thorough, exploring external media as well as printed matter and by September, we had been invited to present our ideas to the panel. The first interview was a bit nerve wracking and took place in a very hot room, which didn’t help matters.

After a few more weeks of waiting we were invited back for a second interview. This went as well as could be expected and although the market conditions were changing, we were notified a few days later that the job was ours. Yey!

The full effect of the credit crunch came into play and nothing much happened on the job for a couple of months. We were starting to think we would never actually start the creative, but after a nice Christmas break and a good start to 2009, we got the call to come down and see the client and get the project under way.

The housing mix had to change from private sale to shared ownership and rental and we needed to adjust the brand to make sure it was inclusive, whilst retaining versatility. In the middle of all of this, we also underwent a client change, so had a whole new set of people to impress. After an initial site meeting, we established some parameters to the clients requirements along with a long list of required outputs and then started work.

First in the process in terms of deliverable items, was the refined brand and application style. We cleaned up our original artwork and refreshed the aesthetic altogether. Our redesigned logo was cleaner and more adaptable to the different deliverables required. The brand was then combined with component artwork to start to create the print outputs: A5 print mailout with a nice clean front and all the details to the reverse. We then went on to put together an A6 invite for a database mailshot, an eshot, microsite, print advertising that featured in London Lite, The London Paper, Evening Standard and The Times Homes & Property throughout August and September this year.

The major piece of artwork was the sales brochure – split into two parts: the host brochure and the block plans.

The host brochure contains all the information that is generic across all of the scheme phases along with local area information. We produced this as a matt finish 6pp gatefold container, with a die cut over the inside pocket and a spot gloss laminate to the logo throughout. Marketing floor plans were redrawn based on the architectural technical plans. The floor plan brochures were all printed two colour on an FSC uncoated stock and each of the five phases of release has its own separate booklet. They all fit nicely into the die cut pocket, in contrasting colour ways.

As part of the commission, we also produced in house CGI’s – three different views of the first two phases. The views formed part of the host brochure artwork, but also played a major part in the production of the site hoardings we designed. The site is really quite huge and to ensure the hoardings were affordable whilst remaining effective, we chose key areas of high visibility to position the printed panels. The remainder of the hoardings were then painted in a complimentary colour in areas of low impact and finished with anti-graffiti paint.

The show flats opened mid October and flats have been attracting a huge amount of interest.