Neighborhoods.com Branding
As the first designer at Neighborhoods.com, one of my earliest tasks was to create the logo for the new brand. The process began with interviews of the company owners to gain a deeper understanding of their vision for the website's role in the real estate landscape and their perceptions of direct and indirect competitors. This was followed by benchmarking and competitive analysis to understand who the competition is and how they position themselves in the market. Samples of some of the benchmarks are listed below.
Role: Creative Direction & Research
From the interviews and research, some key questions were identified:
+ What does the word “neighborhood” mean to people?
+ How do you represent a “neighborhood” in an image?
+ How does your background affect what you think of as a “neighborhood”?
+ How do you take something as complex as a “neighborhood” and make it simple?
The Competative Landscape
Real Estate is a $70 billion market with numerous huge and well-established players. I began the project by examining the current players, both large and small, and exploring ancillary verticals such as hotels and travel.
Sketching
Hearing the word “neighborhood” instantly brings images to your mind, but those images are all shaped by an individual’s experience. How do you capture the essence of a neighborhood in a logo? Pencil to paper and lots of exploring.
Refining Direction
Dozens of sketches were presented, commented on, and refined through review with business owners, real estate agents, and individuals not associated with the business.
The Results
After a few short rounds of iteration, the final direction for the wordmark is agreed upon. The icon is descriptive of two hands coming together and the winding streets and cul-de-sacs found in some suburban areas.
The process took about a week to complete. When we brought the company together, comprising about 20 people in total, to review the final options, it was remarkable that the final direction was selected by 90% of the group.
Even more gratifying were the comments I received from several teammates, who couldn’t believe a logo could be created in 5 days that would represent the business, and they were excited to stand behind it.