WOODLAKE
Luxury suburban living, branded before the first brick.
Role
Branding Art Director
Duration
1 month
Year
2022
The Brief
A real estate developer was building a new luxury suburban residential community from the ground up, a place where nature and premium living were supposed to coexist. Before construction had started, they were looking for a minimal visual identity to present the future project and sell the feeling before the place existed.
In this project I led the creative direction, guided the design team, and presented the final concept to the client.
A real estate developer was building a new luxury suburban residential community from the ground up, a place where nature and premium living were supposed to coexist. Before construction had started, they were looking for a minimal visual identity to present the future project and sell the feeling before the place existed.
In this project I led the creative direction, guided the design team, and presented the final concept to the client.
Conceptualizing
Working with the renders and plans from the architectural studio, I started by understanding the territory itself, how the site was laid out, where the forest edge met the lake, how the roads traced the perimeter. Looking at the outline of the planned village, I noticed that the shape of the site held something worth building the identity from - it united all three things the project was about: the wood, the lake, and the people who'd one day live there. That idea of unity became the conceptual core, and it came directly from the project's own geography, creating a recognizable symbol - the heart of WOODLAKE.
Working with the renders and plans from the architectural studio, I started by understanding the territory itself, how the site was laid out, where the forest edge met the lake, how the roads traced the perimeter. Looking at the outline of the planned village, I noticed that the shape of the site held something worth building the identity from - it united all three things the project was about: the wood, the lake, and the people who'd one day live there. That idea of unity became the conceptual core, and it came directly from the project's own geography, creating a recognizable symbol - the heart of WOODLAKE.
A render provided by architectural studio with a draft of a symbol
The concept of the unity, updated shape of the symbol
Visual Identity
Logo
From the territory outline, we developed the logo, based on a shape that referenced the contour of the land without simply tracing it. The exploration was about finding the right level of abstraction: close enough to the source to feel genuinely rooted in the place, refined enough to carry the premium tone the brand required.
From the territory outline, we developed the logo, based on a shape that referenced the contour of the land without simply tracing it. The exploration was about finding the right level of abstraction: close enough to the source to feel genuinely rooted in the place, refined enough to carry the premium tone the brand required.
The logo exploration.
Final logo option.
Colors
The colour system followed the same logic as the concept: wood is green, lake is blue, and between them sits teal. The colour that genuinely belongs to both at once.
The colour system followed the same logic as the concept: wood is green, lake is blue, and between them sits teal. The colour that genuinely belongs to both at once.
Assets
The identity was applied first to a printed sales brochure. The logo became a graphic device throughout: a framing shape for photography, a recurring element that gave the layouts a consistent visual character across very different types of content.
The identity was applied first to a printed sales brochure. The logo became a graphic device throughout: a framing shape for photography, a recurring element that gave the layouts a consistent visual character across very different types of content.
Sales brochure.
Outcome
The concept was approved and went into production, the logo, the palette, and the graphic system all carried through into the materials that took WoodLake to market.
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