Village Properties

Village Properties is a leading brokerage in Santa Barbara, Calif., with a solid reputation, a passion for place, and a worthy dedication to the community it calls home. After 25 years of steady performance and reputation building, the timing was right for a full reimagining. I helped lead the team responsible for the new positioning and brand story and identity system development.

Work completed at 1000watt

We began by developing their brand’s positioning and messaging to express their role in the concept of “placemaking—” the people, policies and activity responsible for developing and nurturing world-class cities and spaces.

Santa Barbara is one of those places of remarkable, yet effortless beauty and charm. Cities and communities like this don’t just happen by accident. As the largest independent brokerage serving this magical place, we uncovered the significant and special role Village Properties has played in developing, sharing and celebrating Santa Barbara over the years.

We elevated the notion that Santa Barbara had an undeniable influence on Village Properties, and now it was time for Village Properties to reflect an undeniable connection to Santa Barbara.

The region’s Spanish influence is one of the most notable and striking features found throughout the development and architecture of Santa Barbara. We wanted to find subtle ways to elevate this influence into core moments of the brand identity.

Windows

Framing became an important theme in our design work — creating magical vignettes that draw the audience in. We created these expressive windows inspired by the local Spanish architecture and the artwork found within tiles.

The color story, too, was drawn directly from the region, resulting in a palette that celebrates both the natural and built environments that make this place so special. Neutral tones meet activated hues to create a family of colors that are as equally beautiful as they are evocative.

Inspired Paintings

Some of the most striking elements of the Village Properties brand identity were the custom digital paintings we created from actual aerial photography of the region.

Inspired patterns

One of the most striking features of Santa Barbara is the Spanish influence one sees in the architecture and design elements everywhere. The goal was to capture these notes without being too on-the-nose or derivative. These delicate patterns provide visual interest and energy for the identity in lieu of imagery.

We derived base symbols or icons from these patterns that we would end up leveraging as embellishments that would activate expressive copy.

One of the more artistic moments of the brand identity is the monogram. Inspired by the region, along with the concept of a garden, the Village Properties monogram brings a whimsical yet elegant moment to both the mundane and the expressive marketing pieces. One color, multicolor and super-graphic alike carry forward an iconic look and feel that is uniquely Santa Barbara.