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Aspen Homes
online/interactive
sales/marketing
elements of design
online/interactive
sales/marketing
elements of design
The client and brief
Contribution
- Company rebrand
- Website design
- Print collateral
- Marketing
- Advertising
- Social media
Tools
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe InDesign
- Sketch
Aspen Homes is a premier custom home builder in North Idaho for 25 years. They build Northwest Craftsman and Rustic Modern style homes, targeting both high net worth and middle-income homeowners. They have diversified their audience to ensure they stay relevant in an ever fluctuating economy.
In 2013 I was given the opportunity to rebrand this local company and unify its visual assets. At the time, they had five different logos representing their company. The objective was to design a timeless identity and create all-new print collateral for a 20-year anniversary reveal.
client / brief
identity
The identity:
Credit
- Me - Design
- Ben Tan - Creative direction
The identity needed to be welcoming, timeless, rustic, and have elements of the Northwest in it. It had to be a design with a logo mark, so over time, the mark could stand on its own and be easily identifiable.
Supporting assets:
The supporting assets created started with a few core visual elements that helped anchor Aspen’s rustic and craftsman home designs. I chose wood grain textures with a washed effect to ensure it wouldn’t distract from the content. I tried to bring the light and dark browns into the design to match the woods and stains used on most all Aspen Homes. These decisions ensured a consistent visual language and a cohesive experience.
supporting assets
Early supporting assets
The website:
Credit
- Me - Creative direction & content
- Zach Grantham - Web design
- Seth Dowsma - Web dev.
Designed in 2014, the website was intended to carry the design elements, the wood texture, and rustic design while still staying classy. The biggest challenge was how to make sure it didn’t go overboard and take away from the users experience. Winning an ADDY award in 2015, the site still gets compliments from customers. Due to time constraints, my role in the website project was creative direction and content writing. Eden Creative was tasked with design and WordPress development and did a spectacular job.
visit the websitewebsite
Evolution of the brand:
Credit
- Me - Design & strategy
- Jamie Blattstein - Content writing
The voice of the company had always leaned toward the higher net-worth home buyer. However, the new mid-income buyer started to take more market share. I wanted the brand’s voice to become more playful through marketing, while not alienating the higher net-worth buyer. I partnered with a talented content writer and came up with messaging that was a bit more cheeky.
The lot sign is where I wanted to change the experience. Lot signs are all the same. The builder, the phone number, the website. Why not make people smile a bit, and have them looking forward to the next sign. Make them pay attention to the builder that is willing to entertain them a bit. For me, this was the most fun because it allowed me to break the mold.
brand evolution
Targeting mid-income buyers
cards
Targeting high net-worth buyers
Crafting the communities:
Alpine Point Credit
- Me - Creative direction & design
- Cody Powell - Graphic design
Hayden North Credit
- Me - Creative direction & design
- Cody Powell - Graphic design
In North Idaho, Aspen Homes is synonymous with quality and attention to detail. When a homeowner buys an Aspen Home it carries a sense of pride. With a strong reputation for higher-end homes, creating new housing communities helps supply homes for this demand. My job was to develop identities for new communities that aligned with the type of home, price point, and the surrounding area. I was blessed with the opportunity to create the look for a variety of different communities. Here’s a collection of some of those.
View South Shore Seven projectsupporting assets
Conclusion - Trend setting designs:
I cannot be more grateful for this client. They were the first big company to give me the opportunity to use my skills to push the envelope, try new things, and elevate a brand through design and marketing. When I rebranded Aspen Homes, local home builders were boringly similar, lacking visual variety and spark. The launch of the rebrand in 2014 set off a chain reaction to neighboring home builders playing catch-up. Over the next three years, almost every builder was going through a rebrand. I am flattered that I could be the trendsetter.
