A project to renew the brand and graphic code of the go-to real estate website of Spain
Photography » Adrià Goula & Toormix
After over 18 years in the market, becoming the go-to real estate website in Spain, Fotocasa has undergone a process to renew its brand in order to connect to a younger demographic by changing their identity and graphic code.
The process we used for Fotocasa started with a preliminary phase of research and immersion that included brand workshops with various stakeholders and research of brand values, perception and recognition.
We redefined the personality of Fotocasa from a strategic level, fortifying several aspects such as its transparency, practicality, efficiency, proximity and user experience.
The Challenge
The most challenging part of the project was to update the values of the brand to a reality that would approximate it to its personality again while reaching its potential demographic and to help rejuvenate its positioning. It was an opportunity to create an identity that was adapted to a current reality and the creation of a new corporate manual with design resources and an iconography system that would help strengthen the tone of communication of Fotocasa.
The Process
In order to understand how the brand is currently perceived, as well as to analyze the most suitable strategy in order to change it, we carried out internal interviews with several people in lead positions (including strategy, branding, product and sales people) to get an understanding of realistic corporate objectives. We completed this phase by interviewing users and clients to get to know the current perception, possible opportunities for the change and the needs of users.
In addition to this, we designed a survey to collect valuable and quantitative information from different points of view including questions about key aspects of Fotocasa such as its history, perceived values, the future of the company and especially, all of the most consistent elements about its image and its coherence with reality. The survey was sent to users, professional clients, the internal team, collaborators and partners, with the goal of collecting relevant information from everyone involved.
The results of our research, along with the different workshops carried out in Toormix, worked as an essential tool to define the new strategic stance in its market and defined the work document and creative brief for the design of the new identity of the company and its overall look. The 2 biggest objectives for the design were to find a typographic solution for the name while at the same time creating a new icon that both represents the company and works as a logotype.
The typographical selection for the name sought to simplify and create more proximity to the client. A geometric typography, but with rounded shapes and with some characteristic and recognizable details that would make it more “unique”. Using lowercase letters, symmetrical vowels, an “a” with a soft finish gives the typography a more “pleasant” character and at the same time balances it out. The weight of it provides consistency and the complete control of the spaces between the letters makes it suitable for smaller sizes and digital applications.
As for the symbol, an icon was designed that mixed different aspects: a camera (the shutter), an eye (as a symbol of observation) and searching, conveyed by a location marker. A combination that references the location marker “pins” on maps, but with its own personality.
The color palette was broadened and was adjusted by adding a secondary color and a support color palette that will be used to complement the current traditional blue Fotocasa uses, that also was adjusted to give it more life and to create a more vivid brand. The brand manual has updated the corporative typography and will have a gallery of resources that will include iconography, several brand animations, maps as symbols of urban landscapes, elements for its digital application and a descriptive look and feel of the new communication tone of the brand, in images and at an art direction level.
