Typography gets recycled for sustainable building design firm
SUHO
Brief
Whilst remaining one of the Australia’s premier compliance assessors, Sustainability House wanted to focus their brand on their strength as an Environmental Sustainability Design firm.
The purpose of this re-branding project was to alter the market perception of Sustainability House. It was seen as a compliance assessor, technically sterile company and government body of some sort. They needed new branding to reflect who they really are: a forward-thinking consultancy that advocates for clever design, has a culture of fun and creativity, and is passionate about sustainability and resourcefulness.
Research
Sustainability House separated their design services from the rest of the business under the name SuHo Studio.
During our usual diagnosis and strategy phase, we observed that the word House in current name was contributing to the perception the business might be a government body. We also felt that SUHO is actually a much better brand name—it is short, sharp and easy to remember.
We also found that having two separate identities and websites causes confusion in the market and was unnecessary. The new direction for the company could be one single brand identity with all services aligned to deliver a single core purpose. This realignment with the design studio would assist with repositioning them as a fun, passionate and creative business.
Solution
We developed the tagline ‘Resourcefully Clever Buildings’. It has the depth of a double meaning, both of which are relevant: ‘resourcefully’ relates to using resources (energy, water, earth, etc), while being ‘resourceful’ is having the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties.
The core visual concept came from the idea of recycling the letterforms (characters) discarded from the truncation to the brand name. The design of the custom typography combines environmental aspects (leaf shapes) with technical structures (architectural plans, blueprints, etc). These unique letter forms are used across a range of applications as unique branding elements.
We also developed a new logo—a combination between existing brand elements and the recycled typography. An updated star shape ties in with the developed typography while still retaining recognition from the old logo.
To further reflect SUHO’s environmental values, the business cards are printed with letterpress finishing on Crane’s Lettra, which is 100% tree-free and made from cotton linters—a byproduct of the cotton industry that is recognised by the EPA as a recovered fibre. These cotton fibres require fewer chemicals and produce far less waste than papers made from trees. In addition, the repeatedly reusable cotton in Crane’s Lettra can be recycled with traditional paper.
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