Brian didn’t just make my day, his design made my whole week! He made my whole month! Brian knows how to “Make It Happen!”
Michelot Simon
Owner, Simon Realty
Finding a way to stand out from the crowd…
Michelot Simon is the owner of Simon Realty, a family-owned business that helps homeowners sell their homes quickly and for a fair price. While Michelot had a unique approach to real estate investing, he felt like he was always competing against much bigger businesses, and it was hard to convince homeowners that he could provide them with the same (or higher) level of service.
Michelot contacted me with the intent of creating a brand presence that matched his innovative approach and magnetic personality. He made it very clear that he wanted to project a more professional and upscale image that would stand out from the competition and would make potential homeowners take notice.
Anyone that knows Michelot will tell you, he has a bigger-than-life personality with a laugh that is absolutely infectious! With his unwavering positivity and can-do attitude, it was obvious that his brand should reflect his bold persona. So as Michelot so often says, it’s time to “Make it Happen!”
Crafting a brand every bit as bold as Michelot
During my research into the real estate market, I was amazed at how many real estate brands looked the exact same! You know what I mean: an afterthought of a typeface with the good ol’ four squares representing windows and a stylized roof above it… yeah, truly groundbreaking (note the sarcasm). And by the way, you won’t be able to trademark your logo if you use brand marks from Canva or other stock image sites… just sayin’.
Blue was an extremely overused color, and I’m not knocking it. Blue is associated with credibility and trust – that’s why so many businesses in banking and healthcare lean on it. But here’s the problem: if everyone else in your market is doing it, how can your brand possibly stand out?
Another common color is black, now this one’s interesting. It usually accompanies luxury real estate companies such as those that work exclusively with multi-million dollar houses. But what if we could take that black color, usually reserved for luxury homes, and bring it down to the masses? You know, make it more accessible! A client that needs to quickly sell their less-than-perfect home fast would still love to feel like they’re getting the white glove treatment. And set against black, red was the perfect complement. It’s strong enough to catch your eye while having enough contrast to work against both black and white backgrounds.
In crafting the logo mark, I played around with the letters S & R from Simon Realty. I’m not often a fan of using direct lettering in the logo mark, but that didn’t mean the letters couldn’t be used abstractly. A personal go-to for the letter “R” is to remove the stem (that’s the vertical bar on the left of the letter).
By bringing the S & R together, I could see two hands holding something. I felt adding a circle in the middle of the hands balanced the design, and would represent the customer. I flared out the legs of the design a bit to create a strong foundation for the bottom of the design – if this design was made into a statue, it needed strong legs to stand. And for the final touch, a bold red! Set against black, red was a strong color that would catch your eye and excite you while having enough contrast to work against both black and white backgrounds. This new branding was so strong, it made translating it into a website super easy and natural.
Working with Michelot on his branding for Simon Realty was an incredibly fun experience. From inception to completion, the project was full of energy and creativity. By taking Michelot’s vision and mixing in a little bit of market research and design know-how, we created a unique brand that will set him up for success.
