Brand Character
Led collaborative client workshops to establish a brand character for a newly consolidated brand
Guidelines
Constructed a character narrative and practical application guidelines for expression
Real estate technology client | Lippincott 2023
As part of Zillow, ShowingTime+ offers real estate agents tools that allow them to do business more efficiently and make their listings stand out. I'm proud to say I helped land this client for Lippincott, pitching the importance of brand character in expressing the value of the many tools they offer.
As ShowingTime+ reworks their design system, the brand character and principles we conceived help guide that development. Character can drive everything from marketing and social media to web experience and live conferences.
Key to the build of this character was rooting it in the brand's existing promise. The right brand character would help communicators and designers express the fundamentals in non-literal ways. It was especially important that the guidelines scale for all forms of expression (color, logo, motion, image, illustration, etc.) when the visual redesign was ready to begin.
Personality that's more than just "human"
While there were many attributes the ShowingTime+ brand personality could embody, stakeholders collectively determined how far in any one direction these attributes might go. This provided valuable input for a process that was both methodical and collaborative, ensuring the defined character can:
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reflect the brand promise
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distinguish the brand from competitors
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flex across different contexts
Character that zooms in and out
The guideline deliverable focused on brand voice, but began with high-level orientation -- a zoom-out to the brand's purpose and promise, supported by pillars that are constants. This way, any extension of the character's application into visual or CX would be just that -- an extension as opposed to a replacement.
The brand character has a narrative to convey who they are, what they stand for and how they show up for realtors. From there, the guideline drilled down into principles, writing do's and don'ts and examples.
Sample guideline pages -- partially blurred for privacy/confidentiality:
