WATERCRESS PROPERTIES
Amy gave me an interesting challenge when she approached me to do the branding for her new real estate business. She wanted natural, spa-like, colors that mimicked a loved painting of succulents, she is a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright’s craftsman-style stained glass work, and she’d settled on the name ‘Watercress Properties.’ I had no idea what a watercress was.
LOGO DESIGN
After learning that watercress is one of the oldest known leaf vegetables consumed by humans, and a cousin of mustard, I began exploring ways to turn its relatively innocuous leaf shapes into something beautiful.
The three leaves in the logo intersect at a geometric point that may be interpreted as a ‘W’ for watercress, pieces of a stained glass window, or even the peak of a house.
brand colors
I wanted the approved colors for Watercress Properties to be less strict than would be typically seen in a brand guide. Like in the inspirational painting, or a stained glass window, this family of colors allows for variances of tint and shade depending on their application.
HEX #85A296
HEX #7F7D53
HEX #C1D3C6
HEX #D6D193
HEX #DEEBE2
HEX #F5EBD0
CLAY FAMILY
HEX #8B4C31
FLORAL FAMILY
HEX #46364F
HEX #FBE5DB
HEX #DDC3BF
SUCCULENT FAMILY
HEX #414E49
HERB FAMILY
HEX #373B28
HEX #CB7D5F
HEX #7B6C81
HEX #F5B9A2
HEX #917A78
APPLICATION
As a new business Watercress Properties would need a website, business cards, and mailers to get the word out about their services. It was important that the site feel approachable with easy to digest information.
Designing the website for Watercress was an exercise in reservation. Many of the real estate sites I looked at during the benchmarking process were cluttered with redundant information, flashy banners, distracting fly-outs, and clashing stock photography. To stand out from the crowd my goal became creating an inviting, professional space with just enough information to entice users to reach out to learn more.
They didn’t have the budget yet for photography, or even stock images, so I was challenged with finding appropriate free stock images from sites like PEXELS and UNSPLASH.
BACKGROUND NOISE
Amy reached out to me at the beginning of March, 2021. With St. Patrick’s day coming up and the weather turning towards spring I was listening to a lot of Irish folk punk as I worked on this logo and site.
Bands like The Pogues, The High Kings, Young Dubliners, and especially Flogging Molly come to mind when I think back on this project.