Nottinghill Housing Brand Guidelines
Excerpt:
Introduction
This book is about the Nottinghill Housing brand. It's about who we are and what we believe. It explains the spirit of Nottinghill Housing. It describes our values and personality. It shows how we present ourselves to the world.
We begin with some background that explains why we've chosen to change our brand. Next we introduce the big idea behind the brand, our new logo and some ideas to help it come to life. We end with some specific instructions on how to make the brand part of what we do everyday. So it's about zooming in, from the big picture down to the smallest detail.
The big picture
The Nottinghill Housing brand needs to change. Why? Because our tenants have changed, London has changed and the world has changed. Standing still is not an option.
Our new brand makes it clear that Nottinghill homes aren't just for the poor and needy. It also acknowledges that the housing market has evolved into something more professional. In the past our look and language have tended to say “institutional” and “local authority”. In other words the ghost of social housing persists. NH should not be about leveling down; it should be about boosting up. NH should be about opportunity, dreams and aspirations - our words and images must reflect this. (…)
Our Logo
The new NH logo is based on a flower. Why? Because flowers are bright and attractive, they suggest celebration and friendship and are associated with warmth and happiness. Flowers are also endlessly varied - like our customers.
This particular flower includes “tree rings” to signify growth and development. This reflects our big idea of “love where you live” in the sense that for many of our customer a good quality, affordable NH home is a basis on which they can build bigger and better things for themselves.
These rings imply that this flower is healthy, established and still growing. They say, “this isn't just a flower, there's something deeper and more interesting going on here”, in the same way NH isn't just a housing association; it's really about making people's lives better.
Our flower has an unusual shape. This is deliberate; the idea is to create a logo that stands out and sticks in people's memories, something intriguing, unusual and exciting. In a city full of flower images the curious shape makes it immediately recognisable and proves an ideal “window” through which to show other images. We'll be using this on our letter heads, business cards, web site, “For Sale” and “To Let” signs, shop fronts - everything, in fact.
Stationery
Financial report covers
Source:
NottınghıllHousıng Brand Guidelines [Pdf]
