From discovery to concept launch: Developing an iconic identity for a historic shopping street in Hartford, CT.
1. Discovery
At project kickoff, our client provided us with a data dump of architecture plans, offering memorandums, partnership agreements, and project language. We then searched historic archives, conducted community stakeholder interviews, and walked the client through a discovery process. I supported Crave’s creative director through this phase, managing the project schedule, the creative team, writing & wire framing the website content, and heading up client meetings throughout the process.
Agency: Crave Design
Client: Shelbourne Global
Project: Pratt Street
Creative Brief —
Develop a name, brand identity, icon system, leasing collateral, and multi-audience district website for Pratt St., a block of historic rowhouses in Hartford, CT undergoing thoughtful redevelopment to preserve historic character while converting upper floors into multifamily residential units and ground floors into community-driven retail space.
2. Identity Development
We used the creative nuggets we unearthed in discovery to inspire a team of three designers to explore logo options. As we honed in on a final logo through several rounds of client review, we also began work on an icon system and we engaged a copywriter to create brand statements that spoke to the “original” character of the street — as well as the many storied characters who contribute to its authentic local color. I project managed the team, provided artistic direction and feedback, and contributed directly to the copywriting effort.
3. Website Design + Development
Next up, we dove into website design and development. The project needed to target multiple audiences, including the primary B2C consumer audience as well as secondary audiences comprised of residents seeking apartments and small business owners looking for retail space to lease. I created the initial site map and wireframe in Figma, taking a first pass at optimizing user experience, and architecting the information to provide unique user journeys for the residential, retail leasing, and consumer audiences. I then managed our in-house designer in creating the UI and our third-party web developer through coding and beta testing the WordPress site. I was also hands-on with the copywriting, fleshing out the brand statements we’d created in the identity phase to craft the full website content system.
4. Everything Else
In addition to creating the brand identity and website, we also handled several other component pieces of the Pratt Street project. Our team flew to Hartford, CT to manage a photoshoot. We also developed a range of retail leasing collateral, provided sub brand names and identities for component buildings within the project, and consulted with the residential leasing partner to provide content for a separate apartment leasing website for the 99 Pratt St. component.
