Branding for the Les living quarters

The developer Zhelezno is building a project of vital importance for an industrial city of over a million people: the first eco-quarter in Yekaterinburg, set in a pine forest, where advanced technology and natural harmony come together.

The new quarters will be located close to the city centre, yet surrounded by forest and clean air. A distinctive feature of the complex will be its rounded, "bionic" architectural forms.

Under the tight deadlines dictated by an unpredictable external environment, it was necessary to audit the project and develop its positioning and identity. The task was to reveal the advantages of the complex and convey the mission of Zhelezno: to build the cities of the future, changing the world and people's lives for the better.

First, we identified the existing trends among buyers of new-build housing: permanent residence as the purpose of purchase, and a high bar of expectations for the characteristics of a residential complex against the backdrop of declining purchasing power. We then examined competing projects in Yekaterinburg and noted positioning trends around ecology, quiet locations and maximum comfort.

We obtained the most important inputs by studying the current state of mind of the target audience. Professionals, managers and freelancers aged 25-45 with above-average incomes are ready to do everything in their power to provide a comfortable living environment for themselves and their loved ones.

Intense work at the pace of a big city is becoming the main source of stress, and in 2022 a negative external backdrop was added to it. As a result, there is a growing desire to compensate for the discomfort of the outside world with the cosiness of a home atmosphere. People want to feel they are in a safe, calm environment while enjoying all the benefits of modern life.

Our audience is the "metropolis-weary". These are families who want to swap the city's crowded "human hives" for clean forest air, private comfort and green surroundings, without giving up the infrastructure of a big city. They need a smart space where they can "switch" the city on and off at will, regulate the number of people around them, and "swipe" from a functional environment to serene nature.

All of this is made possible by the modern Les living quarters. It is a place where a technological environment that meets the needs of the audience becomes part of nature and offers the chance to recover from burnout and the pressures of a hectic pace of life.

We turned to artificial intelligence with a series of prompts to transform technology into nature and nature into technology. The smart technology generated images associated with the emotions of an apartment owner in the Les living quarter: the calm of a sunny morning in a summer forest, the serenity of a pine grove, the natural harmony between people and nature. The artificial intelligence broke the images down into palettes and suggested perfectly suited colours.

For the logo, we used forms that echo the bionic architecture of the complex's buildings. The letterforms carry individual meanings, such as an apartment floor plan in the letter E and the shape of the buildings in the letter L, while the ease of life in the Les quarters is reflected in the airy, thin typeface.

The help of artificial intelligence in selecting colours made it possible to embed smart sustainability not only in the visual elements of the identity, but in the DNA, the very nature of the brand. Along with visual harmony, the brand gained another unique attribute, becoming the first residential complex brand created with the participation of artificial intelligence.