51 Jay Street Branding - Joshua Leigh

51 Jay Street Branding
Brand Design

51 Jay Street is a warehouse conversion in the ‘DUMBO’ district of Brooklyn, NYC. It was built in 1900 and was used to store both coffee and plate glass windows. DUMBO is populated by tech startups, well-off creatives and young families. It is a close-knit community that is fiercely protective of its unique local atmosphere.

Year
2014

Studio
Heavenly

My role
Senior Designer

Context

The budget for the property marketing was limited so the website became the hub for the majority of the campaign. We created a rich, content-driven site, a departure from typical property sales/marketing websites. New content was commissioned from key local creatives and residents,this served a dual purpose of engaging local figures and selling the feel of the area to prospective buyers.

I built the graphic system around a grid system reminiscent of the building’s window panes. Flexible enough to be dynamic and responsive, yet with enough structure to house a variety of content generated by the local community.

One of the key features of the property is custom fixtures and fittings designed by the architects. We shot interviews with the architects that captured their passion for the projects, offering a behind-the-scenes look into its creation.

Using local residents to give tours of the building and surroundings was another way to engage buyers without them feeling they were being given a ‘hard-sell’. Rather than glossy brochures, a local events newspaper with interviews and listings was more suitable.

Marketing Suite

We designed the marketing suite for the apartment as an exhibition of contrasts – historic artefacts alongside the modern fixtures and fittings which they inspired. The exhibition was also a chance to incorporate the local community of small business and startups.

The architect-designed apartment fittings shown alongside locally-made products to appeal to the design-savvy Dumbo residents.

Rather than glossy brochures and floorplans, we designed a newspaper which documented stories from the creative community in DUMBO. Since this community was the target market for the apartments at 51 Jay St, it was key that the building was perceived as authentic. Great care was taken by the architects to preserve key historical features of the building. Authenticity and creativity were at the heart of the brand.

We designed a modular hoarding for the construction site, echoing the brands 'window' grid. The hoarding was designed to allow for messaging to be refreshed weekly, keeping the local community up to date with the construction progress and advertising local events.