For anybody who’s ever skilled the stress of renovating their dwelling, here is a set off warning. This text is all concerning the rebranding of the renovation planning platform Hey, Barb. And studying any additional could nicely reignite a sure sort of trauma.
Contractors who do not present up. Budgets that quietly double. 17 browser tabs open at anybody time. That folder of invoices. And extra usually, the sinking feeling that you do not really know what you are doing and that no one is coming to assist.
Hey, Barb is an app designed to assist keep away from conditions like that. Squarely geared toward householders managing their very own tasks, it exists to carry construction to what’s, for most individuals, an awesome and poorly supported course of.
So when the Hey, Barb group got here to Uther Studio—a newly launched inventive company based mostly in Stockport—they wanted a model that might maintain all of that nervousness and rework it into one thing that felt manageable, approachable, even (whisper it) doubtlessly pleasurable.
It is definitely an fascinating transient for any studio to tackle. And for Uther Studio’s director, Liz McCracken, it was the primary public-facing mission her company had ever delivered. So no strain there, then.
What they did not do
At this level, it is price contemplating what Hey, Barb may have appeared like. Renovation, as a visible class, tends towards one in all two modes. There’s the aspirational finish (polished interiors pictures, muted palettes, the aesthetic of a Scandi kitchen that no one really cooks in). After which there’s the useful finish: the world of hardware-store signage, clip-art toolboxes, and a font that communicates urgency with out saying the rest.
Neither of these, although, felt proper. Hey, Barb is not promoting dream kitchens, and it is not a tile provider. It is one thing extra particular and extra helpful: a platform that sits beside you through the arduous bit, serving to you retain observe of contracts, invoices, timelines, and selections whereas every part else feels prefer it’s spiralling uncontrolled.
The strategy, then, was basically human in nature. “Hey, Barb wanted to really feel like a peaceful, succesful presence in what is usually an awesome course of,” says Liz. “We targeted on constructing a model that feels clear, human and supportive, whereas nonetheless having the boldness to face out available in the market.”
That phrase, “calm, succesful presence”, is doing a whole lot of work right here. It describes not a visible type however a persona. And persona, as any model designer is aware of, is significantly more durable to attain than type.
What they constructed
The ensuing identification is heat with out being smooth, assured with out being company, and (crucially) humorous, with out attempting too arduous.
The title itself units a tone: casual, pleasant, the sort of factor you’d textual content somebody who’d already completed a loft conversion and knew which inquiries to ask. The visible language leans into that register. Daring, chunky typography that occupies area with ease.
That is complemented by a color palette that manages to really feel each retro and modern. There are dusky pinks, deep maroons, sky blues and burnt oranges that recall Nineteen Seventies print design with out feeling overly nostalgic. We additionally see splashy, starburst call-outs and pill-shaped labels that carry useful info with out shedding persona.
There is a fats tabby cat within the imagery that maybe finest captures the model’s spirit, sprawling throughout a wall-sized mural with the sort of easy confidence that Hey, Barb itself is attempting to mission. It is a small element, but it surely reveals one thing essential about inventive pondering.
This is not a model that takes itself completely significantly. It is aware of that renovations are nerve-racking, chaotic and sometimes absurd, and it is prepared to acknowledge that.
The debut query
For designers, there’s one thing extra-interesting about this mission’s context. This was Uther Studio’s first public work: the piece that will outline how the company was perceived from day one. The temptation should have been to overreach, to supply one thing so demonstrably “intelligent” that the portfolio broadcasts itself.
Fortunately, Liz, who brings greater than 15 years of expertise in model identification throughout a number of sectors, seems to have resisted that temptation. The Hey, Barb work is assured, however not showy. It solves an actual drawback for an actual viewers with actual readability. And the craft is seen within the selections which have been made, fairly than in ornament utilized on prime of them.
All of it goes to indicate that generally one of the simplest ways to announce a brand new company is solely to do good work and let the work communicate for itself.
