Case Study: Greek House Rebranding
Two friends came to me with problem and I provided a very cool solution.
Here’s the story:
Greek House was created by two college kids from The University of Florida with $500 and the simple goal to make ordering custom apparel as simple as possible. They set out to change the industry by selling shirts to fraternity houses and expanding nationally. This dream became a reality and they became one of the fastest growing startups in the world! However, they had a problem. The brand was growing rapidly but their look and feel didn’t grow with them. They needed a refresh and a way to connect to their audience in a memorable way. That’s where I come in. They needed me to blend the amazing work they’ve done, cut through the clutter, and connect with their targeted audience.
Previous branding:
The branding they came to me with had the basics, got them business, but didn’t fully embody the spirit of their company. We worked together to change that. We set up a call and discussed what they had and what they were looking for. They had a logo with Greek architecture, the color blue, and a very efficient website. It was working but they wanted more. From talking with them and understanding my client’s needs, I did a deep dive and got into the mind of a 2020 college student. We needed to relate to the audience and be a brand they would want to interact with. We wanted to be their Greek House.
Concepting:
My first step in any project is to take a look at the landscape. I collected all of the assets my client had and then asked a series of questions every designer asks…Who are you? Who do you want to be? What are your brand values? What sets your brand apart? What inspires your brand? What five words describe your brand? Who are your target clients? And my favorite, who are your competitors? With that information, I put together an exploratory deck that included all of the research I did to answer the above questions.
Set the mood:
The next step for a project of this manner is to put together mood boards. From my experience, I never go straight to a logo. I start with A LOT of research to make sure we can have a targeted approach to the design. I ask a lot of questions, pull a lot of inspiration and make sure we are all on board before I start designing. For this phase, I pulled swipe images to inspire different routes we can take with this brand. I worked closely with their in-house social media manager, who provided inspirational swipe as well, to get into the minds of my clients and put together a visual exploration of where we want to go. Below you can see the moodboards I presented. We talked through the boards and picked elements that we wanted to move forward with for the branding project.
Looking at the moodboards, I start noticing patterns and pick colors and fonts to help guide the design direction. I presented the font and color options to my client to see where their head was at before designing their assets.
Design Explores:
After having a client meeting and discussing options, I presented the following logo options for our brand.
Final Design:
We landed on the final design and the dusty rose color palette.
From there, I designed social, marketing and web design elements to show how we can flex the new brand aesthetic. Fun fact: I came up with their new tagline! I felt like “Haven't you heard?” was something their target audience would naturally say and fit the brand aesthetic. My clients loved it and implemented it throughout their branding.
And that’s a wrap!
Greek House has continued to grow and use these brand elements throughout their design suite. I built out a brand guideline and toolkit for their team of designers to use. My clients were over the moon with their brand update, have increased sales and brand recognition and are containing to excel in the space!
Feel free to check out their branding here: