Case Story. How We Designed NRG Brand Identity
The heads of BI Group (Kazakhstan) and Murad Buildings (Uzbekistan) announced the foundation of NRG, their 50/50 joint venture, on March 1, 2020.
Cooperation of two companies is a powerful source of new energy in the real estate development market of Uzbekistan," says Elina Suleymanova, Brand Manager of BI Group, about the task. "We needed competent help in communicating with our customers to form an efficient approach to conveying the principles of our new brand the founding companies have been adhering to for many years."
The brand design process was preceded by an audit of the real estate market aimed at identifying the main positioning territories of its key players and performing their visual analysis. Based on the research, a positioning concept of the future brand was masterminded. It is rooted in the message of the two companies: We build happiness! And the visual image of the brand shows the audience what the energy of happiness from NRG exactly is. It was important for us, designers, to understand the market of Uzbekistan, fit in its context, and express respect for the traditions of the country without omitting the features of a modern, innovative brand.
We asked ourselves: where does a person get energy from?
The first source is the power of the place. Uzbekistan is a warm country with family values, and Tashkent is a city with a 2,000-year history, it cherishes the memory of ancestors and its cultural traditions. We call it the 'cultural code'.
The second source is the power of nature itself. Beautiful mountain landscape, bright sunshine, and warm climate are all inexhaustible sources of energy, and we define them as the 'natural code'.
And the most important thing is the internal resources that everyone has. The energy is inside you, so be active and courageous! I call it the 'genetic code'.
What is NRG then?
The code of NRG contains information about all the sources of energy. And its residential projects are places of power and happiness for each of its dwellers. It is this philosophy that formed the company's brand design.
Color Palette of NRG
Navy blue is the color of authority, calmness, confidence. It's better perceived by men. It is also used in the brand identity of the participating partners. Orange is the color of the sun's energy.
Style Elements
The geometry of the logo was reflected in the means of visual communication of the brand. Bright orange shapes pointed skyward interact with photos. Thus, even without a logo or a specific mention of the developer, it is understandable what company a visual communication material is about.
Branded pictograms serve as additional identifiers: they are used in almost all visual communication elements. Our design project even provides for the use of symbols in common areas: this is a kind of allusion to cave paintings since they also served as encrypted messages.
An instrumental feature in the appearance of construction sites is the fence design: new buildings will be erected in the urban environment, so a large flow of motorists and pedestrians will be able to "get acquainted" with them from the very beginning of implementation. It is to be considered that fences are a great means of communication and conveyance of the company values. Besides usual renders of the future residential estate, we recommended placing visual messages and slogans conveying the character of NRG on the fences.
It is also important that the design code is incorporated in the finished project, so we have provided options for its use in direction signs or landscaping.
First Residential Project
Two thousand guests of the presentation held on March 1 in Tashkent got acquainted with the new brand of NRG, its values and upcoming projects.
Its first project is NRG Oybek, a residential estate in Mirobod, a district in the capital of Uzbekistan; sales have already started. The construction site of the project is designed in the style of the brand, GMK Design Center has also worked on advertising and promotional materials. It was important for us to emphasize how business class aesthetics inspired by the literary tradition is in harmony with functionality based on digital technologies and smart systems in this unique project.
Source: https://stroyka.uz/
When designing a developer’s brand identity or rebranding it, is important to capture its character. Means of visual communication are often a direct reflection of the charisma of the company's leader, of the company's head. There are two such leaders in this project, and each of them added his own vision to the ideology of NRG, however, thanks to common values, the consistent approach to real estate development, and also our joint productive work, we've got a comprehensive visual philosophy that embodies the synergy of the new brand.
The full version of the visual philosophy of NRG is here
BI Group is the largest real estate development company in Kazakhstan. Over 25 years, it has implemented more than 150 projects with a total area of over 5 million square meters of housing, commercial real estate, roads, infrastructure and industrial facilities. BI Group ranks 186th in ENR's TOP-250 Global Contractors, world rankings of real estate developers.
Murad Buildings is among the leading and rapidly growing real estate developers of Uzbekistan with 15 years of experience in its market. The company’s activity is focused on the creation of unique residential projects featuring advanced architectural solutions and high quality. Since 2003, Murad Buildings has implemented 12 projects with a total area of 100,000 square meters and has sold 516 apartments.
