Illustrated brochures fit with the aesthetic of the marketing for this timeless neighborhood design, rooted in the charm of the 1930s with modern amenities

Transforming construction blueprints into a blue chip marketing campaign

Being an effective designer often boils down to deductive reasoning skills. Being able to modify house plans drawn in AutoCAD to create the marketing materials for a new neighborhood is a great use of my multidisciplinary skill set.

For Wendover Hill, the plan called for a street that was bursting with color

The front elevations of the homes planned provide the scaffolding for more detailed renderings

Each of the houses being built in Wendover Hill would work in concert to create a panorama of bright, bold colors. It was important to show potential buyers what the options would be, and the blueprints didn't fully reveal the intentions of the architects behind the designs. We needed some renderings tht would showcase the color selection and the high end features, like the copper gutters and downspouts, the stained hardwood doors, and the stone pillars for the porches.

We decided to create 2D renderings from the plans, themselves.

The method I used to generate the 2D renderings made it possible to repurpose some of the elements on other houses with similar planned features. For the architects, the ability to move through all possible colors for the cedar shingle siding using the sliders in Photoshop was a game-changer. They could browse color choices until we dialed in the perfect mix.

The first step is to hide all layers in CAD that show labels, speacs, dimensions, and sections. Then, use CAD to draw guidelines for the shadows that would cast on the building and hatch in all the window glass. Save a PDF and open that in Photoshop.

In Photoshop, begin adding the textures, filters, and effects needed to colorize and texturize the drawing. The end result is not as precise as the rest of the drafted plans, but it's more informative and more efficient than hand-drawn renderings.

The completed package helps to plant the seed of the vibrant neighborhood that is being created.

There is a lot of back and forth between Adobe products and CAD software to produce these, so it's critical to be fluent in both programs if you want to manage the process from end to end.

The final results are placed onto the brochure shells along with other pieces of the set that speak to the features of the homes and the available floor plans and lots.

As the campaign manager, I was responsible for the copywriting as well as the production of these for use in print and digital environments.

Wayfinding in Print, Online, and On Site

There was a lot of interest in the second phase of Wendover Hill, and with a central location in Charlotte, there was also a lot of foot traffic during construction from potential homeowners. We needed a permanent sign to alert passersby that Phase II was beginning, and a temporary sign that would provide the site map to construction crews as well as people looking to secure their lot.

Making the old new again

The sign from Phase I was faded and weathered, but it had "good bones" for a refresh, with a timeless style that still speaks to the Craftsman-style revival in the area.

There was a sign on the property from Phase I, and the architects wanted to refresh it rather than building a new one. I visited the site, snapped some photos of the existing sign, took some measurements, and set about the process of redesigning it. I used AutoCAD to draw the sign to scale, and then moved into Adobe Illustrator to generate some options that fit with the aesthetic direction for Phase II. I also got price quotes to upgrade it and to build a second sign to match.

The most important goal for refinishing the old sign was to alert people who drive past the neighborhood on their way to and from work that new homes were being built. The old sign had been there for several years, so it had likely faded into the scenery for people who drive by there everyday. A new aesthetic could re-energize the sign, and also plant the seed of a shorter commute for those daily drivers.

A classic appeal with modern features

The asethetic for the neighborhood strongly references a 1930s style to underscore the Craftsman movement in residential design. Maintaining that aesthetic was critical establish Phase II as a true extension of Phase I, but the second time around offers the opportunity to learn from missed oportunites in Phase I.

The original sign was quaint and subdued, but it faded over time and started to show dirt and age. This time, we would use vinyl and a weather-resistant coating to ensure that the new sign would stand the test of time. Secondary signage would be attached to the base of the main signs using chains and eye hole screws, making the option of having interchangeable messages possible as the supply of available homes became more scarce.

A bold color palette with bright accents would draw attention from the busy main road, and the sign could be pressure washed as needed to keep the colors vibrant and rich.

The new sign maintains the classic style of the typography and accents, but replaces the subdued color scheme with a more vibrant 3-color option to attract attention from the street.

Give the people what they want

A second sign offers an illustrated site map for Phase II, the website address, and the contact information for the realtor.

When you're working on a hot new commodity in the Charlotte area, it gets a lot of attention. People will stop and ask for more information from anyone they can find. The construction teams needed to be able to focus on completing their work safely, so we needed a way to provide interested parties who stopped by the site with more information in a way that would allow progress to continue uninterrupted.

To help with the foot traffic, we created an additional sign that would display the site map for Phase II, along with the website address and the contact informaion for the realtor. It would also feature a supplemental sign along the bottom with literature on the available lots and plans for site visitors to take with them once construction was completed.

Speaking of the site map — it was one of my favorite features of the marketing materials for this campaign

Graphic Design and Illustration are related, but it's entirely possible to have a career in one without gaining experience in the other. For me, drawing as a kid is what led to my interest in drafting, and ultimately to design, so I relish any opportunity to work at the intersection of both disciplines.

The site map for this community was a multidisciplinary designer's delight! It began with the original, scale drawing being constructed in AutoCAD, then exporting it to PDF for use in Photoshop. Raster effects were used to create the textures of the rooftops, trees, and pavement, and the shadows cast by the houses and the trees.

A final pass in Illustrator to add the typographic elements and some details that were best managed with vector illustration than raster effects, and it became a focal point for the campaign.

The illustrated site map was created using AutoCAD, Photoshop, and Illustrator in concert.

Phase II of an exclusive Charlotte neighborhood provides some rich opportunities for marketing campaign design support

Good design solves problems. Great design solves problems you don't even know you have.

In the case of Phase II of Wendover Hill, the team was small and time was at a premium, but interest was also high. We wanted potential home buyers to be able to explore the options without having to visit the site during construction, and without having to wait several weeks to speak to the Realtor. Up until this point, most websites for communities were static — meaning, customers really couldn't interact with them. They were essentially an online version of a printed brochure. Fortunately for us, web design was evolving, and I had friends in software development. I recruited one of them to build the backend of a website to provide an online experience that was years ahead of its time.

First, provide a familiar starting point

The primary pages of the website were informational, and worked like a standard static site. I provided the written copy and the visual assets to the developer along with wireframes that provided dimensions down to the pixel to make his work more efficient.

Most of the website was constructed with static HTML and CSS.

Then, use progressive disclosure to onboard users to new features

An option to shop by lot

The most impressive feature of the website was an interactive feature that allowed for home buyers to explore the sitemap to see which lots were available for full customization, which ones had been sold, and which ones were under construction. A lot broswer feature provided a point-of-entry based on which lot was most desirable. Once a lot was selected for viewing, the home buyer could see a selection of plans that could be built on the site.

The most interesting features of the website included custom interactive features like a lot browser, plan browser, and breakaway image gallery.

An option to shop by house plan

Another feature allowed for a home buyer to shop based on which house plan they liked best. Once they selected a plan, they could see which lots were available with the necessary dimensions to build their dream home. These options made the initial consult with the Realtor more productive, where the buyers already knew what lot and which plan they wanted. By the time they met with the Realtor, it was a matter of selecting the custom features, finshings, and color schemes for their home.

The plan browser provided a point-of-entry based on the preferred plan. The user could choose a plan, and then see which lots that plan could be built on.

A standalone gallery that functioned like a modern day mobile app

The top right of the site's header offered an image gallery that opened in a separate browsing window so that home buyers could look through images of existing homes while browing plans or lots. The gallery had separate setions for interior and exterior photos so that the end user could focus on the features that were most important to them while they planned their dream home. It was Information Architecture in the early days, when UX was a subset of Web Design. The idea was to create a digital experience that mirrored an in-person open house. For both, it all comes down to being a gracious host by making it easy for your guests to find what they need.

A mockup showing a standalone image gallery that users could view separately while browsing lots or plans.

A custom content management system to run it all

Wordpress was only a couple of years old at this point. It was growing quickly, but it was not yet to the point that we could use it for such a specific use case. A custom CMS was in order, and that's what we designed and built. This website had a fully-custom interface for managing the written copy, setting the lot status, uploading plan brochures, and matching house plans with available lots. I had no idea at the time, but I was pioneering in User Experience design before that label existed. Between my software developer colleague and me, we thought of everything. We asked great questions, and thought of potential issues as we worked through the site — remotely, at that.

A final interaction with a personal touch

The final interaction with site vistors was a contact form packaged as a Guest Card. Home buyers could fill out the guest card with their interests, preferences, and contact information, with the promise that the community Realtor would reach out. This provided Lori, the exclusive Realtor for Wendover Hill, with qualified leads to reach out to with times to meet with interested home buyers. As you might imagine, these homes didn't last long. Most were spoken for before before construction began, and Wendover Hill remains an exclusive neighborhood in the central Charlotte region, with home values well into seven figure ranges.

A mockup showing a contact form presented as a guest survey card to gather demographic information and to provide a way for site visitors to request to be contacted by the realtor.

Being a true generalist has it's advantages

I used to skip school to draw house plans in high school. No, really.

Software Synergy Ensues

I received two of the greatest compliments of my budding career while working on this project

Promotional Campaign Materials