Henda Knobel
A new brand for a different kind of architect
New architectural brand for designer Henda Knobel captures the essence of Dwellbeing, a philosophy for 'better living, by design'.
The challenge
Henda Knobel worked as an architect in her native South Africa before moving to England and wanted our help to establish herself as an architectural designer in the Cotswolds.
Due to international regulatory differences, Henda cannot use the title ‘Architect’ in the UK, but offers a full range of services – from an initial free consultation, through to design concepts, planning applications, building regs and site supervision.
Henda prides herself on her empathetic approach, with a focus on building strong relationships with her clients to really understand their situation and aspirations, using her creativity to explore past the limits of her clients’ expectations. This positions her with a unique offering between draughts people, who can offer little-to-no design flair, and architects, who may intimidate with big names, complex processes and little personal involvement.
We partnered with Henda to help her refine her brand story, and create a visual identity that would represent her unique offering, enabling her to build her digital presence and put her in a confident position to launch.
The solution
Henda had previously registered ‘Architology’ as the name of her new business, but after our initial discovery and discussions, it became clear that her uniquely personal approach would best be represented by putting her at the centre of the brand. And so, the architectural practice ‘Henda Knobel’ was born.
After exploring Henda’s approach, motivations and aspirations, we were able to begin building the foundations of her brand, starting with values and personality traits, and articulating Henda Knobel’s brand purpose: ‘Empowering people to transform their homes for better living, by design’.
From there we developed a narrative toolkit, establishing a philosophy of ‘Dwellbeing’, that a good home is not only a sanctuary, but an expression of our personality – somewhere we not only live, but can truly thrive. The brand purpose was refined into a strapline, promising ‘Better living, by design’.
Visually, the identity centres on a confident wordmark, and a distinctive icon. The latter features Henda’s initials, stacked vertically to produce a graphic evocative of floorplans, with the central negative space creating a speech mark, as a subtle nod to Henda’s process, centred around conversations.
We also integrated Henda’s passion for art and photography into the brand aesthetic – drawing a rich colour palette from her work, and devising a distinct visual style for her architectural drawings and digital modelling, using brushtrokes and textures inspired by her paintings.
For Henda’s future architectural photography, we developed guidelines to help her capture the way her designs help people live better in their homes.
The results
The new identity hit the mark with Henda, giving her a confident and personal brand identity and voice, with which she’s begun developing her marketing assets, including a website and social media presence.
Having recently launched, Henda has already received an incredible response, with one architectural firm immediately calling to ask if they can pass on smaller projects to her. Their practice only takes on high-end residential work, so it is a demonstration of the quality of the brand that they feel confident in directing their clients to Henda Knobel.
Henda Knobel Architectural Designer“I would like to reiterate how pleased I am with how you managed to capture and articulate what Henda Knobel, the brand, is all about. …How exciting that it’s all starting to come together! It certainly communicates warmth, personality and expertise and I think it will intrigue people looking at it.”