SomeOne creates a new brand for one of the UK’s largest student accommodation providers.
Introducing a new way of thinking about student accommodation. Introducing, Hello Student.
Hello Student designs, build and manage homes for students, all over the UK.
‘Here’s a roof over your head, done, dusted, whatever’ — Erm, nope.
That’s not them. They’re not just about student housing – they’re about the whole student experience.
They’re there to help students find an amazing room.
Hello Student wants to do more.
Like help students stay healthy. Make sure students feel totally, one million percent safe. Give them the chance to make new friends. To explore their city.
So. For each of the student buildings, Hello Student has a few must-haves:
They have to be centrally located
Well-connected
Well-designed
They also build in community facilities and spaces wherever they can – like gyms, cinema rooms, study rooms and big shared kitchens – for students to meet, mingle, microwave.
Hello Student has buildings big and small.
Historic and brand-spanking new. In all kinds of cities.
Fit for all kinds of budgets.
Who lives in them?
Undergrads, postgrads, students of all ages. From nearly 90 countries.
Hello Student gives each building its own manager.
Their whole purpose?
The wellbeing, happiness, and convenience of their students. For whatever students need, they have their own concierge, an on-site accommodation manager.
They’ll tell you the quickest way to university. List the best food places nearby. They’ll help you organise your tenancy. Book you theatre tickets, book the restaurant, then book you a taxi to get there. Plan all sorts of weird and wonderful events for your building. And just… listen. Be there. If you feel homesick, if you need someone to talk to, for whatever reason. They’ll always be there.
It’s about so much more than that roof over your head.
All year round, Hello Student talks to residents, think, research, question how to make things easier, more enjoyable, more convenient for students. Then they get out there and do it.
Creating spaces where students blossom.
That’s at the heart of everything they do.
With all this care and attention given to each location, the visual brand identity needed to veer away from the brash colours and geometric ‘hip’ branding that plagues the sector.
This is an adult brand, for students intent on a more mature approach to learning… We commissioned international research to discover what students in Korea, China, India, America and Europe were really looking for. And it’s not all night parties and close proximity to bars… although by focusing on the best locations in each city, Hello Student has plenty of that on tap too.
The audience asked for a more considered approach. These are not social outcasts, just because they are studying a subject doesn’t mean they don’t go shopping, enjoy good food and are deeply connected to brands and sophisticated behaviours.
The new endeavour sets out to talk up to the audience rather than perpetuating the condescending approach taken by so many brands in the student sector.
Seasonal flowers will be the lead visual property that connect the many parts of the communications. Starting with Roses, the brand will flex and adapt — using local blooms for local activity
A mobile first digital strategy underpins much of what people will see. Print work is deliberately kept to a minimum. Almost every transaction has been designed so it can be undertaken entirely digitally.
As more than half of the audience using the services of Hello Student are from overseas — non-written communication has been given careful consideration. While the students in attendance have a strong grasp of English, many of the secondary parties may not, such as governments that may be sponsoring the students.
Size-aware iconography was developed by SomeOne to work on mobile, on tablet and on desktop devices without compromising legibility.
Bespoke, invisibly tessellating illustrations were developed by SomeOne to brand some aspects of the communications without the need for wordmarks or traditional logo based systems.
The entire brand world has been carefully considered, with photography by Simon Warren, and copywriting by Reed Words.
Hello Student connects our entire student accommodation portfolio under one platform and brand by the start of the 2018/19 academic year. The new brand is a more attractive and consistent service offering — a brand that better resonates with our current and potential customers as well as further driving re-bookings and referrals. As it gains momentum and scale, we expect that Hello Student will help to ensure we deliver the best quality service offering to our customers.