How the branding for this new London living space tells a story

Consultancy Greenspace has created the branding for a new London housing development, which hopes to tell the “story of the area”.

The Deptford Foundry sits in south-east London and is made up of one, two and three bedroom homes, with 276 homes in total. It also includes workspaces intended for use by resident artists and designers.

It is the first development from property developer Anthology, which Greenspace has been working with since 2013 and has created the branding for previously.

The Anthology logo, which is an “A” outline surrounded by a grid, has been designed as a masterbrand so that it can “evolve” to create the branding for property developments in different areas.

The gridded pattern surrounding the “A” creates an ornate, illustrated letter which aims to represent storytelling, says Greenspace creative director Lee Deverill, by mimicking the illuminated drop-cap that is used to begin a story in old-fashioned religious books and fairytales.

This concept links in with the property developer name Anthology, which Greenspace also created. “The idea of Anthology is that it’s the start of a new story for people who move into a place and live there,” says Deverill. The identity is based on the brand positioning “Stories from Homes, Built from London”, says Deverill.

The masterbrand Anthology logo has then been adapted to create The Deptford Foundry logo, which also incorporates a gridded pattern around an “A”. This aims to imbue an industrial sense and represent manhole covers, as the area was previously a metal foundry, Deverill says. Extending this concept, a “furnace orange” colour has been incorporated across the Deptford Foundry’s branding, to link back to the previous bronze casting company that was situated there.

“It’s about understand the local area, history and people who lived there,” says Deverill. “We’re just trying to tell a good story”.

Greenspace has extended the branding across interiors, creating a showroom set within three railway arches that aims to immerse customers through a “living library” bookshelf, filled with artefacts from the area and books which tell its history. The library also incorporates the Anthology brandmark, with diamond-shaped gridded shelves. The space also includes a 3D model with an interactive screen, which allows users to find out about properties in the area.

The consultancy also created the website, curated a Deptford Stories arts festival about the heritage of the area, created three short films, and put together a marketing campaign for the Anthology Deptford Foundry brand.

Greenspace is currently working on other Anthology sub-brands, including one for Wembley, west London and one in Hoxton, east London.