muse
guidelines
v1
Place
Brands
Identity Components
Big Idea
Each place needs a succinct piece of copy that tells people what it’s about. It should be high level and aspirational. The big idea helps to guide the visual concept for the rest of the identity. e.g., Connecting people and places; A sustainable community in a botanical parkland; An island neighbourhood.
Hero Imagery
Illustrations, patterns, graphics and other visual elements should be created to help communicate the big idea and bring energy and variation to the applications.
Wordmarque
A bespoke wordmarque should be created for each place using the Muse typeface, Citizen. The wordmarque can be typeset in whatever way feels appropriate for the brand.
Photography & CGI
CGIs and track record images from the Muse image library should be the primary source of photography for place brands in the first instance. Photography should be commissioned by Muse approved supplier list and have copyright for promoting Muse / ECF / WP. New photography of the place should replace these when available.
Colour Palette
Each place brand should have it’s own colour palette. The palette should be inspired the big idea and the characteristics of the place, including the architecture, landscaping, culture and history.
Application
The visual identity needs to be flexible enough to fit into the systems used to create applications such as printed and digital brochures, social media posts and hoardings.
Examples
PLAce example
The brand for Lewisham Gateway takes inspiration from the big idea of connecting people and place and the sites history as an armoury and silk mill.
The visual identity was created around the concept of the ‘Golden Thread’ – which manifested as a series of patterns based on threads and stitching. These patterns were then weaved through all the brand touchpoints, from the dynamic wordmarque to community newspapers and wayfinding and window graphics.
hoarding SYSTEM
The template for hoarding boards has been created to cover multiple touch points.
Modular Design
Our design system is influenced by the Muse modular grid, making it flexible and adaptable to placemaking brands. Please adhere to the template as closely as possible.
Design Cohesion
Hoardings have been designed to adopt placemaking brands whilst also reflecting the Muse brand look and feel. It's important that across all projects and places, there is clear design cohesion to reinforce that the project is being delivered by Muse. In this way the marketing of each project benefits from our wider marketing also.
Commercial Details
A commercial details panel has been designed to carry sales and lettings information and agents’ logos. Please ensure contact details and partner logos are anchored to the bottom of this panel.
Specifications & Statements
The flexible design of this panel allows for a longer sales message, and fewer bullet points, it can be adapted to suit the content. Please note alternate layout of contact details and partner logos.
Marque Container
When creating place hoardings we can introduce containters, this gives the project space to reintroduce the marque or our Muse marque above a solid colour block.
CTA Container
Containers also provide more space on the canvas to introduce call to actions. This is often used over the big idea graphic or project photography and renders.
Design Blocks
When working on a different application e.g., herras fencing, we can still apply our hoarding style. Take each design module from the hoarding template and use on a single panel.
Clearly Muse
Again, we must keep the Muse branding in mind when developing the creative for each project application. Core assets must remain consistent, see our identity compenents information above to ensure we are accurately portraying the Muse brand aesthetic.
Social Media
Considering how we set out social media channels and their content is important for brand cohesion.
Social Display Picture
For social media we strive to be consistent across all projects. To achieve this we expect each project to utilise a dark colour from the palette in contrast with a lighter colour for the marque.
This will allow for social media avatars to be aligned with one another and be clear that they follow the Muse look and feel.
Social Profile
1. Naming should reflect the name of the project/place.
2. Display picture must be consistent.
3. Place description must follow the steps below.
4. Social highlights to use a contrasting colour in the palette.
5. Social posts must follow templates.
Place Photography
Each place should use place specific photography, which should be shared with the Muse corporate team and saved on their image library
Quotes and Testimonials
Type based content should follow the styling above. However, imagery surrounding the copy may change depending on the brands visual identity.
Modular Layouts
Use this modular layout when working with more complex content. Place photography, the big idea, graphic and type styling.
Social media biography example
A new, sustainable community in a new botanical parkland. 1 & 2 bedroom apartments to rent in a place to grow and thrive. A project by @museplaces.
The Big Idea
The first line of our social media bio/description must contain the big idea in the simplest form possible. Please consider the length of copy, we aim for around 8-12 words.
Build Specification
The second line we want to talk about what is available, for example 1 & 2 bedroom apartments to rent. Again, this should be short and concise, similar to the line length of our big idea.
Call to Action
All social biography's or descriptions should end in a call to action that directs traffic back towards Muse. This is important as it symbolises that the place is a project by Muse.
Brochure Templates
Muse placemaking brochure templates can be downloaded here. Please consider our content plan when working with our documents, this ensures a consistent user experience for all partners, communities and customers interacting with the Muse brand.
content plan
The Big Idea
Setting the scene
Hero image
The vision
History
Place
Why would I want it
Neighbourhood
Culture
Food & drink
Things to do
Local map
Transport & connections
Product
What is for sale
The homes
The building
Amenities
Site plan
Outdoor space
Specification
The detail
Site plan
Floor plans
Home/office spec
Materials
Sustainability
The partners
Architect
Our content plan is an important reference when planning a brochure for one of our places.
Green pages are unique to that project. We can implement the project's identity on these pages and spreads, from colour palette, photography and branding.
White pages must follow the template layouts and guides. We want these parts of our documents to be consistent across projects. This includes, introductions, contents and specifications, alongside the contact details at the end of the brochure.
Not all sections are relevant to every project. The template is designed to be modular and you can simply use the appropriate sections for your project and audience.
If you have any questions regarding our brochure setup you can contact brand@museplaces.com
Brochure COVERS
The template for brochure covers has 4 key areas: The big idea, name and logo are flexible and can move horizontally to be aligned in whatever way suits the brand and hero image. The hero image can fill part or all of the cover.
Configuration
Muse placemaking brochures have been designed as a flexible system to best fit the place specific brand. There are five key rules to successfully deliver a brochure cover to ensure brand cohesion.
1. Place brand marque can always be found at the top of our brochure covers.
2. The middle section is occupied by the hero graphic, this can be full bleed or sit comfortably in the middle.
3. The bid idea, please ensure this covers two lines for consistency.
4. Muse logo is always found at the bottom of our brochure covers.
5. Back cover is where we place important information, contact details, website address, etc, this should sit on the same line height as our big idea.
Left Alignment
The most common layout we use for residential brochure covers is our left align layout. Please reference the 4 stages to building out a cover.
Central Alignment
When one of our projects has a marque that is centrally aligned we can alternatively use a layout that compliments that. A flexible system is important to ensure the brand is presented in the best way possible.
Right Alignment
Alternatively we can also use a left align typesetting but in a right align position on the canvas. Please never right align text, only right align to the page.
HTML ADverts
HTML adverts have been designed to a flexible system, covering multiple sizes. You can download our templates here.
Imagery
Use project photography or renders in project advertising. Alternatively you can utilise the big idea and associated graphic.
Typography
Please ensure that all typography is fully legible on our advertising. This is important because we are working with small scale canvas', imagery shouldnt conflict with the typography.
Alignment
Alignments may change dependant on the projects identity. For example, Brixton Centric's type treatment is left align and Pomona South is centrally aligned.
website template
We have a Wordpress theme that allows quick setup of Place brand websites. It is based on the modular content management system developed for Muse, and is aligned to the visual language of Museplaces.com.
The theme includes a suite of reusable and flexible modules that allow you to easily build a new website and re-refresh it over time.
Instructions on how to set up a new website and access the Wordpress template are further below.
We have also created a template site to reference when creating a site. To gain access to the reference site template please enter 'BrighterPlaces' in the required password field.
Broadly speaking, there are 6 key steps required to set up a new Place website as follows:
1. Domain and CRM Setup
Purchase a unique domain name for the Place - aligned to the Place/brand name.
– Actioned by Muse Marketing team with support from the Agent relating to the place name strategy.
Setup and configuration of the Hubspot CRM environment specifically for the Place brand in question.
– Actioned by Agent with support from the Muse Sales team.
2. Brand and Project Assets
Provide Muse Marketing team with the Place brand assets (colour palette references and logos in vector (.SVG / .AI or .EPS) format, all building details (type, and number of floors), and the API key (and if possibly access) to the CRM system to be used for marketing and data capture.
– Actioned by Agent.
3. Site Configuration
Setup of hosting server environment, web content management system (WordPress), site theme and framework, connect domain name to site, add place brand assets (including brand colour palette and logos) to site, set up the building availability section, integrate contact forms into CRM, setup News feed API, analytics & tracking, cookies and privacy notification, setting up of password protection whilst the site is under development, and add specified users (members of the Agent team and Muse administrators) to the system.
– Actioned by Muse digital design team.
4. Content Creation
Add content and curate the site structure using the appropriate reusable flexible block builder modules as required on each page.
– Actioned by Agent.
5. Testing
Link up menu and conduct testing.
– Actioned by Agent, with support/inclusion of the Muse Marketing and Sales teams.
6. Launch
Remove site password and push live.
– Actioned by Muse digital design team.
Muse
Brand Guidelines
v2
Residential
Asset Library
Icon set
Our icon set is used to help highlight information and communicate messages more clearly across branded applications.
Muse
Brand Guidelines
v2
