The Steveston Buddhist Temple has been an enduring part of the Steveston, British Columbia community since 1928.
The members of the Temple wanted to give back to the community and support their aging congregation by creating a seniors’ living community on the land adjacent to the Steveston Buddhist Temple.
This facility is unique in that it contains a space to host events for the residents, the Temple congregation, and the greater community of Richmond. Wisteria is a community hub, a place where people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs can come together.
Our challenge was to create a meaningful brand that expressed the uniqueness of this community to the people who could benefit from it the most.
We began by defining their target audience, potential advocates, and influencers. Through competitor research, we further defined their unique offering.
We continued by crafting the brand’s values, personality, and finally the brand strategy.
After developing the strategy, we took the stakeholders through our eight-step naming process. Together, we created Wisteria Place, a name that has great symbolic meaning for the Buddhist community.
With the name chosen, we delved into the design of the logo, identity system, and brand applications. We created a comprehensive graphic standards manual that included applications of the brand in stationery, signage, and online.
- Market Research
- Competitor Audit
- Positioning Platform Development
- Brand Strategy
- Naming
- Visual Identity Design
- Graphic Standards Development
- Website Design
- Marketing Strategy
Wisteria is a symbol of humility and reflection in Shin Buddhism. In Chinese culture, it’s a potent symbol of new life, playfulness, and adventure. The blue wisteria specifically symbolizes promising beginnings to new ventures. Historically, Wisteria symbolizes long life, as the wisteria flower can live up to 100 years or more.
The logo is composed of stylized wisteria blossoms. The three blossoms represent the three important parts of Wisteria Place: people, place, and community. The people being those who work and live at Wisteria Place. The place being the actual building and area surrounding the the Temple and the park. The community being the greater community of Richmond.
One of the main vehicles for marketing a property such as this is the website. So we designed a site that expressed Wisteria’s vision for the community and its unique brand personality.
It was important that the design connected with the intended audience and inspired them live there. We achieved this through carefully considered imagery, thoughtful application of the beautiful colour palette, and a layout that maximizes the user experience.
Perry Boeker and Angela Dallin presented to us a storyboard and perspective that was bang on from the first presentation all the way to completion. They made come alive a series of brainstorms into bringing alive the branding and naming of our site.
There is no one better in the market for branding and naming. They are detail-oriented, they do their homework and most of all they embed themselves as part of your team to realize your vision.
Karim Kassam
Co-Founder & Principal
Optima Living Communities
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