Options Housing

We were honoured to guide their team through a full rebrand and strategy development process, culminating in a strategic, comprehensive, and practical brand system for the newly renamed Options Housing. 

Before the design stage, we developed a Communications Strategy and Message Guide to ensure their core vision and impact came through clearly in everything they share with their community, funders, and partners. We started the strategy and messaging development with a comprehensive research phase, anchored in key informant interviews with their team and visits to their locations. 

When creating their Message Guide, which articulates their messaging and tone of voice guidelines, we were struck by the power of their internal tagline, “We all deserve a home”. This led us to suggest prominently featuring the tagline in their branding and communications materials.

When discussing plans for the new visual brand, their team first considered a light brand refresh, but then ultimately chose to undergo a full rebrand — including a new name; new logo; program sub-logos; and a full suite of materials and templates. For a community organization, this was a big undertaking planned in order to ensure that their mission and impact shined through in all of their communications. 

Throughout the process, their staff emphasized the importance of community and putting people first. Affectionately known as “Options” to many staff and tenants, the organization is far more than a housing provider: it’s a hub of care and support. To portray this multifaceted role in the new branding, we developed a modular set of custom illustrations that highlight the many sides of Options Housing. These flexible visual elements came from real conversations with their team, where they told stories of tenants taking art classes; their staff and tenants sharing meals; and a volunteer teaching weekly piano lessons to a tenant. To bring these stories to life, we created custom illustration blocks that weave in the stories that make Options Housing feel like home to so many people, from an illustrated piano to a drawing of a warm cup of tea. 

Through refining their strategy and branding, Options Housing team are now poised to tell their story across different contexts — from fundraising campaigns to community outreach — while staying true to their mission and heart.