Homeowner Guides
digital, layout
SHAPE contacted me to help them design homeowner guides for the new RC at CF Richmond Centre Neighbourhood homes. The digital guides are shared with new homeowners, outlining all the information they could possibly need; from basic contact details to appliance manuals, neighbourhood highlights, warranty information, and so much more.
The SHAPE brand had been through a rebrand recently and had a great new brand guideline and newly designed documents to reference, which set the tone for the design direction of the guides. With 100-plus pages per guide, easy and intuitive navigation was prioritized throughout the design, including a comprehensive, interactive table of contents.
The new brand also incorporated a handful of graphic elements, including custom icons, which we made use of throughout the guide. They either help separate sections, point to specific areas, or are layered onto photos.
New section pages feature a full colour photo and a bright, on-brand text box encompassing the appropriate section title. As you scroll through the document, these pages stand out quickly to further aid with document navigation.
The first guide was designed while the Towers were still under construction, therefore, the guides include a handful of architectural renders. Since this is a large project with various phases, new guides will be tailored created to each Tower, outlining its unique features and amenities as move-in dates approach. As the construction moves along, many of the rendered visuals will be replaced by elevated professional photography.
The document is designed across a flexible multi-column layout. Most pages make use of one wide content column. However, this column doesn't fully extend across the page, inviting some much needed white space across the pages, helping them not feel too text-heavy.
Select pages make use of two content columns, whether for text, photos or a mix of the two. The two-column grid is always used with intention - it gives the page design added flexibility, allowing us to put similar content side-by-side, to create intentional sidebar content and more. For added variety a brand black, cream or light grey background is used across a page or column to block content or change things up visually.
All type styles follow the new brand and are carefully styled to create an organized and easy to follow type hierarchy, quickly allowing the reader to able to distinguish between content sections and themes. The colours used throughout the guide are also part of the new brand and each serve a specific purpose in the content hierarchy. As much as possible, photography is added to the pages to put the content into context.
Alongside the guides, a handful of additional materials were created, such as amenity and parking maps. These were printed and hang in key areas across the buildings.
We had the pleasure of working with Alicia on several homeowner documents, and the experience was fantastic from start to finish. Her organization and keen eye for detail gave us complete confidence in the quality of the final product. We could always trust that she would meet deadlines, and she was incredibly flexible and understanding when our timelines shifted. Alicia made the process smooth and stress-free, and we would highly recommend working with her.
Hannah Shaddick
Senior Manager, Customer Care
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