a modern approach to vacationing

As Vacasa began the process of going public, the Brand Studio set out to refresh our visual and written voice. Our brand wasn’t working effectively, and it needed to be cleaned up.

We aimed at making Vacasa a modern and approachable full-service vacation home manager.

APPROACH

I was tasked with updating the logo and redefining our in-home brand experience. For legal purposes, our logo couldn’t stray too far from its current state. My approach was to make incremental changes that refined and brought visual balance back to our brand. After a summer of iterations, feedback, and testing, I produced a more balanced, modern, and re-proportioned logo.

From here, my collaborators and I evolved our brand color palette, refined our typography and icon library, established guidelines, and built out a design system to keep us all in sync.

With these elements locked in place, I set out to redesign the in-home materials that thousands of guests interact with daily. This included interior and exterior signage, rules and way-finding signage, maintenance and housekeeping materials and uniforms, guest touch points, and our informational home brochure.

In September of 2021, and February of 2022, I art directed on-location photoshoots at two of our properties in Whidbey Island, WA and La Jolla, CA. We needed new sets of guest and home care photos to be used across print, digital, social media, and out-of-home advertising. I worked with our production team to deliver feedback and direction on location, models, and props as well as providing feedback during the shoots.

The photos aimed to reflect our new brand voice and messaging in order to engage with a larger, national audience.

2024 – FROM SCATTERED AND REACTIVE,
TO CONSISTENT AND INTENTIONAL

Vacasa grew and so did our tasks, our scope, and the number of hands that touched a project. Things got messy. Elements were consistent, but were inconsistently used. We needed to establish some guardrails and get back on track.

We set out to establish design systems that worked to clarify the brand, and reinforce our updated messaging to homeowners. Leading the design effort, my team and I determined what elements and designs to keep, start, and stop.

RESULTS

• We established stronger hierarchy across printed and digital pieces

• Chose colors, designed new icons, and selected photo sets that were used in conjunction with our new messaging pillars

• Clarified CTAs, buttons, and photo treatment and styling

• Defined the Vacasa Brand Design team’s mission

We have implemented these across all homeowner marketing efforts moving forward in our mission to design consistently and intentionally to build a relatable, trusted brand.