BRANDING: HIGHWAY RETAIL

Highway Retail, a commercial development company, was planning to open a chain of convenience store/carwash/gas station outlets in suburbs in the Midwest. It was targeted to appeal to a larger and more affluent demographic than the typical development in this category. It needed to appeal to women and families, and it had to upgrade the somewhat low-level image that many of these developments have. To appeal to women, we felt it had to have a more upscale image and feel like a safe place to go alone or with children. The process would culminate in a name for the developments, a logo and brand image, as well as a template for the interiors.

 The first step was to present "concept boards" to the client to firm up direction and suggest the materials that might be incorporated into the project. We presented two concepts, the first titled "Tuscan" that took a Starbucks-style approach, fairly conservative and nothing out-of-the-ordinary. The second was  "Streamline," that was more modern, brash and fun and would differentiate the Highway Retail concept from other developments around the country. Each concept met the design criteria set out by the client but solved them in different ways.

The client chose the "Streamline" concept, and we proceeded to develop the name, which became "The Market at (location)." The logo was a retro-cool vertical image, which led to the development of interior designs with bright "surfer" colors and textures on the signs, and metallic surfaces with water-themed murals inside.