Ras Hayan Village. Branding

Sustainable Development

Creating a new Village Brand on Bahrain’s Eastern Coast

Bareeq is a recent addition to the development sector in Bahrain but one with great prestige and a growing pedigree. Their newest project is set to inspire a new approach to sustainable development in Bahrain. Rather than developing over the natural landscape of Bahrain’s eastern coastline, they are enhancing it and building within the waterfront’s sub-tropical mangrove.

The project eschews the scale and glitz of other regional developments to focus on the pure and essential elements that communities need to live their best life. The end result looks set to be a positively charming community.

Ras Hayan Village – the background

Set amidst natural mangroves, Ras Hayan Village is a new, naturally sustainable real estate project being developed on Bahrain’s eastern coastline. Being one of the first real estate projects to take the idea of sustainable development seriously, Ras Hayan Village looks set to inspire a new philosophy for the real estate sector in Bahrain.

Ras Hayan itself is area situated on Bahrain’s eastern shoreline, which currently features a small local community as well as an abundance of natural wonders – including a mangrove which is home to some of the region’s only flamingos. These charming birds nest within the fauna and the developer is ensuring their continual presence in the area.

Ras Hayan Village – A strategic response

The project is positioned as a Charming Natural Community. Lets review what this positioning is comprised of:

It is Charming (the Emotional modifier). Ras Hayan Village is a development created to bring the simple joys back to daily life, where you really know your neighbors and spend a greater amount of time in your locale.
It is Natural (the Descriptive modifier). Ras Hayan Village will care for its natural environment. It is built within, not over, the natural habitat to create a haven for humans and a natural sanctuary for both flora and fauna.
Its a Community (the Functional expression). Ras Hayan Village provides a range of accomocation options for everyone as well as local services and amenities. The project is built with the needs of the modern community in mind.

Ras Hayan Village’s positioning line is as follows

Ras Hayan Village is a new, characterful and charming village community being developed on Bahrain’s Eastern coast. Set amidst natural mangroves the residential community retains and enhances the area’s natural beauty.
Ras Hayan Village has the following Brand and community values: Respect. We respect nature in all its guises. Ras Hayan Village understands the power of respect, for each other, the community and for mother nature. Optimism. We are naturally optimistic. Ras Hayan Village is helping to shape and inspire a positive future for the country and the real estate sector. Generosity. We believe giving is the greatest gift. We get the community we deserve and believe generosity towards our fellow villagers pays its own rewards.

The right identity for Ras Hayan Village

The Brand’s identity is clearly a mangrove tree set amidst water but beneath the surface-reading of the identity is a deeper concept, encompassing three key considerations; the project’s natural habitat, its waterfront location and its focus on fostering a real community.

The brand mark is a linear drawing of a mangrove, whose circular form creates a roundal, a reference to the sunrises seen on the eastern side of Bahrain. The branches hint at the community and the marina while the branches trunk into the area’s still, coastal waters.

For the Ras Hayan Village’s digital brand we are using a simple iconic element for use on all platforms. The visual form, applied singularly, creates the perfect balance of recognition and impact on screen. Seen against the Palm colourfield, the white mangrove tree creates instant recall of the full brand mark.

Ras Hayan Village’s slogan is Live Better, Live Naturally. The development is built with down-to-earth goals of providing a calming haven away from the hustle and bustle of modern life. The slogan succinctly captures it’s aim; to provide its residents with the simple, natural joy of a well-lived life.

The Brand Toolkit™ comes with a unique pattern device with a natural narrative concept underlying the form. Waves reflect to create leaves which combine to express the notion of a family living within a respectful community. The brand patterns can be used in any of the brand colours and scaled according to the needs of the design.

The pattern can be reversed, recoloured or used as a print treatment such as foil or spot UV.

The brand’s English typeface is Tenon, by Signal Type Foundry. The type is used mainly in Light and Regular Weights with emphasis in Medium, colour & Italics, as required by the messages the designer needs to convey. Designed by Seán Mongey, the typeface sits comfortably between the strict linearity of a Grotesk and the curvaceous forms of a Humanist Sans.

Tenon’s natural charm made it the ideal tool for conveying the Ras Hayan Village brand. Used here in X-Light with colour differentiation, Tenon’s effortless charm presents the brand’s messages (such as this positioning copy) with unpretentious ease. The type is characterful without being overstated and partners calmly with natural imagery

The Ras Hayan Village photographic narrative is focussed on the simple joys of a life well-lived. Water is a key theme of the development and serves as a backdrop for the subjects who serve to illustrate the unique lifestyle of the village.