Art on 6th
The art of rental living
An original work of art
Austeville develops, owns and manages a superb selection of rental buildings, as well as office, retail and warehouse spaces of varying sizes throughout Greater Vancouver.
The company asked Combo to name its newest rental building, which they were building in South Granville—a centrally located and vibrant area that over the years has evolved into one of Vancouver’s high-end shopping, dining and cultural arts destinations. In a nod to both the neighbourhood’s arts background as well as the owners’ prodigious art collection, we suggested Art on 6th (the building is located along 6th Ave). It stuck.
The perks of art
The branding and marketing campaign for this project needed to communicate to our target audience—urban professionals—the benefits of apartment rental over condo buying. The mid-rise, in addition to its location, had much going for it: city, water and/or mountain views from almost every unit, luxury finishings such as stone and wood, plus the conveniences of in-suite washer/dryers and air conditioning. Our positioning line summed it up succintly: Experience the art of rental living.
Combo also established a partner program with neighbourhood shops and services with the goal of inspiring Art on 6th tenants to live well and feel at home in their rental suite. These local businesses generously provided welcome gifts—from the best croissant in town to seriously high-tech workout clothing (to use at discounted spin classes).
The art of design
After researching Art on 6th competitors and exploring different conceptual directions, we expanded the Austeville colour palette of grey and blue with an eye-catching red, and created a logo design and photographic language that was memorable yet simple enough to be applied across all media. This ran the gamut from hoarding, transit shelters and billboards to print and digital ads to bus kings and even cinema ads. The long hours put in during the visual identity development paid out as the brand’s visual language easily adapted across the different mediums.
There were over 1,800 names on the waitlist by the time Austeville was ready to show Art on 6th’s display suite.
The art of living well
The website design was one of Combo’s first focus points in order to connect with our target renters. People could sign up to a priority waiting list, and Austeville stayed in touch through a monthly newsletter developed, written and tracked by Combo. This diligence paid off as there were 1,800+ names on the list by the time Austeville was ready to show Art on 6th’s display suite.
Measuring art
We also tracked the media that brought Art on 6th to our market’s attention. For the record, it was the hoarding by a mile.
The Art on 6th website will remain up until the current Austeville site is redeveloped, at which point it will be pulled into the Austeville family.
The Combo combo:
Strategy + creative direction: Su T Fitterman
Strategy + project management: Kelley Korbin
Design: Today Studio
Art direction + production: Daniela Gilsdorf
Writing: Leanne Asante
Photography: Rachel Pick
Print management: Andrea Pelly
Video production: Chad Galloway
Media: Wirtz Media