Renovating the Julius Flooring Brand
Julius Flooring is a family-owned company that started in 2016 with a passion for commercial flooring.
Little did they know, they’d soon be taking on clients such as ADCO, BuildCorp, Virgin Active & Commando Steve.
They’ve built an incredible portfolio of sporting spaces in Australia and internationally across the US, NZ, UK & Dubai.
When they reached out to me, they wanted to take their brand to a new level. They were already securing large-scale work but wanted to ensure their brand reflected their level of service, quality & commitment.
The context
This article delves into the projects completed for Julius Flooring. But before we kick off, here is some background information:
Since operating, no brand style guide had been created
They weren’t prepared for a re-brand (they loved their existing logo and brand colours)
Since 2016, they made all their assets in-house (website, print materials, etc) but were ready to outsource the work to the right people
They wanted to start with a small project to see where the brand could go
Their main goal was to make what they did “look cool”
Have a glimpse at what the original branding looked like, this was their website:
Part 1: Sales presentation deck
Before taking on any big projects, we started small. The team needed a sales presentation deck created to haul in new clientele.
When creating this, I only had a pre-existing logo and some brand colours to work with. There were no fonts, no assets, and no case studies to work from, so we started from the ground up.
This involved:
Defining a layout
Finding the right assets
Interviewing & copywriting
Creative direction with the designer
As a talented company with a young crew, we wanted the brand to reflect their spirited nature. The idea was to transform their existing brand to look more premium and edgy, matching the cool energy the team possessed and showcasing their impressive portfolio of works.
Keeping their existing logo, we explored the design through new typography, strong imagery, a structured but impactful flow, and an injection of personality.
Part 2: Brand style guide
Originally, Julius Flooring wanted to move next into the website redesign. However, this is tough to do without an established brand guide.
The sales presentation deck acted as an experiment, to see how we could elevate the brand through one asset. But we needed more.
So, I proposed creating a simple brand style guide. Never underestimate the power of what this guide can do. It provides brand consistency and a strong identity, whilst allowing freedom to explore and evolve.
Working closely with a brand designer, we included:
Logo variations
Logo guide (usage examples)
Core colour palette
Typography / Font types
Imagery
Iconography
Graphical element(s)
Tone of voice
Specific asset mock-ups (e-signature, merchandise, print materials, etc)
In time, as the brand evolves, a style guide can be updated to include more assets. But having a base is crucial.
Part 3: New website
And now for the fun part, seeing the brand come to life through their website redesign.
It involved redesigning and rebuilding the following:
Main Menu Navigation (inc URLs, meta titles & meta descriptions)
Homepage
Our story
Portfolio
Sub-page: Sport & Leisure
Sub-page: Fit-Outs
Sub-page: Education
Services
Team
Enquire today
We also created new website forms for potential clients and those seeking to work for Julius Flooring (for a better lead-qualifying process and experience).
Their original website was hosted on WIX, so we kept this platform to rebuild the site (and to align with budgeting).
Now this part is for those interested in the tech side. As great as WIX can be, it can be quite limiting when it comes to design, functionality & optimisation.
It took us time to experiment, research alternatives, test & create modules. The WIX editor heavily relies on built-in elements and only allows the use of JavaScript for coding its built-in elements. The inability to edit HTML/CSS means users have to work within the constraints of the design elements provided by the platform.
While WIX offers a user-friendly design interface, it might not provide the same level of flexibility as platforms that allow direct code manipulation. Essentially, we have to work with the features they provide.
Considering this, we had three core goals for the new website:
Great user experience/functionality
Updated content with standout imagery & visuals, and
A website reflective of the brand refresh
Have a look at how it turned out:
What did the client say?
‘Alessia is an absolute visionary. Her work has launched our company to the next level and created excitement amongst everyone in our team.
Our first engagement with Alessia was to create a pitch deck for a group of clients our company wanted to better target to help our sales plan. From our first sit down with her to discuss our needs she took total control asking in-depth questions to truly understand our needs and offer her valuable insight on other directions we didn't know we could explore. We knew with complete confidence that she had an exceptional creative capacity to deliver and when the project was completed we were floored - pun intended ;)
Alessia is extremely honest in her work opening up conversations in her creative process that she thinks will elevate the task at hand that bit extra but always keeping aligned with our vision and brand. Her communication of creative solutions involved our whole team in the process and it was a wonderful journey. She was realistic with her ability to help us, with timelines and the delivery of her services/products which is important for us as a business to plan our growth through the use of new creative engagements.
Since our first project in October, we have engaged with Alessia to complete another Pitch Deck, Brand Guidelines and our most exciting project of all, a full Website Redevelopment. She is undoubtedly the greatest investment you could make in your business and an overall rockstar of a human!
We have received an enormous amount of positive feedback and comments on all the changes implemented in our business because of the projects Alessia has created with increased interest and traffic being generated as a result of the investment.
From the team at Julius Flooring, Alessia we are so grateful for your dedication and support to see our business thrive with your work. We're so glad to have crossed paths with you and we can't wait to be working on the next project with you.’
- Kanita Julius (Operations Manager)
‘We recently reached out to Alessia to help fully redesign our brand guide and online experience at Julius Flooring. I knew she would be the perfect person for this job because I had the pleasure of working with her for several years on many projects at One Playground. Her creativity, attention to detail and ability to elevate a brand to another level is truly incredible.
In the redesign brief, I gave Alessia only one thing I wanted - and that was to "make what we do look cool" and she blew us all away with what she was able to produce!
The website design was a critical part of the project and it is a testament to Alessia's technical proficiency and commitment to excellence. Her collaborative spirit, open communication, and willingness to incorporate feedback created a positive and enjoyable working environment. Alessia's ability to connect with the team on a personal level made it an absolute pleasure to work with her and helped deliver the best quality from all of us!
I look forward to working on more projects with her and couldn't be happier with what she and the team have delivered!’
- Chad Ketting (Head of Business Development)
What is important to take away?
If you believe in your product/service, then reflect that in all of your brand touchpoints (show people how epic you are)
It’s always worth investing in your brand (especially when you want to attract the clientele you dream of)
Everyone will see the dream and be positively impacted (your team, partners, suppliers and of course your clients)
Interested in defining or elevating your brand? Reach out, let’s see where you’re at.
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Brand: Julius Flooring
Brand & Creative Director: Alessia Murer
Brand Designer: Ana Marinic
Website Designer & Builder: Mandy Yu
Video Editor: Chris Ramirez