Brand Spotlight: Chevy Chase Land Company

The Chevy Chase Land Company is one of the region’s oldest real estate developers, 125 years strong and counting. Even if you don’t know them by name, you know their work; their impressive portfolio includes The Collection, which is currently being transformed into an even more vibrant shopping and dining destination, as well as the upcoming Chevy Chase Lake mixed-use community. Their legacy can be traced to D.C.’s public transportation – The Land Company completed the Rock Creek Railway trolley line, which ran six miles along Connecticut Avenue from Calvert Street in the District to Jones Bridge Road in Maryland.

Despite their accomplishments, The Land Company lacked a brand that lived up to their rich history and premier portfolio. They were moving into a new office and needed a fresh brand to compliment it. We partnered with them to revamp their logo, brand story, and website.

The Vision:

We sat down with the folks over at The Land Company to pick their brains on everything from where they saw the company in 10 years to what drove them to get out of bed in the morning. The conversation always came back to their lasting commitment to investing in transit-oriented communities. We pored over black and white photos of the original streetcar, discussed their vision for expanding the Purple Line and learned about how they funded three Capital Bikeshare stations. It was clear to us that The Land Company’s compelling history and dedication to developing communities near transit needed to play a more prominent role in their brand.

The Execution:

We picked a crisp yet modern color palette that complimented the materials of The Land Company’s new office. We created a logo that made “Land Company” more prominent; a nod to the shorter, more common way of referring to the developers. Our favorite part of the new logo is the addition of the trolley train as The Land Company’s signature mark and a warm homage to D.C.’s first streetcar suburb that they created a century ago.

The trolley and The Land Company’s history played a strong influence in the website design as well. We brought decades of community contributions front and center with a scrolling history page that chronicled their accomplishments. Additionally, we spotlighted The Land Company’s current work with bold, vibrant photography and designated pages to update both the community and partners on their new projects.

It was also important to The Land Company that their new website represent their core values and the people behind the development. We worked with their team to take all the great facts and nuances that the internal team lived by and formally articulate it to the surrounding community and partners. Fresh headshots of the entire team and robust ‘About’ and ‘Mission’ pages made The Chevy Chase Land Company team more accessible than ever.

The Land Company also took their new brand offline and into their office space; historic photos from The Chevy Chase Historical Society became large statement murals on select walls throughout the office.

Cheers to The Chevy Chase Land Company and a brand to last another 125 years!