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Axel Properties

A brand system for a riverside development, from mark to signage.

role
Design Lead: strategy, identity, guidelines
period
Q3 2025
client
Axel Properties
public
axelproperties.com
The Axel Properties lockup, the brown square symbol beside the AXEL PROPERTIES wordmark, on cream paper scattered with the mark pattern.

at a glance

  • An identity for a riverside development near Belgrade: affordable luxury with architectural confidence.
  • From the mark to signage: logo suite, colour, type, icons, patterns and four families of applications.
  • 15 primary colours mapped to NCS, RAL and Pantone, each shipped as a CSS token.
  • Rules that prevent misuse and speed up roll-out, in 38 guideline sections.
assets delivered
42
launch
Q3 2025
guideline sections
38
primary colours, mapped to NCS, RAL, Pantone, CMYK, LAB
15

The brief

Axel Properties builds along the Danube, near Belgrade, on one idea: affordable luxury. Modern architecture in natural surroundings; safe, elegant and sustainable living for families and businesses. Three values run through it: trust, accessibility, elegance. The identity had four jobs.

  1. A distinctive, timeless mark that works on signage and in UI.
  2. A warm, premium palette aligned with materiality and lifestyle.
  3. A display and UI typography pairing for elegance and clarity.
  4. Clear rules that prevent misuse and speed up roll-out.
3values: trust, accessibility, elegance

Logo construction

Two ideas hold the mark. The intersecting apex is the structural peak: ambition, precision, stability. The foundational pillar is the anchor: trust, resilience, long-term value. The tone is modern, warm and grounded: luxury that feels livable rather than ostentatious.

  1. Horizontal guides: the square, the stroke tops, the step, the pillar, the baseline.
  2. Vertical guides: the square’s sides and the pillar’s.
  3. Diagonals extend the strokes and cross at the apex.
  4. The square and the strokes fill in; the wordmark follows.
  5. Last, the notes: apex, pillar, clear space 2x and 1x to the wordmark, minimum size 32 px.

clear space 2xsymbol to wordmark 1xminimum size 32 px

guides first, then the mark: every edge sits on a line.

Logo suite

A primary lockup, a secondary mark and a favicon; the lockup comes light and dark. The symbol sits in its own square; the wordmark runs beside it, or beneath it at 60% of the emblem’s width where space is narrow. The scale sheet runs from 256 px down to 32 px.

  • Usage: keep the aspect; never stretch, rotate or separate the elements.
  • Clear space: 2x around the symbol, 1x between symbol and wordmark.
  • Responsive: stacked when narrow, horizontal on banners.
  • Don’ts: no gradients, drop shadows or other palettes.
The Axel Properties symbol: a brown square with two diagonal beams and a small pillar cut out of it.
fig · the mark
The horizontal lockup in brown, for light backgrounds.
fig · light
The horizontal lockup in cream, for dark backgrounds, here on the mark’s brown.
fig · dark
Construction sheet: the symbol and the wordmark over their dashed guide grid.
fig · construction
Clear-space sheet: the standard and narrow lockups and the symbol alone, with margins marked in x units (1x, 2x, 3x).
fig · clear space
Scale sheet: the lockup at 256, 180, 128, 96, 64 and 32 pixels, with the aspect-integrity and responsive lock-up rules.
fig · scale
Co-branding sheet: the lockup and a partner’s logo separated by a 2x gap.
fig · co-branding
Don’t rotate the lockup.
don’t rotate
Don’t stretch the lockup.
don’t stretch
Don’t fill the mark with a gradient.
no gradients
Don’t outline the mark.
no outlines
Don’t add a drop shadow.
no drop shadows
Don’t recolour the mark outside the palette.
no other palettes

Colour system

Fifteen primary tones from near-white to near-black, each mapped to NCS, RAL and Pantone, with CMYK and LAB values for print, paint and screen. Ten neutral greys and pure black and white complete it. Every colour ships as a CSS token.

15primary tones, each mapped to NCS, RAL and Pantone
  • primary-010#FAF9F7S 0500-N250, 249, 247
  • primary-025#FAF5EFS 0502-Y50R250, 245, 239
  • primary-050#F5EADES 0804-Y50R245, 234, 222
  • primary-075#EFE1D2S 1005-Y50R239, 225, 210
  • primary-100#E7CEB5S 1510-Y40R231, 206, 181
  • primary-200#D8BEA4S 2010-Y40R216, 190, 164
  • primary-300#C3A996S 3010-Y50R195, 169, 150
  • primary-400#AB9383S 4010-Y50R171, 147, 131
  • primary-500#937B6BS 5010-Y50R147, 123, 107
  • primary-600#7A6254S 6010-Y50R122, 98, 84
  • primary-700#664C3DS 7010-Y50R102, 76, 61
  • primary-800#442C1AS 8010-Y50R68, 44, 26
  • primary-900#332210S 8505-Y50R51, 34, 16
  • primary-950#2B1A12S 8505-Y80R43, 26, 18
  • primary-1000#0D0E0ES 9000-N13, 14, 14
  • gray-50#FAFAFA250, 250, 250
  • gray-100#F5F5F5245, 245, 245
  • gray-200#E8E8E8232, 232, 232
  • gray-300#D6D6D6214, 214, 214
  • gray-400#A6A6A6166, 166, 166
  • gray-500#787878120, 120, 120
  • gray-600#59595989, 89, 89
  • gray-700#45454569, 69, 69
  • gray-800#2B2B2B43, 43, 43
  • gray-900#0D0D0D13, 13, 13
  • pure-white#FFFFFFRAL 9010255, 255, 255
  • pure-black#000000RAL 90050, 0, 0

Typography

PF Marlet Display carries the display, heading and title roles, with Bodoni Moda as the alternative. Geist sets subtitles, calls to action and body text; Geist Mono sets the numbers. The typefaces are not loaded here: the hierarchy sheet shows them.

role typeface
display, heading, title PF Marlet Display
subtitle, CTA, body Geist
numbers Geist Mono
alternative Bodoni Moda
3 + 1typefaces, plus one alternative
Type hierarchy sheet: AXEL PROPERTIES and a sample heading in PF Marlet Display, body text in Geist and the number 05 in Geist Mono, with sizes, line heights and letter-spacing.
fig · type hierarchy · headings are set in PF Marlet Display

Iconography and patterns

One icon library, Phosphor, keeps every pictogram on the same stroke. The patterns scatter the mark across a surface at a changing density, on cream and on brown, so a letterhead and a bag carry the same motif.

A sheet of Phosphor icons in the brand brown.
fig · Phosphor
Pattern: the symbol scattered on cream, fading in density across the sheet.
cream, fading
Pattern: the symbol scattered on cream, dense to sparse.
cream, dense to sparse
Pattern: the symbol scattered on brown, dense to sparse.
brown, dense to sparse
Pattern: the symbol scattered on brown, thinning towards one corner.
brown, to one corner

Applications and showcase

Four families, from the first business card to the site hoarding.

  • Stationery: cards, letterhead, envelopes.
  • Digital: website UI kit, social headers, ad sets.
  • Environmental: signage, flags, outdoor ads.
  • Marketing: brochures, launch collateral.
4families, from the first business card to the site hoarding
The website on a desktop monitor and a laptop: a tall serif headline over a dark hero.
website
Stationery: an envelope, a folder, a letterhead and business cards in brown and cream.
stationery
A brown paper bag with the cream lockup and the scattered pattern.
bag
The app icon in an iPhone dock: the symbol on brown.
app icon
Two feather flags, one brown and one cream, with the vertical lockup.
flags
Two mugs, brown and cream, each with the symbol.
mugs
Site hoarding along a pavement: cream and brown panels with the campaign headline under trees.
hoarding

Process

four stages, all done
  1. discoverymarket scan, audience mapping, competitive audit; the positioning: affordable luxury by the Danube
  2. explorationsymbol studies, grid construction, palette testing; small-scale legibility
  3. systemizationlockups, spacing ratios, responsive behaviours, co-branding; do’s and don’ts
  4. validationenvironmental mockups, signage tests, UI kit checks, print proofing

Results

as of Aug 2025

The identity scales cleanly across print, web and on-site signage. Clear rules reduce misuse and speed up production; the warm neutral palette says livable luxury without excess.

assets delivered
42
launch
Q3 2025
guideline sections
38
primary colours, mapped to NCS, RAL, Pantone, CMYK, LAB
15
neutrals, plus black and white
10 + 2
typefaces, plus one alternative
3 + 1
don’ts
6
patterns
4
application families
4
scale sheet
256 → 32 px
Q3 2025launch

Notes and credits

Keep the geometry and warmth balanced: luxurious, but grounded. Leave breathing room in layouts; let the palette carry the tone rather than heavy effects.

Abdullah Kahvecioglu · Design Lead · axelproperties.com

© 2025 Axel Properties — All rights reserved. This brand identity was developed exclusively for Axel Properties and may not be reproduced, modified, or used without prior written permission. Fonts and iconography are licensed to their respective owners.

42assets delivered