505 are a construction company who’s work spans commercial, civil and residential projects. They aim to create premium environments for living, working and learning.

505 came to us as their existing identity didn’t adequately communicate who they were or what they did. They wanted a brand refresh that would provide a more memorable visual distinction to other construction companies operating in the city.

A key consideration and challenge of the brief was to create an identity that felt at home in the world of civil works (the dirty work involving earthworks, diggers, large piling, pipes and foundations), through to high-end residential projects where they offer premium renovations and new-builds.

The name ‘505’ isn’t overly memorable, nor does it offer any clues as to what they do, so we needed to look for a different way in. Researching various types of symbolism and what makes something ‘memorable’ we stumbled across mnemonics (memory tools to help you recall information). We wanted the logo to act as a mnemonic of sorts for 505, so we created a pictorial symbol that expresses ‘5’ ‘0’ ‘5’ in an abstract way, while also alluding to construction.

The three components of the symbol inform 505’s three areas of operation; the first symbol (5 stacked squares) references building blocks for 505’s commercial offering. The second symbol (an abstracted ‘0’) references pipes and piling to communicate 505’s civil offer; while the third symbol (5 stacked bars) is drawn to represent timber and cladding, the residential side to their business.

The bold and reductive symbol forms the foundation of the identity, and can be stacked horizontally or vertically, and used in a repeat pattern to form a supergraphic for large scale applications. The symbol can be deconstructed and used as individual elements when they want to talk about a particular sector, further helping to reinforce their three-pronged service offer in an ownable manner.

The simplicity of the identity allows it to work across a wide variety of applications, including everything from livery, hoarding, site signage and stationery, to builder’s pencils, presentation boxes, and high vis safety vests.

A single-minded brand colour palette consists of ultramarine blue and a concrete grey, a palette chosen for its high contrast and ease of visibility. The restraint of palette further helps the brand to be instantly recognisable within the local construction industry.

The restrained and somewhat brutalist identity works equally well on the side of a dirty digger as it does blind embossed on a box to house their premium residential portfolio.