Something Great designs a property brand that doesn’t look like one

The Brand Identity: Luke Saville’s surname gave Something Great a name, and the name gave the brand an entire personality. Savvi started as a tongue-in-cheek nod to the founder’s family name, but quickly became something more useful. “It carries this nice double meaning,” explains James Hill, Founder & Creative Director at the Melbourne-based creative studio. “You're working with a savvy agency, and by extension, you’re a savvy buyer or seller. It’s playful without being gimmicky, and it subtly reinforces that you’re making a smart decision when you go through them.” That playfulness became the differentiator because Savvi operates in a space not known for it.

The real estate agency deals exclusively in apartments and townhouses, properties typically purchased by first-time buyers in the 25-to-35 age range. Most agencies chase bigger family homes where commissions are higher, leaving this younger demographic as an afterthought. Saville saw that gap and wanted a brand that spoke to these buyers directly, on their terms and in their language. “We didn’t want to challenge the industry just to be different, but to actually relate to our target audience in a better way,” says Luke Saville, CEO at Savvi Real Estate.

“We knew that we didn’t operate like a traditional agency, and we wanted our brand to reflect that.” Something Great took this brief and steered it away from everything the property category defaults to. Bold serif logos, navy or black palettes, hero shots of empty rooms and agent portraits with crossed arms all went out the window. In their place, the studio built an identity that borrows from editorial publishing and lifestyle branding, grounding the agency in warmth and personality. The wordmark is set in ABC Gravity by Dinamo, kept entirely lowercase.

“We wanted something that felt strong and confident but still approachable, which is why we kept it all lowercase,” Hill shares. “It has this real weight and presence to it without feeling aggressive.” The logotype is designed to be used at an oversized scale across layouts, often cropped by the edge of the frame, so it functions as a graphic element as much as an identifier. That boldness gives compositions an immediate sense of confidence. Two typefaces support the system around it. PP Editorial New handles headings and pull quotes, bringing a refined feel that ties the brand to fashion and publishing rather than property.

Its high-contrast letterforms do the heavy lifting in layouts, establishing a tone that feels considered and editorial. Neue Haas Unica Pro, taking care of supporting copy and UI elements, is clean and restrained enough to let the Editorial New do its thing. “The two typefaces together create this nice tension between personality and precision,” Hill notes. “One leads, the other supports.” The colour palette – with Savvi Brown, Savvi Sky, Savvi Butter and Savvi Orange – form a deliberately warm system, a long way from the navy and monochrome palettes that dominate real estate branding.

These colours work alongside bold colour blocking that, combined with the oversized typography and photography, gives the identity a graphic confidence that feels more magazine spread than property listing. Photography was central to shifting perception. Something Great shot everything in natural light and used more natural casting. “From the model choices through to the interior styling, we wanted everything to feel less staged,” Hill explains.

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The article discusses an innovative branding strategy for a real estate company targeting a specific demographic, which is significant for the industry and offers actionable insights for brand strategy professionals.