Habyt

Background

Founded in Berlin in 2017, Habyt aims to take the barriers out of finding a place to stay. Whether you’re looking for a nightly stay, a hassle-free international move, a family home or co-living community, Habyt’s diverse international portfolio of properties means there’s an option for everyone.

Challenge

After rapid growth and expansion into new markets through acquisitions, Habyt challenged  DesignStudio to define their brand strategy, architecture, tone of voice and visual and verbal identity.

With over 30,000 units in its portfolio across 50 cities, Habyt’s primary goal was to create a distinct, global brand that would reflect the company’s values and mission, as well as create a framework that offers the most seamless experience for tenants staying in every location.

Immersion 

Our partnership began by immersing ourselves in Habyt's own homes, experiencing firsthand what tenants go through. We soon recognised that the true benefit was not only simplifying the search and move-in process, but revealing the transformative potential in taking that next big step.

Brand strategy

Based on these insights, we defined a new purpose, 'Your next move, unlocked'. This became a flexible foundation to cater to Habyt's two main audiences: providing tenants with boundless stays built for every move, and for landlords: adaptable living solutions for ambitious builders.

And unlike others who sought to sell a romanticised lifestyle, Habyt prioritised delivering a highly utilitarian experience that fulfils expectations and builds trust.

Brand expression

Rooted in our strategy and drawing inspiration from architectural floor plans, we developed a distinct visual identity toolkit. Highly utilitarian, the brand favours function over form at every turn. The brand concept focused on guiding users through their journey and illustrating Habyt's adaptability to meet individual needs.

Our graphic system consists of two main elements: the Plan and Resident layers, built from pre-existing shapes. The Plan layer acts as the rational foundation of the system, acting as the container for content. The Resident layer is the vibrant and human part of the graphic system, bringing colour and warmth to the layout. 

The primary black and white colour palette is supported by accent colours that are used strategically to highlight elements or communicate different products across the portfolio. This is supported by a system of icons – used to communicate key property features or Habyt’s offerings – while simple linear illustrations reminiscent of instructional diagrams are used instead of photography to depict inhabitants within the spaces.

Impact

Three months after the new brand launched, Habyt announced they’d raised €40M in Series C funding. The investment will be used for enhancing the brand’s tech platform and expanding the business across Europe, Asia and North America.

Habyt saw a 30% permanent increase in direct traffic following the rebranding implementation and announcement. There was also a total of 230k earned media value regarding the rebranding project.

"DesignStudio's work on our rebrand has transformed Habyt. They helped us define our core values and create a unified brand vision. This clarity has energized our team globally and streamlined our growth."

Luca Bovone
CEO, Habyt