Case study: Letting nature shine with PlantPlan

It’s a scientific fact that being immersed in nature – and specifically in plant life – has a positive effect on our mental wellbeing.  In the commercial world, incorporating living or replica plants is said to boost people’s mood, reduce stress, increase focus and productivity, and even reduce workplace absenteeism.

So how does it work?  Could our sad-looking office palms really be making a difference to our team?  When we got the chance to work with a business specialising in biophilic design, we jumped at the chance to find out…

The background

Based in Leicester, PlantPlan specialises in corporate horticulture, providing indoor and outdoor planting, living and moss wall installations, floral displays, replica plants and planting rental.  Whether living or replica, PlantPlan’s nationwide maintenance service ensures that their clients’ biophilic displays look incredible all year round, bringing a slice of summer to even the bleakest winter days.  

From our first meeting with PlantPlan, their passion was palpable – they believed strongly in the biophilic philosophy and its benefits for their clients, but they were struggling to effectively communicate their value proposition.  

Their branding was lacklustre, and their existing website, while crammed with important information, was poorly structured.  The look and feel of their existing presence didn’t convey PlantPlan’s design expertise, or their capacity to work alongside architects and interior designers to develop integrated biophilic schemes.

We identified some clear priorities for the project:

• To transform the branding
• To convey the specialised nature of PlantPlan’s business
• To let the images lead
• To present complex, science-based information clearly
• To effectively & clearly categorise PlantPlan’s offering for a simpler UX
• To appeal to design professionals and end users alike

Elevating the proposition

Our first priority was to update the PlantPlan brand identity, starting with the logo and typeface.  In order to convey a much more professional look, we removed the twee illustrative elements of the existing logo and opted for a modern typeface, creating a contemporary and clean logo style that formed a springboard for the rest of the web design project.  The branding was eventually rolled out across all elements of PlantPlan collateral, from web and digital platforms to vehicle livery, internal signage and company stationery.

During the web redesign, we embarked on an extensive fact-finding process in order to develop a robust understanding of the Plantplan value proposition and also the principles of biophilic design.  This allowed us to develop an intuitive site map structure that would encompass all the necessary information and services while being easy for the user to navigate. 

Letting the work shine

The design itself was created in order to let the plants shine as they do in PlantPlan’s work, with large, wide angle images showing off a broad spectrum of deluxe commercial locations with biophilic installations, within an otherwise clean and simple layout.  All web content was search engine optimised based on our research, and we also worked on the development of multiple case study pieces demonstrating the depth of PlantPlan’s expertise.

In due course, the design layouts and information compiled for the website were repurposed for the creation of physical promotional collateral, including a deluxe hardback portfolio book, and a range of sector-specific sales brochures.

The result is a visually crisp and highly cohesive suite of sales and marketing tools that have crystallised and elevated PlantPlan’s value proposition, providing them with a stunning showcase of both their capabilities and recent work to share with existing and prospective clients.

For further information or to discuss your next branding, web or digital project, contact marcus@creativemediani.com.