Joe flexes his design muscles

Designer Joe has been busy showing off his skills on the redesign of external and internal signage for leading timber and builders merchant Howarth Timber & Building Supplies.

With 28 branches across the country the company is the UK’s largest privately owned and operated timber group. The company’s latest site acquisition at Brighouse provided it with a unique opportunity to evaluate and revisit how its merchant branches presented themselves to its customer base of trade professionals, building companies, self-builders and DIYers.

Following a site visit, the design team at Harris proposed an eye-catching and more direct approach for site signage at the branch. Working closely with both the client and his design colleagues, Joe researched and developed a series of icons that would reflect the range of products and services available at the Brighouse site. The icons feature on the perimeter of the site, to attract passing traffic, and also internally to reinforce the depth of products available.

A modern and engaging design was developed by Joe for the internals, with strong branding and colour schemes. The use of imagery helping to get across the wide range of products available to the customer as well as being welcoming and eye-catching. A clean and crisp trade counter design completed the picture.

Following a final site visit by the client, we received a short email that summed up the project perfectly: “I just want to say how brilliant the graphics around the top of the shop and the racking look. The branch looks great! Design for the future!”