Who doesn’t love HGTV? I bet you do (admit it…maybe just a tiny bit?).

I mean, the whole channel is based around people making their dreams come true, albeit in a very Own-Your-Own-House-and-Car-Traditional-American-Dream kind of way. But hey, let’s be honest – most of us wouldn’t mind living in one of those houses (House Hunters International anyone?).

One of the most exciting things about HGTV is the before & after effect. Take Home Makeover, for example.

You see these homeowners very much in need of something or other in their house. They get this awesome vacation, and then this dream team comes in that knows exactly how to not only fix what they need, but also deliver a kick-ass redesign of the rest. You get these snippets of the process that leave you feeling like you could totally rebuild your whole living room right from your garage.

Then at the big reveal, you’re amazed to see the difference those changes made, not only in the appearance of the house but the lives of the homeowners.

And let’s be honest – we love to see average things transformed into amazing things.

Well it just so happens that I have a makeover story of my own. And coincidentally (or not..because I totally planned it that way), it involves a residential development company in Huntington Beach that went on to have its own HGTV show! You might know it as “Hidden Potential”, led by owner/slash/hardhat-wearing #boss Jasmine Roth.

Now, when Jasmine got in touch with me years ago (way before HGTV was even on her radar) the business was called The Warehouse Collective. Their logo and website looked like this:

Now there’s nothing wrong with this logo, per se. But for a residential development company, it was giving the totally wrong impression. The handwritten font and cutesie house icon screamed blog or hobby.

When I first came in contact with the Warehouse Collective, I thought it was a community of interior designers! I think the “collective” part was throwing me off.

Even the website was misleading, with the homepage as a blog feed with less-than-optimal legibility (handwriting font – yikes!)

After putting the website through blind user testing, one user tester started getting upset when she couldn’t figure out if it was a home improvement blog, a charity organization, an architecture firm or something else entirely.

Needless to say, it was time for the brand to get a well-deserved makeover.

As with any construction, we started with the foundations. In this case, the main keywords were hard-working, and down-to-earth yet tasteful (much like Jasmine herself), which we used as a basis for the entire project.

The name was changed to Built Custom Homes, and I came up with the tagline Developing Dreams to showcase the way BCH takes the idea for someone’s dream house and (literally) develops it from the ground up.

Jasmine wanted to make it clear that she is not afraid to get out the jackhammer, but can still put together a seamless interior design.

Her target audience is upper-middle to upper class residents of the Huntington Beach and surrounding areas, so we wanted that upscale feel as well.

First, we worked on the moodboard, choosing a refined yet no-frills color scheme of cinnamon, taupe and indigo. We kept the imagery light, functional and tasteful.

From there came the logo, with an abstract triangle icon to represent the different shapes, sizes and colors of the homes she builds. The main text is meant to be structured and high-end, while the handwritten tagline shows the personal touch involved in the process.

From there we built out the website and the print collateral. Take a peek!

Things were going along just fine and dandy until Jas got the call that changed everything.

When Jasmine came back to me with the news about her new HGTV pilot, we knew we needed to expand the brand beyond just her development company. She needed a personal brand. Not only that, but she needed two more sub-brands: for her ecommerce and her design & lifestyle blog.

With that in mind, we expanded the visual identity so that it was cohesive across all the brands but each individual brand could stand on its own.

How did we achieve that? By using the same fonts and colors across the brands, but unique logos that used a similar style.

We also created a brand spanking new website under just the Jasmine Roth name, with links to sub-websites for Built Custom Homes, The Blog by JR, and The Shop by JR.

Email marketing collateral, social media graphics, and a brand new blog design (with continued support for vision design boards, color stories, and more) quickly turned Wild Side® into Jas’s cross-platform brand manager.

Check out the result!

You know the coolest part?

Seeing the logo in action (and its cameo appearance on TV) in Jasmine’s new Warehouse! You can see the full story of the Warehouse redesign on her blog .

What Jas has to say about it all:

“Working with WSD has been a breath of fresh air. Kelsey is extremely creative, is an expert at branding, and she GETS IT.

As a busy entrepreneur, she helped me completely rebrand my company, design all of my correspondence, and completely rebuild my website. She’s now my brand manager and go-to for everything brand-related.

I have now turned all of my graphic design projects over to her. She is really great at taking my vague ideas and turning them into reality.”

-Jasmine Roth

So there you have it – the transformation from a cutesie, confusing and vague blog to an upscale, creative and hardworking multi-platform (now, semi-famous!) brand.

You see – don’t you just love before and afters?

The takeaway I want you to have out of this is the importance of identifying what is and isn’t working for your brand. Whether you’re struggling with client acquisition, social media, or website conversions, a brand audit can make all the difference! Sometimes what you think of your brand is totally different from how it’s being perceived – the details DO matter!

Taking a look with fresh eyes, getting a second opinion, doing a blind user test, can make or break your success. Because once you figure out what needs to change, you can start taking action and making it a reality.

You can learn all about Season 2 of HGTV’s “Hidden Potential” and follow along with Jas by visiting her new website! You’ll find blog posts outlining each of the episodes in details and tons of interior styling advice. It’s definitely a must-read if you’re planning on doing any kind of home renovation.

Or, you can see more details of the Jasmine Roth brand design in our portfolio.

Do you have an amazing rebrand before/after story? Tell me all about it in the comments!

NOTE: All watermarked images & featured image of Jasmine courtesy of Jasmine Roth.