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. “The goal was to make property feel less like a transaction and more like real life.” The art direction makes a deliberate case for imperfection as a brand value, treating the messiness of actual homes as more compelling than anything a stylist could arrange.
Something Great also developed a set of callout stickers carrying lines like ‘Sorted,’ ‘Legends’ and ‘Not your average agent,’ designed to inject personality and humour across social media and print materials. These moments give the brand a conversational register that extends beyond the visuals, reinforcing the tone of voice at every touchpoint. The overall language is direct, warm and conversational, built to sound like the way a friend would talk about buying a home. “If you read most real estate copy, it’s this incredibly verbose, theatrical language that nobody actually talks like,” Hill says. “We wanted Savvi to speak to people the way a mate would. More direct, less performance, and ideally make them crack a smile along the way.”
Saville admits the studio pushed beyond anything he had imagined. “We had no idea what we wanted. We just knew the vibe of what we wanted,” he says. “The Something Great team pushed our thinking in the best way possible. We could never have envisioned the brand we ended up with, but it suits us perfectly.” Since launching, the response from Savvi’s target demographic has been strong. “We have had a huge amount of feedback saying how refreshing it is,” Saville shares. “They love the copy and the branding, and the auction boards stand out amongst all the other agencies.” He is candid about the brand’s intentional boundaries, too. “We won’t relate to every vendor out there, but we also never wanted to. We were very clear on who our target audience is and the brand is a hit within that demographic.”
All images © of their respective owners.
Content taken from Savvi
