The Project at a Glance
The Client: Smiling House, an international travel company specializing in luxury property rentals across ~100 countries, and its three subsidiaries (Gstaad Chalet, Villa Tracker, Triangle Luxury).
The Goal: Creating an international premium brand from day one, and managing the brand’s visual identity throughout its growth and global expansion phases.
The Deliverables: Logo design, a cohesive visual language, advanced website development, catalogs, exhibition booth design, billboards, branded promotional items, investor presentations, and full branding for 3 sub-brands.
Location: Global Operations (Properties and target audience worldwide). Smiling House is based in Gstaad, Switzerland.
The Challenge: Building a Global Luxury Vacation Brand from Day One
The client approached me during the very early planning stages of the company. The challenge was to create something out of nothing - to build a visual identity for a new company aiming at the top-tier luxury market, renting high-end properties in dozens of different countries. The branding had to project reliability, luxury, and an uncompromising international standard before the first property was even rented.
Moreover, the real challenge was creating a visual language robust and flexible enough to serve the company through years of growth without looking outdated.
Our Strategy: A Visual Language That Grows with the Business
When building a brand from scratch, you must think several steps ahead. The strategy was to create a precise and consistent graphic language that would accompany the brand across all customer touchpoints. We knew the brand would need to thrive both digitally (website, presentations) and physically (exhibitions, promotional items). Therefore, we established a tight system of design rules that allowed us to maintain consistency and a highly professional appearance throughout the company's evolution over a decade and a half.
The Execution: 360° Holistic Branding – From a Pencil to a Billboard
We accompanied the company at every stage of its development, producing countless deliverables over 15 years of collaboration:
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Brand Foundation:Logo design, visual language guidelines, business cards, corporate stationery, and email signatures for the international team.
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Marketing & Print Materials: Designing folders with inserts that eventually evolved into luxurious catalogs and flyers.
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Digital & Strategic Presence: UX/UI design and development of an advanced website, alongside complex investor presentations that helped the company raise capital and scale.
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Exhibitions & Physical Presence: Billboard design, roll-ups, and the creation of professional booths for international tourism exhibitions.
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Customer Experience (Promo): Designing premium promotional products, such as branded pencil boxes and luxury chocolate packages for VIP clients.
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Business Expansion: As the company grew, the studio branded and designed materials for 3 new subsidiaries: Gstaad Chalet (luxury chalets in Switzerland), Villa Tracker (a property manager platform), and Triangle Luxury (global property sales).
The Results on the Ground 15 Years of Trust and Global Expansion
The fact that Smiling House has been working with IC-Design Studio for over 15 years is the strongest proof of the project's success. The brand grew from an initial vision into a massive company operating in around 100 countries. The graphic language we built stood the test of time and provided solutions for every business need along the way -from attracting investors to launching sub-brands.
This long-term partnership ensures that the company's visibility always remains consistent, powerful, and distinctive.
Igor's Pro Tip:
"A satisfied client who works with you for years is the best salesperson you could ever ask for. When you build personal relationships, provide uncompromising service, and deliver top-tier solutions, your clients become your ambassadors. They will connect you with new potential clients simply because they know you can deliver. Invest in long-term relationships - it provides the highest ROI possible."
