Beyond the Boardroom Buzzwords: How Visual Heat Mapping Defined the City Village Bradford Brand

In urban regeneration, creative workshops often struggle with the “abstraction gap.” When working on City Village Bradford, a major new residential development in the city centre, we wanted to avoid a conversation limited to vague terms like “premium” or “vibrant.” Instead,  we invited our partners at Bradford City Council, Muse, and ECF to a workshop designed to translate those feelings into a tangible brand identity.

Rather than a typical roundtable, we filled the boardroom with a vast array of curated brand elements.

We displayed hundreds of examples across several categories:

Participants were asked to “heat map” the room, selecting elements that either resonated with their vision for Bradford or felt entirely out of place. 

This visual approach moved us beyond simple descriptions. For example, while a client might say they want a brand to feel “confident,” seeing what they selected provided a much clearer design direction than a verbal conversation ever could.

The feedback from the Council and Muse was incredibly positive. The workshop helped uncover brand preferences that were difficult to articulate in words but easy to identify visually.By the end of the session, we hadn’t just discussed a brand; we had built a visual foundation for it. 

It was a pleasure to host the workshop, and we are equally eager to see it translate into the final identity forCity Village  Bradford . Keep an eye on our socials to see the new brand launch soon!
If you are interested in how we use visual workshops to build authentic brands, or if you would like to discuss our brand services, get in touch at hello@dsemotion.com