It’s the little things that let you live big.
A new hospitality concept for the hustle set – anchored in community even amidst constant motion
Project Services
- Strategy
- Branding
- Art Direction
Havens Living
- David Kijlstra
- Pol Montserrat
When HAVENS LIVING launched its first property in Hamburg, digital nomads were already roaming the Earth – but the hospitality sector hadn’t quite caught up. Too few residences offered the real-life real estate that young professionals needed to keep their hustles real. This crowd wanted convenience that didn’t compromise on creature comforts or, an even rarer commodity, sense of community.
Focused on product innovation, the German startup developed a co-living concept uniquely catering to millennial and Gen Z careerists who work between cities and are constantly on the move. The business model had to be scalable. The tech had to be smart. And for the Instagram vanguard, the design had to be savvy.
Visual direction that keeps the style in lifestyle
Unapologetically aesthetic yet grounded in research, the Otherness signature treatment shone through in the photo art direction and use of illustration.
Across HAVENS LIVING, the photography captures a digital nomadic lifestyle inspired by the creative class: people enjoying interactions in multipurpose spaces as well as taking time to luxuriate on their own terms in their own private spaces, shoes off. Whether of a bedroom styled in earthy minimalism or a communal rooftop defined by urban Scandic ease, the architectural photography consistently conveys an organic, sunlit warmth.
Interspersed among the photos are jazzy black and white illustrations of objects and scenes that symbolize communal living. Such attention to little details is rarely reflected in serviced apartments, and the images collectively infuse physical and digital worlds with an intimacy that feels lived-in yet charged for social connection.
This is a new art de vivre. Its design heralds a new kind of mobile professional – one with a meaningful community to return to.
