AV8 is a collection of 129 boutique apartments and penthouses in San Diego's Little Italy — built from the bones of a historic aviation factory at 2155 Kettner Blvd, steps from the waterfront. Cityview engaged Uncomn to build the brand from research through launch, positioning AV8 as the defining residential address in one of the city's most walkable and culturally dense neighborhoods.

Challenge

Little Italy's renter is educated, mobile, and discerning — someone who chooses where they live with intention and can spot generic luxury from a block away. The building's greatest assets were hiding in plain sight: its industrial heritage, its aviation DNA, its 5th-floor Sky Lounge with views over Waterfront Park. Most competing properties defaulted to the same premium finishes narrative. AV8 needed something more specific, more earned, and more honest to what the building actually was.

Solution

We started with ESRI-backed consumer research that identified AV8's primary renter — a Millennial professional, urban by choice, social by nature, and highly responsive to authenticity over aspiration. The name AV8 came directly from that research and the building's own story: an aviation factory reimagined as a residential address, where the heritage of craft, precision, and elevation became the brand platform. The tagline Now Arriving: First Class Living in Little Italy set the tone for everything that followed.

The visual identity was built around a bold geometric logotype using the DIN type system, anchored by a five-color palette — Oceanside teal, Sunglow yellow, Marina green, Milano red, and Porcelain white — designed to feel vibrant and urban without being aggressive. We developed full brand guidelines, a complete website with amenity and floor plan sections, ad creative, brochure and sell sheet copy, email campaigns, and a social content strategy. The result is a brand that matches the building's character: industrial without being cold, boutique without being precious, and unmistakably Little Italy.