The Opportunity

Giving a web site a new fresh look.

Morocó Group is a Brazilian company with several business areas. My task was to redesign their website for real estate and commercial property sales. They wanted to keep their existing visual identity and all the information on the site, but give it a fresh, updated look.

The Challenge

The tricky part was to modernize the website without changing the brand's core elements. The logo, primary colors, and typefaces all had to stay the same, so I focused instead on improving hierarchy, navigation, and the overall layout to make everything feel cleaner and more consistent. Another interesting challenge was working with a Brazilian brand. All the content was in Portuguese, and their visual style has a different tone compared to Scandinavian design. It became a balance between refreshing the design and keeping its local character, making it visually appealing without making it feel “too Swedish.”

The changes I made

Minimal but effective

To get a better understanding of the company and how it operates, I had a qualitative interview with one of the chairmen at Morocó Group. During our talk, I learned more about the company's background and vision. I also found out that the name Morocó comes from the Morocó River, which runs through the company's land in Brazil. The company focuses on two main audiences: middle-class families dreaming of buying their first home, where Morocó offers modern, sustainable apartments. They also have clients with a higher budget looking for luxurious villas. Their goal is to create a feeling of luxury that still feels within reach. Visiting their website should feel inspiring and trustworthy. Below, I share the steps I took to help bring that vision to life.

Tweaking colors

The website's color palette initially felt scattered, with some colors drawn from linked companies creating a less cohesive impression. I removed these colors entirely to achieve a cleaner, more unified visual identity. To improve accessibility and visual harmony, I replaced the light green in headings with a muted medium blue and removed the light blue used on buttons. The new palette meets WCAG contrast standards, enhancing readability while also reinforcing brand recognition by subtly referencing the Brazilian river that inspired the company's name.

Reducing Visual Clutter

Based on interviews and my own research, I noticed that Brazil often embraces the “more is more” aesthetic, vibrant, colorful, and full of life. While this energy is inspiring, it can feel overwhelming on a landing page where users should quickly connect with the homes for sale. The original design included information-heavy ads with inconsistent typography that drew attention away from the visuals. I focused on strong imagery and clear hierarchy to create a calmer, more inspiring experience that lets the properties speak for themselves.

Typography

To improve readability, I clarified the distinction between headings and body text, using Arial where it strengthened hierarchy. On the property cards, this makes bullet points stand out and the information easier to scan. I chose to left-align the text to improve readability. While justified text with perfectly even line lengths can look neat, it often creates uneven spacing between words, making the text harder to read.

Navigation

For the overall navigation, I focused on hierarchy and alignment. I also made some minor adjustments to the menu. The original design included both a header menu and a floating bottom menu for quick contact. These competed with each other, as contact options were already available in the header. I removed the floating menu and added a clear “Contact” item in the header instead. Since WhatsApp is widely used in Brazil, I kept a small shortcut in the bottom-right corner of the landing page, ensuring it didn't disrupt the user experience. I also removed the search bar from the header menu, as it was only relevant for searching properties, and instead placed it at the top of the properties section for better context and usability.