Novis Living
Making a Complex Redevelopment Proposal Clear and Accessible
Novis Living
By Lilian Santini
Fractional Creative Director
The Copper Portico
Client: Novis Living, New York City Category: Real Estate Development Scope: Communication strategy, bilingual presentation, presentation script, trifold brochure, and production coordination
At A Glance
The final decision would be made by the community.
Novis Living was competing for a major redevelopment project in Harlem. The proposal involved converting existing buildings into cooperative housing, giving residents a path toward ownership while providing education around how the model would work.
The challenge was to explain a complicated proposal to a diverse, multigenerational audience in a way that felt clear, credible, and easy to discuss—not only in the meeting itself, but later at home with family members.
01 — The Challenge
Straightforward without talking down. Persuasive without overpromising.
The audience included residents with different levels of education and many multigenerational households. The presentation also needed to work in English and Spanish, with an interpreter involved in the meeting.
Novis needed to explain what they were proposing, why they believed it would benefit the community, and what the process would actually involve. The communication needed to be straightforward without talking down to people, and persuasive without making promises the project couldn't support.
02 — Understanding the Audience
Easy to understand, easy to remember, and easy to share.
I researched publicly available information about the community, including demographics, education levels, and household structure, to understand how the proposal needed to be communicated.
That led us toward a simple principle: make the information easy to understand, easy to remember, and easy to share.
We used straightforward language, clear visual explanations, and universal icons so the material could work across different ages and levels of familiarity with real estate and cooperative housing.
Because the audience was bilingual, I also recommended that Novis have an interpreter present at the community meeting. That meant the presentation needed to work as a complete communication system—not just visually, but in the room, in two languages, and with the presenter and interpreter working from the same information.
03 — The Presentation
Enough context to make an informed decision, not an overwhelming amount of information.
We developed a PowerPoint presentation for the community meeting where residents would choose between two redevelopment proposals.
It introduced Novis Living and its mission, explained the cooperative housing model, outlined the proposed project and its benefits, and addressed potential challenges rather than avoiding them.
We also included examples from Novis Living's previous work to give residents something concrete to consider.
Working closely with the founder, I helped shape the structure and messaging of the presentation and developed a script he could use during the meeting. We also gave the interpreter a copy of the script in advance so the spoken presentation could move smoothly between English and Spanish.
04 — A Brochure for the Conversation to Continue at Home
Designed to carry the discussion beyond the meeting.
We created a bilingual trifold brochure that residents could take with them after the meeting.
It summarized the proposal, explained the benefits of cooperative housing, included information about Novis Living, and provided a way to return to the full presentation online.
We also created a custom QR code using an urban-light image so the digital presentation felt like part of the design rather than a separate technical element.
05 — Bringing It All Together
One communication system designed around the actual situation.
The project wasn't just a presentation or a brochure. It was a communication system designed around the actual situation: a founder presenting a complex proposal, residents evaluating it, an interpreter helping bridge two languages, and families continuing the conversation at home.
We shaped the different pieces to work together while keeping the information clear enough that people could form their own understanding of the proposal.
06 — The Result
More than 75% of the community vote.
After the vote, the founder wrote:
“We were selected by the residents with over 75% of the votes! Your strategy and care made a huge difference.”
The project gave Novis Living a way to communicate a complex redevelopment proposal clearly and accessibly while taking the audience, the setting, and the decision itself seriously.
Work With Us
Make the complex clear without losing what matters.
The best communication systems consider every person in the room, every format in their hands, and every conversation that continues after the presentation ends.
If your organization needs to turn a complex idea into a clear, credible story, we would like to hear from you.