Habitec

The Icon

It was important to the Habitec team that we retain their existing gold-crested cockatoo motif, and refine it. We wanted to use this foundation to create a more considered design that functions harmoniously with the surrounding visual language.

The original design was based on a hand-drawn illustration by founder Steve Collum. We wanted to retain the natural, flowing curves that were present in that version. At the same time though, the new icon needed a level of precision and refinement that would allow it to integrate into a range of environments and uses. To achieve this, we refined the curves and geometry, balancing the design. We also utilised negative space to streamline and simplify the icon further. Subtle shaded highlights then add dimension to the logo, and create a sense of quality and authenticity. This emphasises Habitec’s industry-leader status.

Extending the design

The refined Habitec icon formed the basis of the identity, and helped us to develop a series of branded elements informed by the icon’s most signature components — such as the crest. These can be used in various crops and elements to echo the core identity across any branded material. The dimensional, curved gradients of the leaves and feathers are used similarly. The result is subtle, flexible and effective.

To provide more strength and versatility, we also looked to extend and refine the Habitec colour palette, forming an organic collection inspired by the natural environment in which Habitec’s work takes place.

Typography

A significant part of the new identity system was choosing a consistent typeface to represent both brands, tying them together. We needed a legible, approachable humanist family that works great wherever it needs to be. New Atten was our pick — a typeface fittingly named after environmentalist and nature broadcaster David Attenborough.

To create the signature Habitec logotype, we integrated the brandname together with the curves of the icon itself, utilising the new consistent typography, and locking everything up together to create a clear, recognisable mark.

Taking it online

We created a bespoke WordPress website for the new Habitec. It was important that the new website reflect not only Habitec’s products and services, but also their renewed focus on advocacy and education. The structure is designed to highlight these components, and provides a rich content experience that engages and guides the user through each section. The new identity is also reflected throughout the design, echoing the design language across various components of the interface.

Brand family

As part of the Habitec project, we also created a fresh, new identity for Habitec’s partner, Landmark Environmental. The two brands echo similar themes while retaining their own unique iconography and properties. The result is a harmonious brand partnership that highlights their shared heritage.

A case study on the Landmark Environmental project will be available soon.

Q&GO

Ordering, easy as 1–2–3

The philosophy of the Q&GO user experience can be summarised into a three step process: scan your QR code at the venue, get notified of your order being ready, and go!

Likewise, the primary elements that comprise Q&GO’s brand voice are split into three main components. Order tickets, the Q&GO mark, and the branded QR codes themselves. Using this as a foundation, we were able to craft a simple, clear brand identity and matching app experience that is easy to navigate and keeps customer journeys stress-free.

Bold, clear, familiar

The brand identity itself had a few main goals. The logo needed to be bold, identifiable from a distance, and easily remembered. We also wanted to ensure an approachable, friendly, and high-quality tone of voice, encouraging vendors to wear the Q&GO brand on their store signage as a mark of pride.

We developed a toolkit of illustrations, typography and iconography to accompany the brand wherever it needs to shine most, whether in-store, online or in-app.

An end-to-end experience

It was important to provide consistency for both users and vendor management. When designing both the Q&GO app and companion Vendor Console, we wanted to make sure there were familiar design elements that carried the brand language across to each domain.

Accordingly, the ticket-based UI carries across to the Vendor Console. The store’s Q&GO branded QR code is also displayed front and centre, meaning it can be presented by staff for users to scan at checkout.

To provide differentiation in the app’s marketing channels, the Q&GO brand colours are inverted when speaking to vendors. This carries through to the Vendor Console app experience, where the lighter green colours are preferred versus a darker palette for customer facing views.

Pie Town

The Design

We decided to start by identifying the unique personality of the Pie Town brand. We wanted to build something that conveyed the child-like wonder of walking into a shop full of every flavour of pie you can think of.

We started simple: let the pies speak for themselves. Nothing is more bright, fun and playful than pictures of sweet handmade pies. We then extended the brand throughout the entire store to create a consistent visual language: the basic shape of the existing logo, which represents a hand-crimped butter crust, is echoed throughout—as image containers, iconography, buttons and so on.

The Pie Town storefront also needed a considerable amount of user experience optimisation. We wanted to ensure that every user would be able to not only access the content, but be able to intuitively navigate the store and make orders.

One System

A major goal for the Pie Town website project was leveraging Shopify’s Point of Sale system to streamlining their entire sales process. Shopify’s fully featured POS works in tandem with its web software, meaning Pie Town was able to simplify their entire sales management process, reducing workload for staff and reducing the number of different services and subscriptions required to run the store, resulting in considerable cost savings.

Our team assisted Pie Town with migrating their product and customer data from a range of platforms, integrating rewards and subscriptions into the new system and ensuring compatibility across both sales channels.

Watergum

The Concept

Watergum’s message is clear: it’s about being a part of something real. So it was important that the brand be grounded in concepts that emphasise this statement. We started looking for cues in the environment around us: colours, textures and shapes that could define the identity. This led us to a rich palette of colour and imagery that forms the basis of the identity, providing both the diversity necessary to cover a broad range of projects, as well as a visual harmony that unites them together.

This new visual style and colour scheme extends throughout the programs to emphasise and bring consistency to the Watergum brand as a whole. Each project can choose a suitable ‘key colour’ that matches its subject and imagery. The result is a dynamic and flexible set of brand components that can be adapted to a diverse set of media. We also developed a new website theme to establish a strong online presence for the brand, and worked alongside the Watergum team to implement the design language across various social media channels.

In Summary

By introducing a fresh, strategic brand identity, we helped Watergum achieve their relaunch goals: to increase awareness, impact and reach, develop a stronger online presence and create a consistent tone of voice for the organisation. In short, a brand and message to be proud of and a very happy client.

Watergum engaged Ligature to design and implement our rebranding strategy. The process was much more than simply developing a new logo. Ligature sought to understand Watergum’s strategic objectives and to then design a rebranding package that reflected those objectives.  Ligature had the creative flair and technical skills to produce something exciting; the practicality to ensure that designs were simple, clear and replicable; and the business understanding to document a set of guidelines that ensured that the use of the brand in our website, social media, print and sub-brands always reinforced the core Watergum name.

Jazz and the Ligature team were also a pleasure to deal with. If you would like to reinvent the way you market your organisation, together with the guidance to ensure that the new brand is used properly, I would recommend talking with Ligature.

Wal Mayr
President, Watergum

Machine Activewear

The Concept

We set about creating the building blocks of the brand, and settled on a design language based around the well established iconography of the triangle – a symbol universally recognised as indicating active, play, forward, motion. This began to evolve into a unique and clearly defined brand, anchored confidently by the ‘M’ logo, a simple and proprietary brand mark.

The logo doesn’t want to stay still, either — animation is deeply embedded in the brand. The logo readily transforms into a family of symbols appropriate for a range of activities — always moving, always dynamic.

The logo is paired with a series of bold brand colours, and a custom typographic treatment available in various lock-up layouts, to provide enough flexibility for any situation. The two symbols can be used in tandem, or apart, to serve as components of the overall brand, along with the brand proposition.

Taking it online

To market the brand online, we also designed and developed the Machine Sportswear e-store and website, utilising a bespoke Shopify build. The language of the master brand is echoed throughout and provides a sense of consistency across the product range.

Promotional Prints

The intersection of two worlds

The clientele of the promotional industry demand high quality print solutions that produce the most high impact advertising results possible. All within tight timeframes, of course! This ‘here and now‘ mantra informs the design and colour scheme of the identity. The speech bubble motif used throughout the identity represents the promotional sector, while the layered paper effect pays homage to the company’s printing expertise. The choice of a high-contrast red colour scheme indicates the company’s high efficiency, results-driven approach as well as the ‘power’ of promotion.

Promotional Prints’ signature product Transprint introduced to the market a brand new way to decorate almost anything in full, photographic colour. With a strong industry awareness of Transprint already established, it was obvious that we could create greater awareness of the Promotional Prints masterbrand by more tightly integrating the two. This approach strengthens both brands and has the benefit of bringing all of Promotional Prints’ product set under one consistent umbrella and visual style. All in a way that retains the unique personality and familiarity of the Transprint identity.

In Summary

The Promotional Prints rebrand program was a complete reassessment of the company’s brand strategy. Included in the rollout was a full suite of bespoke stationery, building signage, several EDM campaigns, various specialised printing applications, and a new WordPress powered website & customised client portal. The relaunch effort had an immediate positive effect on customer engagement, restored client confidence and completely transformed attitudes about the brand, helping to foster a renewed ‘service-first’ approach for the business.

Gecko Environment Council

Inspired by the natural landscape

To define Gecko’s unique voice, the first step in creating the identity was to establish a definitive colour palette, to both distinguish and unite the various projects. The palette is informed by cues from the Gold Coast’s natural landscape.

A revitalised icon

At the centre of the new brand is the new Gecko logo — a symbol which had to fit a very specific set of criteria: it must reflect the values and history of the organisation, work well in all media, be simple to reproduce, and provide a flexible platform for the various child identities. At the heart of the design is the famous leaf-tailed gecko mascot, a symbol that has been with Gecko since its inception, which has been given new life as a fundamental part of the Gecko logo.

Bringing it all togeher

The new Gecko identity utilises a fixed-template approach to extending out from the master brand. This ensures the consistency of the brand throughout every project and initiative, whilst being flexible enough to give each project its own voice through colour and imagery. Most importantly, it’s simple and cost-effective to manage, while maintaining a high quality of visual design.

In Summary

The success of an organisation like Gecko is predicated on its ability to reach out and communicate its message effectively. The new identity achieves this by introducing consistency across the entire brand portfolio, enhancing the quality of design across the organisation, and most importantly, effectively communicating the brand’s core values to new demographic groups.