logo design

Rhonda’s Branding gets a refresh in Terrigal

The 80’s have a lot to answer for in terms of graphic design. Random triangles on everything, squiggly backgrounds and flourescent colours abound. And while we can continue to be inspired by that look, sometimes its nice to go for clean white, natural textures and pops of colour that are inspired by the true colours of food. Not everything needs to be neon! Terrigal darling and 80’s enthusiasts Rhonda’s Bar has recently had a complete brand refresh as part of an overarching relaunch of the restaurant. Long gone are the psychedelic walls, strong 80’s vibe and sticky floors. Instead, Rhonda’s has grown up and brought together branding to match. Their previous branding was wholly and solely inspired by the 80’s, and they owned it. This restaurant was known for its look, its theming, and was incredibly popular with the locals because of it. But now? It’s time for something more. The mid-century inspired shapes in Rhonda’s logo itself are a clean and fresh departure from their former logo, inspired by lipstick writing on the mirror and neon. The colour palette has changed, from being dominated by fluro pink, black, white and the glow of a neon sign, to be more relaxed, more mature and absolutely more coastal through the use of soft turquoise and grey, while keeping the strong signature black and white. Pattern is used sparingly but boldly – their social media and menu showcases the use of a black and white chevron that is elevated and obviously inspired by current interior design trends, while bringing in a fun repeat print through the menu and on imagery really gives you the vibe that this is a place to have a good time. Thankfully, this more mature and elevated approach extends not only from their branding but across their menu and drinks offering too. Crisp woodfired pizzas, modern tapas and sharing plates and classic spritz and cocktails mean that now Rhonda’s has become a place to start the night, share a great meal and have a good drink, rather than a place to end the night. With a sleek new website and beautiful new branding, I’m excited to see what’s next for Rhonda’s – seasonal menu’s, new drink offerings and delivery options are apparently all on the cards. Welcome to the brave new world Rhonda.

When you are first starting out as a graphic designer, everyone is desperate for work. Whether you’re still a student and you need pieces in a portfolio to get that first job, or whether you are wanting to start a freelance business – everyone has done a free gig at one time or another.

A rebrand doesn’t have to be a completely new logo design. Because branding is made up of so many more elements than just your logo, by changing any of the core elements of what it is that makes up your visual identity you can completely refresh the look of your brand without having to lose the heritage and history of your brand. A logo should always be designed to stand the test of time. A logo is not the place to try out the Pantone colour of the year, or that new drawing technique just released by Adobe Illustrator, despite what your design student niece might tell you. Your logo should be timeless and should still hold the same values that you placed in it when it was originally created. But it is absolutely true, that after a bit of time, the other visual elements of your brand can need a bit of a refresh, a touch up, a realignment, to make sure that your brand continues to say what you want it to say, and continues to be relevant to the constantly evolving nature of business. Imagery, colour and layout are the quickest and easiest ways to give your brand a fresh new look, without throwing the logo out with the branding or baby out with the bathwater as it may be. A great example of this is the recent website redesign that I completed for the team at Hair by Phd. By simply updating their visual presence with a fresh new website, fantastic imagery and some new brand colours, we were able to completely revamp their presence. From their website to social media and print design, giving them a bold new look was simple – without having to change their well recognised and long-standing logo. Similarly for Objective Corporation. By updating the layout of all of their marketing materials, incorporating new brand imagery and playing on their long-standing brand colour through the use of a tonal palette, they were able to refresh their brand without losing a logo that has so much weight in a marketing in which they have operated for years. In both cases, these changes are neither simple nor subtle – in fact, they are quite dramatic, and as such, make a huge impact on the presence of and perception of the brand. And sometimes, that may be exactly what your brand needs to…

I have been thinking about writing this post for months. I wasn’t sure that I should do it, I really didn’t want to offend anyone. But here’s the thing – this is an opinion piece, and my feelings are so strong on the topic I can’t keep it in anymore. Let’s start with a preface – I love the University of Western Sydney, or Western Sydney University. I did my Masters there, my partner studies there and I think that their advertising as part of the rebrand has been some of the best I have seen in many years at creating a real vision of what Western Sydney is and can be. My problem lies with the logo. Flat out the whole thing is really unbalanced and it makes me so frustrated that I ball my fists up and growl at the signs when catching the bus past the campus (which was the catalyst for this piece). I understand what they are trying to achieve – directly tying the university to the rise of Western Sydney, the SEO benefits, the prominence of WESTERN SYDNEY over University implies that no matter who you are, there is a place for you here, I get it. But WHY is the crest at the bottom of the logo? that is the part that baffles me. Comments from the university are below – “The new brand elevates Western Sydney. Reordering the word mark and placing Western Sydney at the top of the logo is a symbol of the pride we have in our community and region. The shield is the platform for our typographic ‘W’, which is unique with the curved based referencing the landscape. Colour is one of the more emotive shifts in the brand, changing from blue to red. The deep red as the primary colour is bold, determined and confident. This is partnered with vibrant tones such as fluoro orange to deliver youthfulness and optimism to the brand.” – Sourced here. If WSU is aiming itself at the same kind of visuals as the Ivy League universities of the U.S., then the crest is the most important part of the visual. In all logos, the logo mark is just as important as the typography attached to that logo. And maybe that’s my issue, that the logo Mark is not placed in a position of importance, that it is placed as an after though.…

In the lead up to the election, campaigning is on everyone’s mind, from Malcolm Turnbull to Tony Abbott and even Bill Shorten has decided to get on the band wagon. And at a national level, its easy to assume that politicians are always campaigning, because they are so visible thanks to those media followers, photographers and their squillions of dollars. At a local member level, we see a stark difference. I have lived in a lot of different electorates in my life, and as such I have noticed that most local members want you to elect them based on the 2 or 3 weeks every couple of year they spend being visible in your community, showing off what they could do for you, in the hope to pull the wool over your eyes regarding their commitment. I’ve never bought into it, because it is exactly that – a bit of a sham, a con, a façade if you will of community engagement.

Commenting on blogs is both my most utilised tool as a social media manager, and the most underrated tool I see in other’s social media activities. If the end goal of being involved in social media is to create conversation and dialogue, then a comment is the response YOU make to the question or statement being posed by the writer – without it, you aren’t fulfilling your end of the conversation. As a content creator of any kind, your aim is to develop a community of like-minded people, who are essentially picking up what you are putting down – whether that’s knowledge, reviews, experiences or warnings. So it’s absolutely natural for comments to happen, as people respond to your content. Think about the blogs that YOU read. How many times have you sat at your computer during your lunch break and verbally gone “Ugh YES” when the content is great, or “Pfft” when it’s a bit off. THIS is when, how and why you should comment. Be part of their conversation.

One of the best things about my job is being able to help other creatives realise their business potential.

“The Hills Hoist. The Backyard Clothesline. The Verandah Clothes Line. Whatever form yours takes, we want to build it for you.” Every Australian can identify with and understands the necessity of a clothesline in a backyard. However, if we are all being brutally honest, a clothesline is not a sexy home item. Its not something that people necessarily want to think about – they just want it handled when it needs to be, and be functional when your getting a little low on clean underwear. That’s where A Line Up come in. They provide a complete end to end service, from removal of your existing clothesline, to supply and installation of the new one and clean up at the end of the process. The team at A Line Up approached me for a fresh new logo design, having operated under a different business name for some time. They wanted something that highlighted the clean and simple nature of their business, while being quite literal in the kind of service that they do. The logo design does exactly that – in clean and simple line work, it specifically depicts the iconic Hills Hoist clothesline, while being slightly abstracted within the blue square. Couple this with a strong blue-toned colour palette, designed to be relaxing and calming, and you have a simple logo that really speaks to stressed-out home owners. This logo design was paired with some beautiful imagery of clotheslines and landscapes in the business cards, with each member of the A Line Up team having their own unique image, tailored to their personality. This has created a solid foundation for the way that the brand will be presented in the marketplace. The website itself needed to be a few things to really meet the client brief and client needs. It needed to be simple, so as not to overwhelm users and coordinate with the new look and feel of A Line Up. It needed to have a client-operated back end, so that information could be updated quickly and easily as needed. This was built onto a WordPress back end, which I wholeheartedly recommend to my clients for being able to quickly and easily update their websites, while also give great Google Search results with minimal interference. Line models needed to be shown, and a contact form needed to be included, for easy contact by prospective clients. Visually, the entire website was left…

As a graphic designer who has a lot of both designer friends and friends running small businesses, I hear horror stories all the time about unhappy clients and frustrated designers. At the bottom of it all, the problems with both parties come about because of poor communication from both sides.

THE NON-REBRAND REBRAND; OR, HOW TO FRESHEN UP YOUR BRAND WITHOUT A NEW LOGO.

JO & MARTIN’S WEDDING

Logo Design: Madmen Photographers

A Line Up – Logo Design, Website Design and Brand Presentation

How to Brief a Graphic Designer

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