Project Overview
When Aussie Broadband brought HM. on board late 2016, the Australian telecommunications carrier was looking for a design agency that would help them build a brand. The challenge? The logo existed.
HM. set to work on breathing a colour-filled life into the company creating a core brand element, the AB, which is used as a dynamic monogram. They needed a powerful symbol – something that could represent the Aussie Broadband logo, but also work on its own as a distinct branding tool.
HM. delivered a refined Aussie Broadband logo that now appears in different colours and configurations depending on how and where Aussie Broadband is interacting, with more than a dozen colour variations of the logo with multiple overlay patterns. This new AB element is a building-block: a bold and colourful branding icon that will, over time, come to be synonymous with Aussie Broadband.
The new Aussie Broadband identity has very recently been launched into the market.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Miguel Valenzuela, Creative Director, HM.
Lucy Jane Brand, Designer, HM.
Project Brief
HM. needed to capitalise on Aussie Broadband’s reputation as an established, 100% Australian based telecommunications carrier to further promote the company as a reliable organisation with Australia, with a difference outlined so perfectly in their Value system including bold, fun and no bull**it!
An initial brand analysis took place to establish who the company was and what exactly they wanted to communicate: clarity, know-how and professionalism, devoid of any spin or overly complicated aesthetics. HM. took the opportunity to create a robust masterbrand that accurately portrayed the organisation’s brand messages, mission, goals and values.
Promoting Aussie Broadband and the Wideband subsidiary as their own separate brands meant that the two needed to have strong brand identities. This is where HM. came in – developing Aussie Broadband on its own as a sleek, modern company that could maintain continuity with Wideband.
Project Innovation/Need
This project was all about accessibility and simplicity. HM. went back to basics and focused on the primary and secondary colour palettes, with an emphasis on the brand’s core colour of green.
HM. chose to work with solid block colours to help achieve the goal of a strong, bold colour palette and cutting through in a highly-competitive market. Imagery within the brand collateral use core colours, while typography, with overlapped type and recurring patterns, is based on the idea of freedom, not being constricted and ‘thinking outside the square’.
Above all, the design is people-focused aligning well with the organisation itself, evoking a feeling, one that a customer may have when dealing with a telecommunications company that is reliable and capable of enhancing their lifestyle through technology. It’s an absence of stress, a feeling of warmth and the knowledge that you are working with a company that has been in the industry for nearly 15 years.
Design Challenge
This project brought its share of challenges and constraints, the main one being, the logo existed. It had been previously designed external to HM, and was not to be changed (although we refined the file updating the font so it aligned with the overall concept of the branding).
The organisation had never previously embarked on a branding journey which added a requirement to the project. A close, educative working relationship which was embraced by both teams and resulted in an ongoing and very pleasant relationship where two teams align.
Aussie Broadband is an established organisation with an existing client base who had to be considered through the rebrand process to ensure what they love about Aussie Broadband wasn’t lost.
And finally, timelines were tight. HM. needed to complete the rollout incredibly quickly and included a comprehensive style guide, a language guide and orchestrating production with existing suppliers.
Effectiveness
Aussie Broadband has been very satisfied with the new branding direction, informing HM. that they now have a strong and consistent brand identity that both has both reaffirmed their internal value as a company and brought them new clients.
While the new design is hot off the press and still needs time to cement itself within the organisation, a recent direct mail campaign has had positive results recording one of their best months ever, with a host of new signups. Some even signed up ‘based on the graphic design’ we were told, and most excited by!
While the first phase of the project wrapped up in February 2017, the next stage will roll out print and outdoor advertising.
Graphic Design - Illustration and Type
This award celebrates creativity and innovation in the traditional or digital visual representation of ideas and messages. Consideration given to clarity of communication and the matching information style to audience.
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