Project Overview
The Melbourne Recital Centre (MRC) is an iconic venue known for its world-class acoustics. Amidst precinct redevelopment, MRC rebranded to engage new audiences while honoring loyal patrons. Our strategy, "Music for the daring," bridges genre divides, inviting exploration. Inspired by MRC’s hexagonal architecture, the identity integrates bold visuals, a cropped logomark, and dynamic typography. We developed a custom digital guidelines platform to house the brand, and created unique tools to ensure ongoing brand consistency. Motion elements enhance engagement, positioning MRC as an adventurous, welcoming space for all music lovers.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Creative Direction — Tim Kotsiakos
Research & Insight — Ash Leech
Brand strategy — Tim Kotsiakos
Copywriting — Cinzia Kotsiakos
Design — Ben Beagley
Design — Nicki Wright
Creative coding — Ben Beagley
Motion — Riley McLaren
Custom typeface — Ultra Kuhl
Website development — Bravo
Project Brief
The Melbourne Recital Centre (MRC) is a beloved venue, but attracting new audiences required a bold rebrand. With the precinct undergoing redevelopment, MRC sought a fresh identity to bridge classical and contemporary audiences. Our strategy, “Music for the daring,” celebrates adventurous music lovers, inviting broader engagement. Inspired by MRC’s architecture, the visual identity integrates dynamic motion and a custom digital tool to streamline design. The result: a brand that honours MRC’s legacy while embracing a more inclusive, contemporary future.
Project Innovation/Need
After much refinement, we settled on “Music for the daring” as our strategic narrative. This phrase speaks to all music lovers—those who seek new sounds and take risks on emerging artists. It honours both existing audiences and invites new ones, empowering MRC to be bolder and more intentional in its programming. Most importantly, it shaped the visual identity we created.
A standout innovation was a custom digital tool for MRC’s internal team. Users upload a performer’s image, and the tool automatically generates a cohesive colour pairing, streamlining the design process while maintaining brand consistency. It ensures accessibility, removes subjectivity from colour selection, and significantly reduces production time. This digital-first solution sets a new benchmark for adaptive brand systems in the arts sector.
We also introduced dynamic motion gestures to visually interpret music. The “Focus,” “Discover,” and “Immersion” animations use MRC’s hexagonal motif to react to sound in real time. This motion-based approach gives the brand life, reflecting the power of live music and ensuring visual appeal across both digital and physical platforms.
Ultimately, this rebrand positions MRC as a beacon for live music in Melbourne, honouring its legacy while embracing a more inclusive, vibrant, and contemporary future.
Design Challenge
The Melbourne Recital Centre (MRC) is an iconic venue in Melbourne’s Arts precinct, renowned for its exceptional acoustics and diverse programming. However, despite its reputation, many people perceived the venue as “too stuffy,” partly due to its name, creating a significant challenge in attracting new, younger audiences. This rebrand needed to appeal to both classical music enthusiasts and a broader, more diverse audience, requiring a complete redesign of the visual identity and a fresh strategic narrative.
Through extensive research, including interviews and market analysis, we discovered that MRC’s core audience was passionate but largely traditional, while new audiences, often drawn by contemporary performances, viewed the venue as unapproachable. Our challenge was to bridge this gap by focusing on a shared passion for music rather than the differences between these groups.
The solution came in the form of the strategic narrative “Music for the daring.” This phrase speaks to adventurous music lovers, from classical enthusiasts to those exploring emerging artists. It both honours existing audiences and invites new ones, empowering MRC to be bolder in its programming.
Ultimately, our approach aimed to make MRC more inclusive and dynamic without losing its heritage, ensuring it remains a leading cultural institution in Melbourne. The rebrand addressed the challenge of reshaping perceptions and aligning the venue’s identity with its ambitious vision for the future.
Effectiveness
The Melbourne Recital Centre’s rebrand has expanded its reach, attracting more first-time visitors and reshaping perceptions. The bold identity and Music for the daring narrative position MRC as a dynamic space for all music lovers. Internally, streamlined marketing and a custom digital tool have improved efficiency, ensuring brand consistency. By integrating architectural motifs and motion design, the rebrand strengthens MRC’s cultural presence, future-proofing its identity. As the Arts Precinct evolves, MRC is now leading the conversation on the future of live music in Melbourne.
Graphic Design - Identity and Branding
This award celebrates creative and innovative design 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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