ABC

CLIENT:

PROJECTS:

ABC corporate, ABC Classic FM, ABC Open, ABC Radio Australia, Triple J, ABC Innovation

OUR ROLE:

Branding, Creative Strategy, Product development, Illustration, Art Direction, Web design, Marketing, EDM, Social Media rollout20

For well over a decade, we have enjoyed the most productive and close relationship with various divisions within the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Our many partnerships across the organisation have helped us gain an indepth understanding of the inner workings of the ABC and in turn inspired us to produce some of our most thoughtful and creative work. Divisions we've worked with extensively within the ABC include: Triple J, ABC Classic, Radio National, ABC Radio Australia, ABC Open, ABC Regional, ABC Multiplatform, ABC Innovation and ABC Corporate.

Details of work we've crafted with some of these, below.

ABC /
Corporate

RED BOOK WITH BANG

Thanks to our enduring relationship and also our firsthand understanding of quite a number of divisions (ok yes, we've mentioned this) across the ABC portfolio, in 2012, ABC Corporate (top floor at the ABC) asked us to help consolidate the ABC brand guidelines for the entire organisation. In conversation with multiple stakeholders, we produced a little red book (yeah, no. Not THAT little red book) to guide designers producing work for any of the ABC divisions.

The 127 page book helps shape a coherent brand architecture with enough wiggle room for individual creative expression and enough structure to keep it all nice and tight. Also - still a pleasure to behold after all these years (we think).

WE HEART THE ABC

ABC /
Classic FM

VISUALISING EMOTIONAL, MELODIC MOVEMENT

ABC Classic FM is a real mainstay of Australian culture and dearly loved by many. Tasked with the rebrand of Classic FM we were eager to infuse the visual language with the vibrancy and complexity of the music at the core of the brand offering in an authentic way (and also do the iconic brand justice!).

We developed a suite of organic, flowing brush strokes (much ink was spilt and we've got many many many pages of rejects) to represent melodic movement, tinged with twin palettes of teal and royal purple to represent the opulence of instruments and their velveteen casings. The clear, crisp classic (in it's own modern right) typography boldly perched on a delicate stave rounds off the flexible brand toolkit.

ABC /
Classic 100

MINI BRANDING IS FUN

Since 2001, ABC Classic FM has organised a number of Classic 100 Countdown surveys. The results of each survey are decided by votes cast by the listeners of ABC Classic FM. After the voting, the works are played in reverse order of popularity over an intense period of programming. For five years running we created the graphic entities for each countdown responding to the particular theme of the year. A super fun project we looked forward to every year.

ABC /
Radio Australia

OVER 75 YEARS OF HISTORY

With a focus on Asia and the Pacific, ABC Radio Australia offers an Australian perspective with content delivered via radio, web, mobile and through social media. A 75 year old brand when we first 'met' for the purposes of a rebrand, we knew we had some considerable brand equity to balance. Working very closely with the internal team we were able to bring both internal and external stakeholders on board to embrace the fresh new brand language.

Inspired by the colours and shapes of Australia (urban and rural both) we introduced a vibrant palette and a flexible but tight (firm but fair!) visual languge. Particularly exciting was the breadth and reach of the brand - we were involved in designs for everything from RA HQ in Melbourne to festivals in the Pacific and song competitions in China right down to a truckers cap that still gets worn around the place.

P.S. While you might see other brands using triangles - we did it before it was a done thing. IRL.

ABC /
Open

STORIES TOLD BY REGIONAL AUSTRALIANS

ABC Open launched in 2010, with a focus on regional audiences across Australia. The aim: to give people a chance to participate, share and collaborate with the ABC as well as with each other through various ABC platforms; radio, online, tv and mobile. We worked closely with the Open team to craft this new brand from scratch including, naming, copy writing, web design, art direction TVC, social media as well as design and creative strategy across the board.

It was awesome.

ABC /
Innovation

INNOVATIVE PROJECTS ARE ALWAYS A REFLECTION OF A PARTICULAR TIME... THESE DAYS FOR EXAMPLE, EVERYONE IS AN EPIDEMIOLOGIST SO EXPLAINING WHAT AN R NUMBER IS, WOULD BE A BIT 'OLD'... WHAT WE"RE SAYING IS: PODCASTS WERE A NEW THING NOT SOOO LONG AGO Y'KNOW?

This project for ABC Innovation was part of a 'Digital Citizens', an initiative developed to help clarify some key trajectories in our ever new-fangled digital landscape as we tumble in to the future (BTW we're already there). We produced five short, accessible animations, reviewing brief histories and developments in mobile, tv, social, podcasting and a new world allrounder for good measure.