NSW Government

Brand Architecture
Brand Strategy
Visual Identity
Graphic System
Brand Toolkit

Verbal Identity
Employee Engagement

New South Wales is a vast state, home to nearly a third of all Australians across agricultural hubs, remote towns and dense urban centres. It is the largest organisation and employer in the country and they manage a complex array of services and responsibilities in communities across the region. These vast and complex requirements mean a customer-centric approach to communications is vital in delivering effective services and information to the residents of New South Wales.

The NSW Government has over 800 external-facing brands, and over 400,000 employees. With the adoption of a masterbrand strategy in 2020, the Government aimed to bring greater purpose to how they communicate their priorities and engage with the public. We were engaged to restructure the NSW Government’s brand architecture and develop a visual identity system that leveraged the existing Waratah logo. A holistic design system was built to support and respond to the needs of both Government and its customers across a range of services, such as Health, Planning, Education and Transport. The outcome was a new, more succinct, masterbrand approach — removing complexity, improving flexibility and driving equity across Government communications.

It was imperative that the new design system delivered a more customer-centric and intuitive communications approach, with greater flexibility across the full range of Government services. This shift would help build brand equity back into the NSW Government, improve brand portfolio management and support the delivery of better services, through better communications.

To support a flexible and intuitive design system, it was important to create a clear framework for all visual elements and typography. The brand follows a cohesive and modular design system that relies on clear information navigation, and the ability to incorporate colour and imagery in a highly flexible manner, giving a level of individuality to each communication and ensuring clear masterbrand recognition. The result is a simpler, more intuitive approach that encourages the use of illustration, photography, composition, hierarchy, scale and proportion to create clear communications. This strengthens the masterbrand attribution across all Government services, activities and initiatives, without compromising the ability to tailor brand expression and appeal to different audiences.

Collaborators

Creative Director
— Mel Baillache
Design Director
— Nicola Ferry
Designers
— Dash O'Brien-Georgeson
— Kimberly Luo
— Atsaya Gabiryalpillai
— Jospeh Dennis
— Emma Turney
— Andrew Sanney
— Simon Blanckensee
— Catherine Peacock
— Cassie Ciccarelli
— Dean Hastie
— Kelsen Findlay
Writer
— Daniel St. Vincent
Head of Strategy
— Damian Borchok
Senior Strategist
— Sammy Page
Motion Design
— Atsaya Gabiryalpillai
— Mac Archibald
Account Management
— Alice Marrows
— Monique Tadrous

Recognition

Transform Awards
— Grand Prix
— 3x Gold
Best Awards
— Bronze
Good Design Awards
— Gold
AGDA
— 2x Distinctions
— Merit