A bold destination brand with a focus on adventurous female travellers.
Client: MidCoast Council
Agency: Heath and Hoff + Headjam
Role: Creative Direction / Brand & identity design / Copywriting / Content art direction / Website design
Impact: Brand work led to gold and silver awards at the NSW Tourism Awards for Local Government and Tourism Marketing categories, respectively.
I collaborated with MidCoast Council from 2018 to 2021 to develop a tourism brand for the region, ultimately named "Barrington Coast." This project aimed to create a unique and distinctive brand that showcased the destination's diverse experiences, spanning from summit to sea.
Recognising that women make over 70% of travel decisions, we strategically focused on this demographic. This critical insight led us to develop the "happy explorer" archetype, aligning our creative direction with the preferences of our target audience. This insight played a pivotal role in shaping the overall branding strategy.
In my primary role of crafting the brand identity, I drew inspiration from the Aboriginal description of the area, encapsulating it as "where the leaves touch the waters from mountains to sea." This concept formed the basis for an illustrative design system incorporating native plants from Barrington Coast. The result was a distinctive and vibrant identity.
Collaborating with Headjam, I contributed to architecting and designing the destination website. The site provides users with an overview of events, locations, and a directory and serves as a content-driven platform. Stories from the region are easily accessible through a searchable and filterable interface.
To enhance the destination site, we created captivating videos and photos showcasing the adventures of three groups of women exploring Barrington Coast's mountains, hinterland, and coastline.
The destination brand has been widely praised and has won several tourism awards since its launch in 2019.