Gemma Higgins-Sears and Janet Palmer are the two creative brains behind Storytellers Photography. While they each run their own successful photography businesses, they found enough synergies between their two styles to come together in this joint collaborative effort.

Their brief for the logo was simple, they wanted something evocative, that would capture the imagination of their audience. It had to fit in with the idea of storytelling as well as ideas they had already developed for the imagery of their brand.

The tree was an obvious choice for me. It had to be almost like a print, or old-school botanical illustration with heavy detail, so that each time you look closer into the logo, you see a bit more detail down to individual leaves. That to me was symbolic of this collaboration, that while Gemma and Janet were individuals, but when they came together they made something beautiful.

The tree was also about being ageless and timeless. It is about growing and expanding like the stories and lives of their clients. It was about aged paper and rustling leaves, about rings enclosed in rough bark and children scampering about like squirrels on branches laughing and shouting. It was about childhood and adulthood and all the glorious crazy years in between.

So here we are, the final result can be seen below. Make sure to stop by the Storytellers blog and say hello!

Posted by Netra on Jul 26th 2011 | branding - card - design - graphic design - logo
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I’ve posted previous issues of The Chronicle that I produce twice a year for William Clarke College. But THIS issue has one of my images on the front cover! and a whole heap more sprinkled inside.

Posted by Netra on Jun 16th 2011 | branding - corporate - design - graphic design - magazine - marketing
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Tara Hawley from Sweet Little Birdy dropped me a line to give her a hand revamping her business identity and applying it to a suite of promotional collateral. Clearly with a name that included a bird, we were going to stay with the bird she had. We just tidied it up a bit, gave her an interesting shape to brand with and keep her existing colours.

Once that was done we started rolling out the new logo on her material. With a business that sells party and homewares, gift and event styling options, there was a phenomenal range of imagery to choose from – and everything was just so gorgeous! So far we’ve done a couple of adverts (keep an eye out for the Sweet Little Birdy advert in the upcoming issue of Donna Hay Kids) and postcard, flyers are just about done as well.

I just love having a strong identity that carries through all the accompanying material. When you take a step back and see it as a whole, you really get a sense that this is a business that has things together. Its looks so professional and I hope this really helps Tara take her business to the next level.

Make sure to stop by www.sweetlittlebirdy.com.au and check out her products – they are just fabulous!

Posted by Netra on Jun 9th 2011 | branding - brochure - card - commercial - corporate - design - flyer - graphic design - logo - marketing - print design
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I’ve had the distinct privilege of working with this brand since its inception and evolution over the past couple of years. What initially started out as NFE Design and then grew to require the specialty sub-branch Indulge has now shifted gear to evolve into a new sub-brand direction called Beloved by Renee Bell.

Renee has built a strong visual identity within her own personal and business brands over the past few years. Both each have their own equity and so all we had to do to leverage this equity was to tweak Indulge slightly and so… Beloved was born. You can check out more of Renee’s work on her Not For Eating blog at www.nfedesign.com.au or her website www.reneebellphotographer.com.au.

Posted by Netra on Jun 7th 2011 | branding - card - design - graphic design - logo - marketing - print design
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It’s that time of year again, where we look back on a year of fabulous new brands and get to vote for your favourite!

Go to http://www.facebook.com/NetraChetty and make sure to cast your vote. A sneak peek of the entrants this year are here below – a years worth of brandin creativity – I LOVE my job!

Posted by Netra on Mar 15th 2011 | branding - corporate - design - graphic design - marketing - print design
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When Rana first contacted me she wrote me a message that simply said “I think there is no question. I need you!” And so began this branding  journey!

I would love to say I successfully get every single brief right the first time, every time – but that is just not the truth. This was one of the briefs where Rana and I both worked really hard to come to this solution and it took us a while but we got there in the end!

She was open, and honest and true to herself and her vision of the brand – that is what ultimately leads to a successful brand and a memorable visual identity. With this branding, Rana has so many colours and options to play with as part of her marketing and promotional material. The idea of the bunting is something she is trying to incorporate into her hero imagery where possible and it’s making for some fun images.  The whole thing is bright, cheery and a whole lot of fun!

Make sure to stop by her website and blog and read her post about her launch. Congrats Rana!

Posted by Netra on Mar 7th 2011 | branding - card - design - graphic design - logo - marketing - print design
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Mandy Bowler from White Tulip Photography contacted me late last year to rebrand her existing business. Put simply, she had outgrown the existing identity. It had served her just fine until recently but as she had grown as a photographer and a business owner, it was time for a revamp.

With a name like ‘White Tulip’ there was a pretty narrow area in which to play with branding visuals – but having said that, there were so many styles we could have chosen. Mandy chose to get me to do everything for her, the logo, business card, a document template, blog interface and there are a couple of outstanding pieces to go. When you see the bits together this way, it’s impressive to see how the brand has been carried through effectively across all materials, giving her a credible business face, as well as a slightly more casual persona for her blog and online activities.

Make sure to stop by her blog to check out the new brand in action, She will be rolling it out across all material over the coming days. Mandy has also just been nominated for Australia’s Top Wedding Photographers by Capture Magazine.  Congrats Mandy!

Posted by Netra on Mar 5th 2011 | branding - card - corporate - design - graphic design - logo - marketing - print design
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Janine Guidera contacted me in late January to help her rebrand her existing business to represent a change in direction. Janine has had a really tough  couple of years recently and losing her mum had had a huge impact on just about everything for her, which included how she ran her business and her vision for what she wanted to achieve with it as well.

The logo itself invites you to just ‘be’. It’s about new beginnings, about dawning ideals and about emerging as something new and a little different. Janine was a delight to work with – focussed on her brand, clear about her strengths and trusting me to do my job for her to the best of my abilities.

Drop by the Be Photography blog to read more about Janine’s new phase and direction - she has been much more eloquent than I have and its well worth the read.

Thank you Janine – for everything…

Posted by Netra on Feb 24th 2011 | branding - card - design - graphic design - logo - photography
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Marie Candy’s business name is derived from a combination of her children’s names. For me as a designer, the business name and vision are critical to the branding process as those component drive the conceptual design process. Initially I was a bit stuck until I realised that the name ‘kayana’ is an actual name meaning “keeper of the keys” from there this launched into a brand of burnished golds and woody greens and secret doors in secret gardens.

Actually as part of the project, Marie’s ‘homework’ was to watch the movie which she hadn’t seen. That feel of childhood wonder and magic was something we wanted to bring to this brand created around two little girls.

Thank you for trusting me with your brand Marie and I hope this marks the start of a brave and magical adventure for you too! Make sure to stop by Kayana Photography and check her out. 

Posted by Netra on Feb 24th 2011 | branding - card - design - graphic design - logo - marketing - photography - print design
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I met Natalie Green over the phone over 2 years ago when she was writing a story about Heartfelt (previously the Australian Community of Child Photographers). We both ended up volunteering at the organisation at the same time and have been able to collaborate on a few projects over the past couple of years.

Nat is a writer at heart. The way she is able to string words together, or spot a gramatically incorrect sentance astonishes me anew each time we work together. In the last year or so, we’ve had a chance to collaborate more, with Nat doing writing and proof reading for both my corporate and small business clients. So when she asked me to produce her logo and identity I was thrilled at the prospect!

A business name like ‘Colourful Words’ should be the first clue that Natalie isn’t like other writers. She is funny and quirky and pedantic and not afraid to showing a bit of spirit. I loved working with Nat as she had a clear sense of her own strengths and what defines her business. That alone makes for a challenging yet highly conceptual design outcome – the very best kind! She also trusted me to do my job and to do it well for her and her business.

The final outcome is a play on the double meaning of ‘colourful words’ – in part as the literal interpretation as well as the implication that there may be  some unexpected language involved! I LOVE the final outcome and am really pleased with the overall look and feel. Nat is still working on finalising the blog interface, but I am sure that will happen in good time. You can check Natalie out on her blog – http://www.colourfulwords.com.au/

All the best for the coming year Nat – I am so excited to be a small part of your journey in 2011!

Posted by Netra on Jan 25th 2011 | branding - card - corporate - design - graphic design - logo - marketing - print design
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