Tasmania is a dynamic place. As an innovative, modern economy it offers unparalleled opportunity and diversity, which is crowned by an iconic, ancient landscape. Read more

What a difference a few months can make. We’ve seen a minority government take power in Tasmania, bringing with it an interesting set of new ideas that have influenced our thinking and process.

In response to our first creative pitch, we’ve also experienced some healthy feedback, both positive and negative, which has been invaluable. To our slight surprise, the poll results for the creative pitch have mirrored the previous poll findings, which suggested the Tasmanian Devil is a marginally more popular state symbol than the Thylacine.

More importantly, there is a genuine hunger to find a more contemporary, less pictorial expression of Tasmanian identity, as shown by the relative popularity of the partially abstract “Innovation State” concept, which experienced a winning 45% of the total votes. We received passionate and well reasoned feedback particularly from fellow designers, some of which argued that we didn’t go far enough to discover any new ideas. This is a criticism we cop on the chin, mindful that the first round of ideas were creative expressions of rational opinions, collected through the open forum.

Right now, we are putting the finishing touches on a concept which has evolved out of the Innovation State idea, inspired by everything the project has thrown up so far. It’s a solution we are proud to put our name to, and one we believe is a comprehensive response to the brief. Thanks for being a part of this process, check back soon for our latest creative pitch and your chance to shape the project.

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A few quick shots of Bicheno and Freycinet over a wet couple of days. There are a handful of interesting patterns and textures emerging that we’ll be using as inspiration in our design development.

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From antique hand-lettering and stone-carved signage to engraved monuments and contemporary sign-writing, the harbour side city of Hobart boasts a slew typographic treasures for the type-inclined eye.

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I was trying to join the dots last night between progression/tradition/landscape in a uniquely Tasmanian context… Read more

Today we are sharing a collection of visual reference that we have been discussing in the studio.

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Running alongside our concept development work this week, we have been looking a little closer at the mechanics of how a State Government brand must work competitively. Side by side with other states, up and down with other regions. Read more

After a short break we’ve jumped back into the project with some fresh energy, having now completed both the stage one findings and the creative brief. Sifting through all of the discussion so far, we were quite humbled by the response and are really excited by the creative potential that exists in this swirling mix of thoughts, ideas and opinions.

As with anything on our blog, we are really keen to hear your feedback so don’t be shy. We are currently gathering our thoughts and nutting out the plan of attack for the design phase, so stay tuned as things will be heating up in the coming days and weeks.

Click here to download findings document (PDF)

Click here to download creative brief (PDF)

Big thanks to Sebastian for this evocative window into his imagination. www.guerriniisland.com