Darling Harbour by Interbrand Sydney

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CLIENT

A large recre­ation­al and pedes­tri­an precinct sit­u­at­ed in the heart of Syd­ney, Aus­tralia, owned by Syd­ney Har­bour Fore­shore Author­i­ty (SHFA). It’s a big, vibrant, col­or­ful place where the city goes to celebrate.

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BRIEF

Over the years the precinct had become a clut­ter of dif­fer­ent brands and mes­sages. Our brief was to con­nect a dis­parate precinct expe­ri­ence togeth­er under one strong brand iden­ti­ty for the first time.

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APPROACH

To cap­ture the fun and vibran­cy of the place, we cre­at­ed the world’s first inflat­able brand iden­ti­ty. A dis­tinc­tive idea that clear­ly and sim­ply con­nects com­mu­ni­ca­tion mate­ri­als, street fur­ni­ture, events, way-find­ing, uni­forms, web­sites, and the over­all in-precinct expe­ri­ence. We cre­at­ed a 3D bal­loon type­face, using Cin­e­ma 4D. Then, a clever sys­tem using Smart Objects was devised in Pho­to­shop so we could cre­ate a set of use­able assets for design­ers who have no knowl­edge of 3D soft­ware. Mak­ing it easy to change the col­ors, scale, and arrange­ment of the inflat­able let­ters. Simple!

The new identity system for Darling Harbour has given us the tools to talk about the diversity of the offer and the variety of events in a cohesive way that engages our tenants, Sydney-siders, and visitors. — Julian Boram, Director of Marketing and Partnerships at Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority