Brand Strategy, Identity & Storytelling
We help purpose-led pioneers tell their story and amplify their impact.
Inspired by this emerging wave of leaders, entrepreneurs and system-builders, we’re driven to create brands as brave as they are.
We partner with clients working in three key areas:
● Innovation
How can we remodel systems, develop new technology to improve lives, and create a better future through innovative ideas?
● Sustainability
How can we improve our relationship with the planet, protect the environment, and implement sustainable design practices?
● Compassion
How can we cultivate inclusive communities, celebrate diversity, and create a more equitable society?
About Us
We’re a mission-led studio using our creativity for positive change. We’re about good vibes, great work and collaborating with like-minded people.
Creative Direction, Strategy
Research, Strategy, Storytelling
Our Process
Before launching Luka in 2016, our team spent a decade honing our process at award-winning branding and advertising agencies in London and Sydney.
Here’s how we work:
1) Foundational research
– Stakeholder interviews
– Competitor research
– Research playback
We immerse ourselves in your world to understand your big vision for the future. Through workshops and interviews with teams, partners and customers, we discover what makes your organisation unique.
2) Purpose-led strategy
– Brand strategy
– Brand architecture
– Mission
– Vision
– Values
– Brand architecture
– Mission
– Vision
– Values
Rigorous thinking underpins our process. From understanding the audience to defining what the brand should express, we create a concise
strategy that guides our design decisions and takes the guesswork out of creativity.
3) Crafted design
– Visual identity
– Print design
– Digital design
– Motion design
– Environmental design
– Art direction
– Illustration
– Print design
– Digital design
– Motion design
– Environmental design
– Art direction
– Illustration
A clear strategy is only half the solution – great brands are also beautifully executed. With a focus on conceptual thinking, craft and contemporary style, we design visual identities that can flex across digital, print, motion, physical spaces and experiences.
4) Compelling stories
– Brand voice
– Brand story
– Messaging
– Naming
– Taglines
– Scriptwriting
From rallying supporters to educating the public, every brand needs to move people through storytelling. Whether it’s a line on a billboard or a script for a film, we bring creativity, sensitivity and nuance to sharing your story with the world.
Innovation Bay
Established in 2003, Innovation Bay is a community of founders, investors and leaders from across Australia’s startup ecosystem.
We were invited to rethink their branding to reflect who the organisation had grown into after running for 20 years.
A priority was bringing clarity, structure and meaning to their identity architecture – creating a family of four sub-brands for their communities with flexibility to grow in future.
A priority was bringing clarity, structure and meaning to their identity architecture – creating a family of four sub-brands for their communities with flexibility to grow in future.
After interviewing community members, investors, advisors and the team, one particular insight stood out:
“The audience we’re talking to is not just founders. It’s CTOs, comms people, anyone who makes a startup successful… If you drew a Venn diagram of all of that, in the middle is Innovation Bay.”
“The audience we’re talking to is not just founders. It’s CTOs, comms people, anyone who makes a startup successful… If you drew a Venn diagram of all of that, in the middle is Innovation Bay.”
This led us to our brand idea, ‘World of Startups’, which reimagines the tech ecosystem as a landscape of natural environments where different groups can meet and collaborate.
We used this metaphor to create evocative names for Innovation Bay’s communities based on their audiences and characteristics:
🌱 Canopy – The rainforest is a diverse, fertile environment with potential for rapid growth. Here you’ll find early-stage founders trying to elevate their startup to new heights.
🏔 Summit – The mountains are a formidable environment where you’ll find only the most intrepid – leaders of Australia's most established tech ventures.
🌅 Horizon – Far in the distance, you’ll find angel investors looking ahead for exciting new opportunities.
✨ Aurora – Up in the atmosphere, playful lights in the night sky are a social playground for VCs.
🏔 Summit – The mountains are a formidable environment where you’ll find only the most intrepid – leaders of Australia's most established tech ventures.
🌅 Horizon – Far in the distance, you’ll find angel investors looking ahead for exciting new opportunities.
✨ Aurora – Up in the atmosphere, playful lights in the night sky are a social playground for VCs.
Creating connections is at the heart of everything Innovation Bay does, so we built their brand identity to reflect the relationships, networks and infrastructure they provide.
In our visual system, we use a ‘connected grid’ as a structural guide, which underpins everything we design, informing the proportions of our layouts, how we use graphic assets and the geometry of our brand symbols.
The Innovation Bay logo is a monogram of the organisation's initials and communicates the three fundamental values of the brand: connection, collaboration and inclusivity.
Geometric shapes from the brand logos become abstract expressions of the interactions taking place within the communities.
Each sub-brand has its own individual identity tied together by a consistent design language.
In digital spaces, the visual system comes to life through dynamic motion.
Whether it’s an intimate dinner or a national conference, the flexible identity allows Innovation Bay to tailor their events for their communities.
Through these unique experiences Innovation Bay is creating connections and a thriving startup ecosystem.
