Sealink Creative Rationale
s e a li n k has established itself as the market leader in self-drive short
breaks and holidays to Waiheke & Great Barrier Islands. Customer feedback is excellent in regards to the current service, but there is a perception in the marketplace that Sealink is a purely functional entity, providing a ferry service that takes you from A to B with a minimum of fuss and reasonable value for money. In order to reflect a shifting of focus towards a brand which is more emotively positioned as a facilitator of happiness and holidays – rather than just providing the trip there – Sealink have asked for submissions to refresh their current brand. Looking forward, they also want to become known as experts on vacations to Waiheke & Great Barrier Island. The brief calls for an overall loosening up of what is currently a fairly regimented brand, to create a fun, holiday feel. Towards this end, the following have been quantified: Positioning Statement: “Escape with the drive-on, sail away island holiday experts” Personality: “The friendly and caring provider of magical escapes” Values: “We C (customer) A (attitude) R (responsibility) E (environment)”
h a l low e d g ro u n d identified several areas of promise.
The words: Tagline: “Bringing Kiwis Together” Instead of a “what we do” tagline, this is a line that says “why we do it.” “Together” ties in nicely with the ‘link’ of ‘Sealink’, while “Bringing Kiwis Together” positions Sealink as the provider of this togetherness. Whether it is the coming together of a family away on vacation together, or a couple getting better aquainted on a romantic weekend getaway, Sealink is the vehicle that enables this to happen. Headline: “Escape with us to Waiheke and Great Barrier Islands” Rather than combining this ‘escape’ aspiration into the tagline, Hallowed Ground felt that seperating this into the headline was a simpler, more flexible approach. Now the tagline is unequivocally a Sealink statement, while the headlines of the ads & marketing collateral will be equally unequivocally statements relating directly to the customer. In this way, we avoid a circumstance where the tagline and headlines say much the same thing with different wording, and we can inject an element of humour into our headlines without seeming to take our responsibilities toward safety lightly.
Sealink Creative Rationale
Colour palette.
The pictures: Wave pattern.
In order to visually convey the idea of ‘linking’ and ‘the sea’, Hallowed Ground developed the above motif which combines a ‘wave’ pattern with a chain-link effect. As a line, it is used to break up the design, promoting clean lines and white space. As a pattern, it can be used to represent bodies of water. It also has a pleasing cultural aspect to it, through being reminiscient of (though not directly related to) the Maori design-forms that are unique to New Zealand. Swoosh. From the little red curved crossbar of the ‘A’ in the Sealink logo, we created the ‘swoosh’, a design element that is to be an integral part of the overall brand as we envisage it. This can be used as the shape of a hero picture, as the shape of a block of colour, or filled with the ‘wave pattern’. It connects the overall design back to the logo, as well as providing a useful device for breaking up the page.
To maintain a consistency with the current brand, Hallowed Ground has retained the current colour palette. More emphasis has been placed on the vibrant red, symbolising fun, and the green, which evokes land and nature. Large areas of dark blue have made way for a lighter, fresher blue, with the original dark blue retained to highlight text, and when extra emphasis is required. Typeface and design aesthetic.
Escape to Waiheke. Bring your own getaway car. The Omnes family of fonts has been chosen as a typeface which typifies the new Sealink brand – it’s modern & capable, but friendly and open. Combined with a design aesthetic that utilises circles and curves with bold but friendly blocks of colour, we have arrived at a look & feel capable of displaying information clearly, while providing a sense of fun & playfulness. The look is clean without being sterile, light but confident in itself and its products.