Australian Space Agency
Conceptual Rebranding & Identity Design for the Australian Governments Space Program.
Current Logo Review
The Australian Space agency launched their logo design back in 2018. The concept and narrative behind the logo was great, telling a beautiful story of how the indigenous Australians used the stars to navigate, tell stories and make sense of their land. But the execution seemed a little lacking to me.
The logo is in the shape of Australia, made up of constellations seen in our skies, giving a nice duality of looking down from space to the land, but also from the land to space, but all the ‘stars’ make the logo very busy and can really compromise the scaleability and flexibility of where it can be used. Also, some of the colours in the mark also seem to lack any real contrast, it seems the mark is used mostly on a black/dark background, and to me, the darker colours don’t really sing or have any visual punch to them. Where stars in the sky should be bright and popping, these stars seem a little muted and held back.
The wordmark also seems a little unrefined and slightly clumsy, with the very tight tracking and characters cutting into other characters to avoid overlapping.
Overall, I think this logo just feels a bit dated, and it’s only been around for a year. While I have not seen or even know what the original design brief was, in my opinion, space and space exploration is about the future, it’s about looking forward and inspiring the next generation to look further and discover more, and this logo doesn’t really sell those emotions to me.
My Concept
For my concept, I wanted to solve those problems I saw in the current logo: Declutter the stars, make it scalable, utilise colours that pop, refine and open up the wordmark, and overall, design a mark, identity and visual brand that will inspire future generations.
Wanting to give it a more futuristic and inspirational feel to the logo, I leaned into the world of Sci-Fi films, where extended typefaces, like Eurostyle, have become synonymous with the future and technological advancements.
The wordmark is set in Syne Bold, an extended typeface from a small family of versatile typefaces. Setting it in all caps really helps cement the agency as a trustworthy and professional establishment, and the boldness giving it gravitas and weight that helps it contrast well on darker backgrounds.
After refining the ‘stars’ element of the logo it really lends itself as an engaging graphic element to help reinforce the brands image through the rollout of the identity. Using the dots to add depth to different communication pieces and adding visual interest that aligns with the design of the logo.
The colour palette is a futuristic take on Australia’s national colours of green and gold, as well as incorporating a deep blue, representing space itself. The off-white muted gold colour contrasts well with the deep blue and helps provide some visual relief to the bright, futuristic green.
Because the initial design rationale and concept was so incredible I wanted to try and keep some of that through this execution, but tying it into the logo seemed too much. Communicating the ideas of paying homage to the first Australians though other pieces of communication seemed like a much better way to go about it, it also affords the opportunity to explain the ideas further, helping educate the public.
