The Great Southern Farmer Awards was the brainchild of six leaders spanning chamber CEOs, business, and farming heavy weights within the Great Southern region. They all knew the reserved and humble nature of the farming community all too well because they lived amongst it. They also understood the real financial, physical and personal pressures the Great Southern farmers carried mostly out of site and were looking to change that.
The committee wanted to spotlight the Great Southern region's farmers properly and publicly for the work that they do that too often is invisible and goes unnoticed.
With a brand to build from scratch and six stakeholders to align and keep together throughout the whole project, the discovery process gave us a very clear picture of the goals, vision, what the brand both needed to be and most importantly, what needed to be avoided. What came back was a community who was direct, fiercely proud and incredibly practical.
So we built a visual identity that was just as direct: bold, grounded, and designed to put the Great Southern Farmers front and centre.
WEEDING OUT THE COMPETITION
This was a pretty unique project with no direct competitors, so the benchmark became everything they needed to avoid. We're talking Chambers, Shires as well as both State and National ag award bodies, who were all leaning on the same blue, green, yellow and brown colour palettes, literal land and water imagery, and forgettable type. The one thing everyone seemed to be avoiding was warmth. Every regional ag identity felt corporate. This gap between corporate and genuine regional pride and celebration became the brief. The Great Southern Farmer Awards needed to stand a part from everyone else, and capture the feeling and people behind the Great Southern, not just the scenery.
GOING BIG, GOING BOLD
Three creative directions were presented to the committee, and it's here they got stuck. They were torn between 'Trusted Harvest', the safest option, and 'Bold Region' something completely unfamiliar to the industry. Although it seemed the comfortability with the low risk option was going to win, after revisiting the brief and project goals, the commitee came around with a unanimous decision to lock in 'Bold Region' for the project's visual direction.
A MARK TO CELEBRATE THE GREAT SOUTHERN FARMING COMMUNITY
One mood board image really resonated with the committee and they wanted it reflected within the overall identity. After many, many sketches and design variations for the logo, they were all still feeling flat. This is when we realised the idea wasn't ambitious enough. For the logo to be truly strong and regionally proud it needed to be more than 'just a logo'. It needed to be a strong mark the winners would be proud to physically receive, hold and display.
Land, Sea, Sun
Agriculture
The final mark was built from four interconnected elements rising upward. Land at the base, water rising from it, a seed-like shape for grain or a harvest, and a circle on top to represent the sun, the rhythm of nature and the cycle of the seasons. Each element is sized, positioned, intentionally balanced and are dependant on each other just like they are in agriculture.
This story however isn't finished until the awards night when the winner holds the logo as a trophy in their hands. This is where they are acknowledged and celebrated for their skillful management of these elements.
From there, even the type followed through with the subtle reshaping of the 'F' and 'E' in "Farmer" reshaped to reflect the Water and Harvest forms. Subtly connecting the word from the people to the work they do.
Colour was the final piece of the puzzle. Crimson was chosen as the anchor to bring a feeling strength and resilience, while the Great Southern Gradient is the direct connector to the region. Running from a bright golden yellow all the way to a rich indigo, it reflects the stunning sunsets unique to the region while also feeling celebratory, and completely sitting a part from everything else in the agriculture space.
And when this logo and identity was presented to the committee, they unanimously approved.
