Project Overview
Treetops Adventure is Australia’s premier outdoor adventure group, operating fourteen parks across Australia.
Previously known as Trees Adventure, the group acquired their main competitor – TreeTops – and approached Self-titled to unite the two businesses under a new brand which could take the sector to new heights.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Paul Monkivitch Creative Director, Marcus Bichel Designer and Animator, Jessie Liu Designer and Illustrator
Project Brief
Treetops Adventure is Australia’s premier outdoor adventure group, operating fourteen parks across Australia.
Previously known as Trees Adventure, the group acquired their main competitor – TreeTops – and approached Self-titled to unite the two businesses under a new brand.
The outdoor adventure park sector suffers a lack of differentiation of brand expression – dominated by visual tropes and clichés such as ‘George of the Jungle’ style graphics and silhouettes of harnessed figures.
The challenge for Self-titled was in creating a new brand identity that broke out of the sector, reflected the business's market-leading position, and provided a flexible system to scale to new parks or activities.
It also needed to appeal to a broad audience – from 3 year old newbies to seasoned adrenaline junkies.
Project Innovation/Need
The outdoor adventure park sector suffers a lack of differentiation of brand expression – dominated by visual tropes and clichés such as ‘George of the Jungle’ style graphics, distressed textures and silhouettes of harnessed figures.
Self-titled’s new brand identity breaks these sector norms through its bold simplicity – elevating them above the competition and reflecting the business's market-leading position.
The arrow-tree icon is a clever, unique and flexible device which is endlessly reinterpreted through illustration. The icon grows in height to denote the difficulty levels of each course and becomes a large part of the overall experience through the park's signage.
A key human insight on the project was around inclusivity. Many outdoor adventures pitch themselves at either the ‘extreme’ end of the market, or at ‘kids’. The beauty of the brand identity for Treetops Adventure is that it reflects the numerous courses designed to challenge participants at all ages and abilities.
Design Challenge
The logo is a literal interpretation of the name – merging an upward arrow and a tree to create an unambiguous and iconic new mark. Brand imagery and language evokes a sense of excitement and anticipation.
The main information architecture revolves around a refined difficulty colour system (based on ski runs) and using arrow-trees which progressively grow as the activities get harder. The signage clearly denotes the skill level and helps users self-navigate the park, while clean application of branding throughout builds trust, combating any sense of risk inherent in an elevated experience.
The new Treetops Adventure brand appeals to a very broad audience – from 3 year old newbies to seasoned adrenaline junkies. Throughout applications, the brand icon changes in height and colour to represent all abilities, suggesting that all are welcome and all will be challenged.
Easy to use, the new brand system has been successfully rolled out by internal teams across each of parks and through social media. Commercially, the design has increased the brand’s overall value with Treetops Adventure having since been acquired by publicly traded adventure tourism company Experience Co.
Effectiveness
The new brand brings a sense of fun and adventure while reinforcing the safety and professionalism of Australia’s premier outdoor adventure group. The new focus on representing participants of all ages and abilities.
The project demonstrates the value of conceptual and strategic design with Treetops Adventure having since been acquired by publicly traded adventure tourism company Experience Co.
The design solution unequivocally challenges the rest of the market to improve their offer and their experience by employing considered design which side-steps the industry norms.
The rebrand has re-energised and refocussed employees across the parks by giving them a clearer sense of what the brand stands for and an increased sense of pride in the organisation. Plus they got some cool ‘Team’ merch.
Encouraging more people to experience outdoor activities improves mental and physical health while promoting an appreciation for our natural environment. The park itself has a very low impact with all fittings designed to grow with the trees.
Graphic Design - Identity and Branding - Tourism
This award celebrates creative and innovative design in the traditional or digital visual representation of ideas and messages. Consideration given to clarity of communication and the matching information style to audience.
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