A place-branding and public storytelling proposition for Adelaide’s busiest precincts
CITY OF ADELAIDE
Adelaide is evolving, and you should feel along for the ride.
Across Adelaide, neighbourhoods are growing. Streets are being renewed, public spaces are changing and local precincts are finding new ways to serve the people who live, work, trade and spend time there. But every neighbourhood moves differently. Each has its own rhythm, history, local economy and mix of long-standing institutions, independent businesses, residents and visitors.
Physical upgrades are an important part of that renewal, but infrastructure alone does not shape how a place is understood. For revitalisation to feel meaningful, people need to be able to see what is changing, understand why it matters and recognise themselves in the future being created around them.
Through a connected design and storytelling system, we created a consistent way to communicate change while still allowing each precinct to retain its own character, stories and sense of place.
Physical upgrades are an important part of that renewal, but infrastructure alone does not shape how a place is understood. For revitalisation to feel meaningful, people need to be able to see what is changing, understand why it matters and recognise themselves in the future being created around them.
Through a connected design and storytelling system, we created a consistent way to communicate change while still allowing each precinct to retain its own character, stories and sense of place.
The Gouger St you know and love.
Injecting the personality of the precinct was essential to creating communications that felt relevant to the people already invested in Gouger Street. Understanding the community’s pain points meant recognising that this was not simply a street undergoing works, but a place with an established identity, rhythm and visual language that people already knew and valued.
Rather than introducing a design system that felt imposed from the outside, we looked to the street itself for inspiration. Familiar shapes, structures, signage and architectural details became the foundation for a suite of graphic assets that could reflect the Gouger Street people recognise today.
Rather than introducing a design system that felt imposed from the outside, we looked to the street itself for inspiration. Familiar shapes, structures, signage and architectural details became the foundation for a suite of graphic assets that could reflect the Gouger Street people recognise today.
Gouger St has a bright future that the City of Adelaide is invested in the success of.
By giving renewal a clear visual identity, a recognisable tone and a story people can connect with, communications can help shift public perception from disruption and inconvenience towards progress, pride and possibility. It creates a stronger sense that change is being considered, coordinated and shaped with the character of the place in mind.
For the City of Adelaide, that creates an opportunity to build something with value well beyond a single precinct. A flexible place-branding framework can grow alongside future revitalisation projects, creating greater consistency across the city while still allowing individual neighbourhoods to retain their own personality.
Over time, this becomes a recognisable expression of how Adelaide approaches renewal: not simply upgrading streets and spaces, but investing in the identity, confidence and future of the communities around them.
For the City of Adelaide, that creates an opportunity to build something with value well beyond a single precinct. A flexible place-branding framework can grow alongside future revitalisation projects, creating greater consistency across the city while still allowing individual neighbourhoods to retain their own personality.
Over time, this becomes a recognisable expression of how Adelaide approaches renewal: not simply upgrading streets and spaces, but investing in the identity, confidence and future of the communities around them.
