REAL CLIENT CASE STUDY
Picton Dawn Chorus
Logo Design & Branding / Print & Marketing Material / Signage
Picton Dawn Chorus is a community-led conservation organisation, founded by two passionate locals with a vision to protect and restore native birdlife in the Marlborough Sounds. While Predator Free 2050 is a national goal, Picton Dawn Chorus is aiming even higher—working towards a predator-free Picton and surrounding areas by 2030.
To help rally the community and lift their visibility, they needed a stronger brand presence—something that felt polished, professional, and powerful enough to support the momentum they were building.
The approach.
We began with a deep dive into brand direction, using three distinct stylescapes to explore possible visual pathways.
While earthy tones were a natural consideration, the chosen direction centred around a deep, rich blue—providing strong contrast to the native bird imagery that would feature prominently in their communications. Green was used as a supporting colour, reinforcing the environmental focus of the organisation.
With alignment on the visual direction, I turned to the logo. The founding members had an emotional connection to their original mark, so rather than abandon it entirely, I chose to honour it—retaining the Pīwakawaka (fantail) as the central symbol and reimagining it with a more refined, versatile design. The resulting icon works beautifully as a stand-alone graphic, and is supported by clean, classic typography and a full suite of variations for different applications.
The brand identity was then rolled out across a range of collateral: posters, brochures, signage, stationery, and even a stencil version of the logo used for branding trap boxes in the field—designed with legibility and function in mind.
The response from the team was instant and enthusiastic—they loved the new identity from the moment they saw it, and didn’t request a single amendment. It was a brand that finally matched the purpose and passion behind the project.
