Challenge
Make the iconic brand more visible and less exchangeable. The café that is not only loved for its quality food and drinks but also its warm and friendly character should have a logo and branding showing this.
Rebranding
The beginning
When I first joined Colvin – or Colvin Consulting Group, as it was known back then – I wasn’t entirely sure what I’d walked into. But I saw potential: A great team, strong values, and a rare openness to change. There was a real opportunity to help shape not just the brand but the next chapter of the business.
And to their credit, the team was ready to go deep. They weren’t after a superficial refresh; they were willing to take a good, hard look at their marketing strategy and rebuild from the ground up – music to any creative's ears.
old logo
LinkedIn with old branding
Website with old branding
The groundwork
We kicked things off with research. Lots of it. From audience insights to brand positioning, we laid the strategic foundations for what would become a full transformation.
Pretty quickly, it became clear that this wasn’t just about a new visual identity. It was time for a new name – one that reflected the firm’s clarity of thought, modern mindset, and forward momentum.
Target Group Analysis
The heart and soul
With the strategy locked in, it was time to bring it to life. Starting with the logo and colour palette, we set out to create an identity that was elegant, smart, and quietly confident.
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The logo follows a "less is more" philosophy. It’s clean, typographic, and thoughtfully crafted. No symbols, no fuss – just a refined wordmark that does the heavy lifting. The ligature and connected lettering add a touch of innovation, while the serif typeface gives it a timeless, trustworthy feel.
The high contrast in the letterforms creates rhythm and flow, suggesting structure, intelligence, and discretion – everything you'd want in a trusted advisor. In the absence of an icon, the typography becomes the hero – a visual anchor with the presence of a signature.
new logo
The colour palette strikes a balance between warmth and authority. Designed to build instant trust without slipping into the corporate cliché, the mix of neutrals and accent tones gives the brand flexibility and depth. It’s professional, polished, and unmistakably Colvin.
new logo in use
John Colvin's LinkedIn page with new branding
Brief
The Franchise Council of Australia (FCA) reached out to request a fresh-up of their logo. While overall, the elements were liked, they felt it looked scattered and outdated.
old logo
Challenge
With the FCA being a well-known nationwide organisation and supporting its members nationwide, the redesign should maintain overall familiarity while also ensuring scalability.
Ideation
To get to the core of FCA, we developed several variations to find the perfect match.
Revision
Simplicity wins! After deciding on the simplest version, logo fonts and colours were refined further.
Solution
The new logo for the Franchise Council of Australia is clean and comes across as a unit rather than a collage of different elements. Due to its scalability, it can be used for a wide range of situations - from large to small.
Brief
Create a branding and logo that reflects the café’s heritage and unique atmosphere.
old logo
Challenge
Make the iconic brand more visible and less exchangeable. The café that is not only loved for its quality food and drinks but also its warm and friendly character should have a logo and branding showing this.
Research
For this personal project, I visited the café several times. The warm and welcoming friendliness of the staff and high-quality cuisine with an elegant touch make this place a mixture of visiting friends and a fancy getaway.
Ideation
I developed several routes to finding the best option to reflect the café’s heritage, friendly atmosphere and high-class food.
Revision
After defining the strongest route, I refined it further to carve out the café’s unique personality that its customers love.
before
after
Solution
The branding is now easier to recognise and reflects the café’s character. The typography is unique, and the incorporated sassafras leaf does not only refer to the name but to the green and leafy backyard as well. The colours are warm and friendly and symbolise the café’s personality.
