Client:
Penrith City Council
Studio:
Generation Alliance
Role:
Brand audit
Lead designer
Identity concept and design
Identity guidelines
Signage design
Signage guidelines
Penrith City, located 50 kilometres west of the Sydney CBD is a commercial centre with a population of over 170,000 residents. The city is one of the fastest developing cities in the NSW state, having proudly hosted the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games at the International Regatta Centre and achieving regional city status under the NSW Metropolitan Strategy.
Penrith City Council identified an opportunity to celebrate these achievements and continue to build on the momentum with a new identity not only for the council, but a place-making opportunity for the community and its people. The new brand strategy strategically positions Penrith as the ‘New West’, reflecting its budding economic and social development potential. The identity aims to convey a positively grounded attitude, always putting people and place at the heart of challenges.
Penrith is here –No longer apologetic about being West of Sydney, the new brand now literally declares ‘Penrith is here’. It celebrates this declaration three ways.
1 – Destination: Penrith is here, just 54km west of Sydney CBD
2 – Place-making: Penrith is here in the urban and natural places unique to us
3 – Pride marker: Penrith is here in our people, the pride we have for where we live and our unique lifestyle
After extensive consultation with key stakeholders, the new brand went live in May 2012, and was officially launched by the Premier on 1 June 2012. The year of launch showed significant improvement in the number of respondents for the Community Survey (80.8%, compared to 75.6% in 2011), who agreed that ‘Penrith Council provides opportunities for residents to participate in planning and having a say about the City’s future’.
Penrith City Council named as a finalist in the ‘Organisation of the Year’ category of the International Association in Public Participation’s (IAP2) annual awards and received Highly Commended for community engagement efforts.