CUR8 2025

Case Studies

the
thinking.

CUR8 2025

The bar for creating has never sat so low. A phone, a laptop and an endless supply of YouTube tutorials sit in the hands of most people. Add AI into the mix, and almost anyone can create something.

So what sets me apart?

My brain.

Knowing when something needs to be louder and when it needs to shut up. When the joke is more important than the logo. When looking good isn't enough. When a brand has outgrown the thing it was built to be. When an idea deserves another five seconds of someone's attention.

That's the part I can't show you in a finished JPEG.

So, here's my attempt at showing you my brain.

CUR8 2025

You can see the finished work in my portfolio. This is the bit before that.

A collection of case studies unpacking how I think — from building a personality people actually want to follow, to knowing when a brand has outgrown the identity it started with.

CUR8 2025 01
01 / The Thinking Personality × Aesthetic Nowhere Bar — Adelaide

Sorry, but you're not pretty enough to be such a c*nt.

I love that you're chill. I love that you want to swear on your socials, take the piss out of your customers and occasionally post something that probably shouldn't have made it past the marketing meeting. I actually recommend it.

But you've got to earn the right to be a bit of a cunt.

Because when that kind of personality is backed by strong branding, beautiful imagery and consistently good creative, you're funny. You're self-aware. You're the brand people actually want to follow.

When it's coming from a blurry iPhone photo, five different fonts and a logo that's moved three times this week, you're not being disruptive.

You're just a dick with a big mouth.

Nowhere is what happens when you get to be both.

Brand Personality

Carefree, conversational, self-aware and humorously forward. Nowhere is intentionally unpolished, a little cheeky and never takes itself too seriously.

The Customer Perception

Known for its relaxed atmosphere, forward banter and familiar relationship with regulars. Consistent returning customers praise the people, personality and experience as much as the offering itself.

The Voice in Practice

"rich in life because i get to experience whatever this is"

"put this in your mouth"

"where i hope your 'circling back' email finds me"

"look, it's not our business what you put in your mouth, but we do recommend it's our menu."

"all we do is eat and yap"

The Visual System
Nowhere Bar wordmark, display and script lockups, 170 Hutt Street
Curated Palette
The Application
Tonight's personality poster, sponsored by the bar
Thursday Quiz Night poster, academically unserious
Nowhere Bar table setting with repeating eat pattern

The result is work that can take the piss, sell you a glass of wine and still look bloody good doing it.

Nowhere already had the mouth, my job was to make sure it had the face to match.

In an Adelaide hospitality scene where everyone is fighting for the same eyes, the creative needed to work just as hard as the personality. So I built a visual direction that could keep up — bold, considered and consistent, without ever becoming too polished to feel like Nowhere.

CUR8 2025 02
02 / The Thinking Rebranding × Identity Locally Hated

Great girl. Fucking terrible outfit.

You created your brand. It's your baby. You know who it's for, what it stands for and why it exists. I'm not here to change that.

I'm here to make sure everyone else gets it too.

Rebranding doesn't mean changing the girl. The personality, intentions and everything that makes a brand worth knowing might already be there. Sometimes, she's just wearing an outfit that doesn't make any fucking sense.

That's how I think about brand identity. Strip everything back, work out what's actually important and find the simplest, clearest way to show it.

Who are you? Who are you talking to? What do you stand for? How should you feel?

Then dress accordingly.

Because good branding shouldn't need someone standing next to it explaining what you're supposed to see.

When it's right, you just know.

The Brand

Locally Hated is an Australian womenswear brand founded in 2022, built for people who would rather wear too much than feel too little. After years of wins, fuck-ups, changes and figuring it out as they went, the brand found its purpose: making clothes for the moments worth feeling something in.

Wear it baby, they're afraid to feel something.

The brand knew exactly who it was.

It just didn't look like it.

The Previous Identity
Locally Hated script wordmark, two lockup variants
Script Lockup
Curated Palette
Locally Hated coral envelope
Envelope
Locally Hated pink texture swatch
Texture Detail
Silver mailer bag with LH monogram
Mailer — Monogram
Silver mailer bag with wear it baby tagline
Mailer — Tagline
The Disconnect

At first glance, we see elegance, simplicity and restraint.

Minimal, polished, relatively safe branding that wasn't necessarily bad — it just didn't feel like Locally Hated.

CUR8 2025 02

The Shift

Same girl.
Better outfit.

CUR8 2025 02
The New Identity
Locally Hated script logo on white card
Written Assets
Locally Hated dot-matrix wordmark
Wordmark
Wear it baby, they're afraid to feel something, dot-matrix tagline
Tagline
The Visual System
Zebra print swatch
Zebra
Dark grey swatch
Dark Grey
Glossy silver swatch
Glossy Silver
Lime swatch
Lime
Light grey swatch
Light Grey
White swatch
White
The Application
Zebra print card with Locally Hated cutout
Zebra Cutout
Locally Hated swing tag shown in a campaign lifestyle photo
Swing Tag — Front
Locally Hated grey wordmark card
Wordmark Card
Details
Locally Hated swing tag mockup
Swing Tag
Locally Hated LH monogram safety pin jewellery
LH Pin
Locally Hated circular stamp badge, outline
Stamp — Outline
Locally Hated circular stamp badge, filled
Stamp — Filled

Thanks for looking

back to
the start.

Home