It’s no mean feat to give a fresh face to bins, buses and civic services but that was the brief for award winning creative agency ED.
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Tucked away in a sleek ground floor office in New Acton, director Eric Di Cuollo and his team were focused on what it was all going to look like when Canberra Metro, TAMS and Action buses merged into one.
It was one of the most exciting projects the three-year-old firm of 12 “nerds and design freaks” had bid for.
The project required launching new electronic MyWay cards, wraps to promote the new city loop service, develop signage, redesign the interchange and manage merging the three high-traffic websites.
Di Cuollo, someone whose company bears his initials, put forward a concept for Transport Canberra centered on the monogram TC.
“We have kept the modalities and sub-brands quite close, if not exact, to Transport NSW for continuity,” he said. “We came up with some devices to use in each of the sub-brands, light rail, buses and active travel.
For example the regular buses are a bit more conservative but with the city loop service they wanted it bright and in everyone's face.”
ED. boasts a fast growing client base including familiar Canberra venues such as Cupping Room right through to acclaimed photographer Christopher Ireland and UNHCR.
In the past year ED. has expanded and established a Sydney office headed up by Tim Ainge.
He said it was the agency’s “diverse and slightly unconventional team” of “nerds and design freaks” that gave it an edge.
“One of the biggest advantages we offer is some slightly different thinking,” he said.
“We have all come together through a passion for technology and design and helping people to improve our businesses.
“But the diversity in the group’s background allows us to approach it a way that is not super traditional.”
Delivering the project within the tight two-month time frame was a challenge but also a great privilege for a team who were predominately born and bred in the ACT.
“Its a brand everyone will touch, see and use,” Ainge said.
While contributing to the local design landscape it was also a chance for the firm to tackle a transport system project and demonstrate an ability to balance form and function – design and usability.
“It was a great opportunity for us to exercise a really structured part of our creative discipline and focus our energies on developing something iconic, and that could stand the test of time, but also really usable and consumer-friendly to improve the experience for Canberrans.”
