Canowie Poll Merino
Brand Identity & Creative Direction



Located in Coonalpyn, Canowie Poll Merino is one of South Australia’s oldest merino studs, with a history shaped by generations of breeding expertise and land stewardship. A brand identity was developed to reflect the legacy of the stud, without relying on nostalgia – balancing a typographic approach with contemporary restraint. Designed as an accessibe and flexible system rather than a single logo, the brand needed to function across working farm applications, communications, and future digital touchpoints – all while remaining understated, legible, and enduring.

 









SERVICES

Art Direction
Brand Identity
Brand Systems
Graphic Design
Print
Social Media
Website & UI
Canowie Poll Merino required a visual With the arrival of a new farm management team, Canowie Poll Merino required a new visual identity that acknowledge its long-standing history without leaning on decorative or romanticised rural tropes. The brand needed to communicate trust, permanence, and quality across both printed materials and everday operational use, while remaining adaptable to future photography, digital applications, and evolving farm communications.

A typographically-driven identity system was developed, anchored by a custom wordmark built around historical materials found on the property – secondary and tertiary marks allow for flexibility. The brand system pairs the logotype with restrained, contemporary typography choices, allowing heritage cues to coexist alongside clarity and modern legibility. A colour palette steers away from typical rural tropes through a contemporary interpretation of Canowie’s historically significant blue colourway. A particular emphasis was placed on monochromatic applications of the colour palette to ensure consistency across materials and image choices, providing flexibility for signage, stationery, posters, and future digital use.

The identity was rolled out across Canowie Poll Merino’s printed and administrative touchpoints, establishing a cohesive visual language. By favouring simplicity and restraint over decoration, the brand positions Canowie as confident, established and quietly progressive. Across the industry, it stands as a respected and contemporary voice, with a distinct visual brand that set it apart from its competitors. Rather than relying on overt symolism, the brand expresses its values through simplicity, proportion, and typographic structure – it exists within a system that feels enduring, practical, and appropriate for one of the country’s most established merino studs.