Inside Asia
Sparking joy with fellow travellers

Challenge

Inside Asia are travel specialists with a difference. They’re the little black book of Asia, not the guidebook. However, their passion for sharing their love of Asia and sparking joy with fellow travellers wasn’t coming through.

Our challenge was to help Inside Asia articulate a brand strategy that would underpin the organisation and help differentiate them in market.

We were also working to a very tight budget which gave us one week to set the brand expression and core assets, ready for handover and roll out by their internal design team.

Process

We started with an immersive brand DNA workshop at their Bristol HQ to get to know them better and co-create the brand platform. We saw that their inside knowledge from living as a local coupled with honest advice distilled into a truly unexpected, joyful experience for the traveller who’s not just passing through.

Solution

The concept of ‘turning Asia inside out’ was developed into a brand expression that turned an immersive experience into one that you can see, hear, touch and taste.

The result is an exciting and eye-catching design system with bags of passion and joy.

Role

Creative Director (brand strategy, concept, art direction)

© Created at The Team

The new logo sparks joy through its playful letterforms and interacts with other graphic elements using a simple interlocking system.

Central to the expression is an illustration system that creates limitless possibilities, reflective of the myriad of Inside Asia experiences. Loose, organic shapes are cut from areas within an image and rearranged into new, abstract compositions. The shapes are filled using a multi-dimensional colour palette that dials up or down to create different moods, and a carefully curated set of textures reminiscent of the region complete the picture.

Organic shapes derived from photographs are rearranged into abstract compositions

Organic shapes derived from photographs are rearranged into abstract compositions

Organic shapes derived from photographs are rearranged into abstract compositions

Brown, white and yellow shapes overlaid with Asia inspired patterns

Green and blue shapes overlaid with Asia inspired patterns

Expressive typography responds to the graphic shapes, creating dynamic compositions.

Two sample posters with the words sizzle and splash interwoven between abstract shapes

Abstract illustration next to an overhead photo of the Vietnamese coastline

Dramatic Vietnamese mountains next to an abstract illustration entitled 'When the road is truly untravelled'

Front and back cover of a sample brochure

Brochure spread of an abstract illustration entitled 'the temple is not enough'

We also expanded their photography style beyond the usual beauty shots and developed tone of voice principles to better reflect their renewed brand personality.

Abstract illustration entitled 'the unexpected turn' next to a Vietnamese man loading rugs onto a moped

Vietnamese woman crouched over vegetables next to an abstract illustration entitled 'tell her Huong sent you'

Multiple brochure spreads laid out together

close up of Inside Asia's new photography style from the design sprint

close up of textures and pattern from the design sprint

close up of the new colour palette from the design sprint

close up of post-it notes from the design sprint

NS&I

Scope